Hatfield v. Board of County Commissioners

52 F.3d 858, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1258, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 7986
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 11, 1995
DocketNo. 93-8094
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 52 F.3d 858 (Hatfield v. Board of County Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hatfield v. Board of County Commissioners, 52 F.3d 858, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1258, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 7986 (10th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

TACHA, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Marjorie Hatfield brought suit in federal court against defendants after she was terminated from her employment as a clerk in the Treasurer’s Office of Converse County, Wyoming. She has asserted five separate claims: (1) denial of due process; (2) breach of contract; (3) breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (4) negligent supervision; and (5) promissory es-toppel. The district court granted defendants summary judgment on each of plaintiffs claims. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

[860]*860I

Converse County hired plaintiff to work in its Treasurer’s Office in December 1988. Plaintiff initially worked in the auto license department, but she later transferred to the tax department. Her duties in the tax department apparently required computer skills that she initially lacked, causing her problems in completing her tasks. Moreover, plaintiff’s co-workers in the tax department allegedly isolated her by excluding her from conversations and training activities, closely monitoring her performance, and reporting to management her minor deviations from office policy.

In October 1991, several of plaintiffs coworkers complained to the County Treasurer, Jim Read, about plaintiffs job performance. Mr. Read reprimanded plaintiff and placed her on probation. According to plaintiff, Mr. Read assured her that she would not be fired. But two days later, on October 25, plaintiff received a formal letter of termination. She had no written contract of employment with the County.

After receiving the termination letter, plaintiff initiated a formal Grievance Board proceeding against Mr. Read in accordance with the Converse County personnel policy manual (the “policy manual”). Plaintiff alleged that she had been harassed and falsely accused by her co-workers and that she was terminated in contravention of Mr. Read’s express assurances that she would not be fired.

The County placed plaintiff on administrative leave with pay while the hearing was pending. The hearing began on January 3, 1992. Midway through the proceedings, the hearing was suspended to allow the parties to settle the matter. Plaintiff contends that the hearing was suspended after County officials assured her that she would regain a position with the County. The hearing was suspended for a period not to exceed six weeks.

According to plaintiff, on February 13 John Pexton, a County Commissioner and Chairman of the Grievance Board, assured plaintiff that she would be reinstated within a week and that she would return to work in the Treasurer’s office. But on February 24, plaintiff received a termination letter from the newly appointed treasurer, Ernie Orrell. Mr. Orrell had reviewed plaintiffs employment file, discussed plaintiff’s performance with her co-workers, and decided to terminate her employment. Plaintiff then sought to reopen her Grievance Board hearing, but the County dismissed the proceedings.

Plaintiff brought suit against defendants in federal district court. She asserted four state law claims — -breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, negligent supervision, and promissory estoppel — and one claim based on federal law — that she was denied procedural due process in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court granted defendants’ motion with respect to each of plaintiff’s claims, and Ms. Hatfield now appeals.

II

Before addressing the merits of plaintiff’s claims, we must first resolve a jurisdictional issue. Defendants contend that plaintiffs notice of appeal from the district court’s order granting summary judgment was untimely and that, consequently, this court only has jurisdiction to review the district court’s August 27, 1993 order denying plaintiffs “motion for reconsideration.”

On August 18, 1993 — eleven business days after the district court entered its summary judgment order — plaintiff filed a document entitled “Motion for Reconsideration of Order Granting Summary Judgment or in the Alternative a Notice of Appeal” (the “combined document”). On August 27, the district court denied plaintiff’s motion. Plaintiff then filed a separate notice of appeal on September 24.

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure require litigants in civil cases to file a notice of appeal “with the clerk of the district court within 30 days after the date of entry of the judgment or order appealed from.” Fed. RApp.P. 4(a)(1). Plaintiff’s September 24 filing was therefore untimely as a notice of appeal from the district court’s summary judgment order; it was timely only as a [861]*861notice of appeal from the district court’s denial of plaintiff’s “motion to reconsider.” If, however, the August 18 combined document constituted a valid notice of appeal from the summary judgment order, it was timely, and this court would have jurisdiction to review the merits of plaintiffs appeal.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure recognize no “motion for reconsideration.” Van Skiver v. United States, 952 F.2d 1241, 1243 (10th Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 89, 121 L.Ed.2d 51 (1992). Instead, this court construes such a filing in one of two ways. If the motion is filed within ten days of the district court’s entry of judgment, the motion is treated as a motion to alter or amend the judgment under Fed. R.Civ.P. 59(e). Id. Alternatively, if the motion is filed more than ten days after the entry of judgment, it is considered a motion seeking relief from the judgment under Fed. R.Civ.P. 60(b). Id. This distinction can be significant in determining the timeliness of a notice of appeal, for a Rule 59(e) motion tolls the 30-day period, Fed.RApp.P. 4(a)(4)(E), while a Rule 60(b) motion does not, Marshall v. Shalala, 5 F.3d 453, 454 (10th Cir.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 1309, 127 L.Ed.2d 660 (1994).

In Skagerberg, v. Oklahoma, 797 F.2d 881 (10th Cir.1986) (per curiam), this court confronted a similar combined motion for re-liefrnotice of, appeal under the same version of Fed.R.App.P. 4 as was in force when plaintiff filed her combined document in this ease.1 The appellant in Skagerberg entitled his filing a “Motion for Rule 60 Relief, or Appeal” and filed the document seven days after the district court entered its judgment. Id. at 882. Because the appellant had filed the document within ten days of the entry of judgment, the court treated the motion portion of his filing as a Rule 59(e) motion (despite the appellant’s characterization to the contrary). Id. at 883.

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52 F.3d 858, 31 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1258, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 7986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hatfield-v-board-of-county-commissioners-ca10-1995.