Jaglowicz v. Bethel Township

178 F. Supp. 3d 262, 2016 WL 1504065, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50133
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 14, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 15-4902
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 178 F. Supp. 3d 262 (Jaglowicz v. Bethel Township) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jaglowicz v. Bethel Township, 178 F. Supp. 3d 262, 2016 WL 1504065, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50133 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Savage, District Judge

Raymond Jaglowicz, who was not reappointed as a police officer in Bethel Township, sued the township, its five supervisors, and its police chief. His central claim is that his employment was terminated without due process in violation of the Police Tenure Act (“PTA”) and the Fourteenth Amendment.1

Moving for summary judgment, the defendants argue that Bethel Township’s police force was not covered by the PTA and Jaglowicz was not protected by the PTA because he was not a full-time officer. They contend that without the protection of the PTA, Jaglowicz did not have the required property interest in his employment to establish a due process violation under the Fourteenth Amendment. They also maintain that Chief Tom Worrilow is not subject to personal liability and the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.

[265]*265Because there is a factual dispute whether Jaglowicz was a “regular full-time police officer” entitled to protection under the PTA, we shall deny the motion with respect to claims against Bethel Township under the PTA and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. We shall grant the motion on all remaining claims. We also conclude that the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.

Background

Bethel Township appoints its police officers for one-year terms at the township reorganization meeting held each January.2 Jaglowicz began his employment with the Bethel Township police force in January 2010,3 when he was appointed for a one-year term. He was re-appointed each year until January 2015.4 At the 2015 reorganization meeting, the township supervisors voted unanimously to appoint Worrilow as “Part-time Police Chief’ and eighteen others as “Part-time Police Officer[s]” for one year.5 Jaglowicz was not among those appointed.

Jaglowicz contends he was not reappointed because he had used a Taser while arresting a suspect on September 16, 2014.6 A citizen’s complaint arising out of the incident was filed on October 21, 2014.7 During the course of his investigation of the complaint, Chief Worrilow interviewed numerous people, including Jaglowicz.8 At no time did Jaglowicz receive notice that Bethel Township intended to terminate his employment or to take disciplinary action,9 He was not charged with criminal misconduct.10 Although Worrilow concluded that Jaglowicz “probably over stepped his authority in making this arrest,” he also found that Jaglowicz was “most likely correct in using force to stop the. suspect ... ”.11 Worrilow recommended to the police liaison.on the board of supervisors that Jaglowicz be reappointed.12

In his complaint, Jaglowicz claimed that when they terminated his employment, the defendants deprived him of procedural due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the PTA.13 He also claimed Bethel Township breached its oral employment contract and failed to create a police pension fund in violation of the Municipal Police Pension Law (“MPPL”).14

The parties conducted virtually no discovery. The. defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims. Worrilow and the township supervisors also invoked qualified immunity.

Counsel for Jaglowicz conceded, at oral argument, that he cannot make out a due process claim under the Fifth, Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment based on a [266]*266liberty interest, or the Equal Protection Clause.15 He also acknowledged that Ja-glowicz had not established a violation of the MPPL.16 He did not dispute that the record did not support a claim against Chief Worrilow.17 Consequently, the only remaining claims on summary judgment are under the PTA and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment based on a property interest against Be-thel Township and the five township supervisors, and for breach of contract against the township only.

Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate if the movant shows “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and [that] the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Judgment will be entered against a party who fails to sufficiently establish any element essential to that party’s case and who bears the ultimate burden of proof at trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In examining the motion, we must draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor. InterVest, Inc. v. Bloomberg, L.P., 340 F.3d 144, 159-60 (3d Cir.2003).

The initial burden of demonstrating there are no genuine issues of material fact falls on the moving party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Once the moving party has met its burden, the nonmoving party must counter with “specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita, Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citation omitted). The nonmovant must show more than the “mere existence of a scintilla of evidence” for elements on which she bears the burden of production. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Bare assertions, condusory allegations or suspicions are not sufficient to defeat summary judgment. Fireman’s Ins. Co. v. DuFresne, 676 F.2d 965, 969 (3d Cir.1982). Thus, “[w]here the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348 (citation omitted).

The Police Tenure Act

The PTA provides the following protections:

No person employed as a regular full time police officer

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Related

Toth v. Bethel Township
268 F. Supp. 3d 725 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 F. Supp. 3d 262, 2016 WL 1504065, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jaglowicz-v-bethel-township-paed-2016.