Lumpkin v. CITY OF LAFAYETTE, ALA.

24 F. Supp. 2d 1259, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17207
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedOctober 27, 1998
DocketCivil Action 97-A-1682-E
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 24 F. Supp. 2d 1259 (Lumpkin v. CITY OF LAFAYETTE, ALA.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lumpkin v. CITY OF LAFAYETTE, ALA., 24 F. Supp. 2d 1259, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17207 (M.D. Ala. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALBRITTON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This suit arises out of the termination of the Plaintiffs position as Public Safety Director of the City of Lafayette, Alabama. The named Defendants are the City of Lafayette, and the mayor and City Council members in their individual and official capacities. The Plaintiff asserts three claims: Count One-a federal law claim for violation of his procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; Count Two-a state law claim for breach of contract; and Count Three-a state law claim for violation of Alabama Code section 11-43-160.

This case is before the court on a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by all Defendants on August 20, 1998. The Plaintiff filed a Response Brief on October 2,1998, and the Defendants filed a Reply Brief on October 9, 1998.

For the reasons to be discussed, the Defendants’ motion is due to be GRANTED as to the federal claims against all Defendants. The court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3), and those claims are due to be dismissed without prejudice.

II. FACTS

The submissions of the parties establish the following facts:

Prior to November 1990, the Plaintiff, Robert F. Lumpkin, was employed by the City of Lafayette as its Police Chief. In November of 1990, Mr. Lumpkin began serving as the city’s Public Safety Director, a new position which consolidated administrative supervision and control of the police, fire, and emergency medical divisions of the city’s Public Safety Department.

A letter from then-Mayor Ed Allen to the Plaintiff, dated November 6, 1990, confirmed that Mr. Lumpkin accepted his appointment to the position of Public Safety Director. The letter noted the following terms and conditions: 1) the position has been established by ordinance and Mr. Lumpkin reports directly to the mayor; 2) the position of Police Chief will remain vacant while Mr. Lumpkin holds the position of Public Safety Director, and Mr. Lumpkin could voluntarily return to the position of Police Chief at any time; and 3) if the position of Public Safety *1261 Director is abolished, Mr. Lumpkin will automatically return to the position of Police Chief.

City Council Ordinance 328, dated August 12, 1991, established the full time position of Public Safety Director. Under the ordinance, the Public Safety Director was a merit system employee who was afforded every right and benefit given to employees serving classified positions as designated by the city’s Personnel Manual. Mr. Lumpkin asserts that this provision clearly entitled him to notice of charges against him and a due process hearing prior to his termination. Mr. Lumpkin served as Public Safety Director until October of 1996.

On October 7, 1996, at a special session of the Lafayette City Council, council member Cornelius Reese, Jr. made a motion to abolish the position of Public Safety Director. See Plaintiffs Exhibit 15. The council members and mayor voted unanimously to abolish the position. See id. In a regular session of the Lafayette City Council on October 14, 1996, the council members and mayor voted unanimously to have the first reading to abolish Ordinance number 328. See Plaintiffs Exhibit 17. Subsequently, at the regular City Council session on October 28, 1996, the council members and mayor voted unanimously to abolish Ordinance number 328. See Plaintiffs Exhibit 16. Mr. Lumpkin was not rehired as Police Chief.

Mr. Lumpkin subsequently made a written request for a hearing before the City Council, which the Defendants rejected. The Plaintiff then filed suit in this court against the City of Lafayette and the mayor and council members, in their individual and official capacities, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Mr. Lumpkin alleged that his termination violated his procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment because he was not given notice of any charges against him, nor was he provided a due process hearing prior to his termination.

III. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss on March 10, 1998. As grounds for dismissal, the Defendants asserted that Mr. Lump-kin had not plead or proved that Alabama offered inadequate postdeprivation remedies. Mr. Lumpkin responded that where an employee is entitled to pre-termination notice and a hearing and does not receive that process, the procedural due process violation is complete when that employee is terminated.

In an Order dated April 10, 1998, this court granted the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss without prejudice. The court issued a Memorandum Opinion in which it examined the eases cited by both parties and stated the law as follows:

[T]he dispositive issue is not whether or not an employee was given a pre-termi-nation hearing, but whether the defendants were applying or violating state procedures in denying the plaintiff a pre-termi-nation hearing.
Under the analysis applied by these three cases, if the defendants were applying established procedures, then the procedural due process violation is completed with the termination. If the defendants were violating established procedures, then the procedural due process does not occur unless the state’s remedies for this unauthorized act on the part of the state’s agents are inadequate.

Lumpkin v. City of Lafayette, No. 97-A-1682-E, at 2-3 (M.D.Ala. Apr.10, 1998).

This court gave leave to the Plaintiff to file an Amended Complaint to state more clearly the basis for his procedural due process claim. The court instructed the Plaintiff to “make it clear whether he is challenging the City’s termination procedures, or whether the Plaintiff is alleging that the City failed to follow established procedures.” Id. at 5. The court further instructed the Plaintiff that if he “is challenging termination procedures, he should identify those procedures, and if he is challenging failure to comply with established procedures, he should make it clear whether he is claiming that post-deprivation remedies are inadequate.” Id.

Mr. Lumpkin filed an Amended Complaint on April 24, 1998. In the Amended Complaint, the Plaintiff clearly alleges that the Defendants failed to comply with or follow the established procedures required by the City of Lafayette’s Employee Handbook and the City of Lafayette’s Code of Ordinances. *1262 (Am.Compl.1i 14). The Plaintiff further asserts “that there are no state post-deprivation remedies available to him and/or that any state post-deprivation remedies alleged to exist are inadequate.” (Am.Compl.1115).

Subsequently, the Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint to add claims for breach of contract and a violation of Alabama Code § 11-43-160.

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24 F. Supp. 2d 1259, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lumpkin-v-city-of-lafayette-ala-almd-1998.