Margoles v. Ross

67 F.R.D. 666, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11297
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 25, 1975
DocketNo. 70-C-151
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 67 F.R.D. 666 (Margoles v. Ross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Margoles v. Ross, 67 F.R.D. 666, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11297 (W.D. Wis. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROBERT D. MORGAN, District Judge, Sitting by Designation.

This is a civil action for money damages. Plaintiff sues in four “causes of action” for (1) the alleged violation of his civil rights by defamation, (2) an alleged conspiracy by all defendants to violate his civil rights as alleged in the first cause, (3) alleged slander by defendant Ross in an interview with a newspaper reporter, and (4) alleged denial of his right to due process of law in the conduct of hearings by the Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners concerning his application for restoration of license to practice medicine in Wisconsin. Jurisdiction is claimed under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(3) and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, and also under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

In complaint originally filed June 11, 1970, plaintiff sets forth that he was convicted of violations of the Internal Revenue Code on June 3, 1960, and was sentenced to serve one year in prison and to pay fines of $15,000; that he was convicted on October 12, 1960, of attempting to influence an officer of the court and to obstruct justice, and was sentenced to serve five years in prison and to pay fines of $5,000 (and on the same day was acquitted of a charge of attempted bribery); that on June 6, 1961, he was convicted of a misdemeanor for communicating with a juror and was sentenced to serve six months in prison and to pay fines of $1,000; that on July 14, 1960, the Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners recommended revocation of his license; that on February 26, 1962, his license was revoked by the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County; that on September 15, 1962, he was released on parole; that in September, 1966, his parole expired; that he has since applied for and been granted licenses to practice medicine in Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, California, Vermont, and the District of Columbia; and that he has applied for and been denied licenses in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, among other states. (License has been granted in Illinois since the complaint was filed.)

For his first cause of action, plaintiff alleges that defendants, or some of them, or one of them, have attempted to prevent his licensure in other states by supplying not only correct information about him, but by vigorously and aggressively supplying varying degrees and types of false information to persons and agencies requesting information about him, and to persons and agencies not requesting such information. The degrees and types of false information allegedly include the following:

1. Between March and June, 1966, defendants sent certain unsubstantiated complaints to the Iowa State Board of Medical Examiners in an attempt to induce that board to refuse plaintiff’s application for a license.
2. Between March and June, 1966, defendants falsely and maliciously, in communication to the Iowa State Board of Medical Examiners, accused plaintiff of having performed illegal abortions.
3. During March, 1968, an employee of the Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners travelled to the State of Michigan under the direction of the defendants and interviewed potential associates and employers of plaintiff in an attempt to discourage them from employing and associating with plaintiff, and also falsified certain [668]*668records and reports relating to plaintiff.
4. Between October and December, 1968, defendants made unsolicited contacts with the New Jersey Medical Board and falsely and maliciously advised that board that plaintiff was fraudulently misrepresenting his background and was unsuited for practicing medicine, all for the purpose of attempting to influence the board to rescind plaintiffs license.
5. During the period from 1964 to and including 1969, defendants sent letters to the Illinois Medical Licensing Board which were derogatory to plaintiff, and which contained false representations, in a successful attempt to preclude an Illinois license to the plaintiff.
6. Defendants willfully and maliciously misrepresented records and information for the purpose of discrediting plaintiff and preventing his licensure in certain states, precluding plaintiff’s employment by persons, organizations and communities eager and willing to retain his services.

Plaintiff contends that by these utterances defendants are depriving him of his right to practice medicine and thereby of valuable property, to his damage.

For his second cause of action, plaintiff alleges that all of the defendants conspired among themselves to deprive him of the rights as set forth in the first cause of action.

For his third cause of action, plaintiff alleges that defendant Ross falsely, willfully and maliciously made a statement to a reporter for United Press International, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was substantially as follows: “Dr. Mar-góles’ attempt to secure licensure in this state is a joke.” “He has been performing abortions”; that defendant Ross intended his statement to mean that plaintiff was performing illicit and unlawful abortions on women and violating his responsibility and oath as a physician and surgeon; that the person to whom the statement was made understood said words to have such meaning; that the statement was not true; and that defendant Ross knew that it was not true.

In an Amended Complaint for which leave of court was granted December 21, 1973, for his fourth cause of action plaintiff alleges that sometime after his release on parole, he petitioned the Wisconsin Board of Medical Examiners for reinstatement of his license; that he was granted a hearing, after which the board recommended that his license not be reinstated; that in conducting the hearing, the board and each member of the board deprived him of his right to due process of law in the following respects, among others:

1. The conclusions of the board were based upon evidence which the board and the members thereof knew was false.
2. The findings of fact and conclusions of law were contrary to evidence in the possession of the board.
3. The findings of fact and conclusions of law were based, at least in part, on evidence which was received by the board in camera, of which plaintiff was not informed and which plaintiff was not given an opportunity to rebut.
4. The findings of fact and conclusions of law were based, at least in part, on evidence which was received by the board subsequent to the closing of the hearing.

The case is now before the court on defendants’ motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

It is clear that no genuine issue exists with respect to many facts which are established by affidavit, admissions, irrefutable record, etc., and which are whol

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Related

Margoles v. Ross
588 F.2d 832 (Seventh Circuit, 1978)
Margoles v. Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners
446 F. Supp. 959 (W.D. Wisconsin, 1978)
Sassi v. Breier
76 F.R.D. 487 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 F.R.D. 666, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/margoles-v-ross-wiwd-1975.