McGovern v. MVM, INC.

545 F. Supp. 2d 468, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11846, 2008 WL 442118
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 19, 2008
DocketCivil Action 04-2541
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 545 F. Supp. 2d 468 (McGovern v. MVM, INC.) 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
McGovern v. MVM, INC., 545 F. Supp. 2d 468, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11846, 2008 WL 442118 (E.D. Pa. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

BARTLE, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff John McGovern, a former Court Security Officer (“CSO”) charged with protecting the United States courthouse in Philadelphia, has sued MVM, Inc. (“MVM”), his former employer, as well as the United States Marshals Service (“USMS”). He contends that he was wrongfully terminated after he was medically disqualified from the CSO position by the USMS and subsequently terminated by MVM. His First Amended Complaint brings three counts alleging violations of: (1) his procedural due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution by both MVM and the USMS; (2) the Rehabilitation Act (“RA”), 29 U.S.C. § 701, et seq., by the USMS; and (3) violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., by MVM. Before the court are the motions of MVM and the USMS for summary judgment. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); In re Flat Glass Antitrust Litig., 385 F.3d 350, 357 (3d Cir.2004).

I.

Congress has given the USMS the obligation to provide for the security of the United States Courts. 28 U.S.C. § 566(a). One of the ways in which the USMS meets this obligation is to contract with a number of private security companies, including MVM. From October 1, 2001 to October 1, 2006, MVM held the contract to provide CSO’s in each of the federal courthouses in the Third Circuit.

Beginning in January, 2001, the USMS implemented uniform medical standards and procedures for the CSO position. The history of the decision to implement these medical requirements, as well as the relationship between the CSO’s, MVM and the USMS, has been documented in detail in a number of earlier opinions. E.g. Wilson v. MVM, Inc., 2005 WL 1231968 (E.D.Pa.2005). We will not repeat that history here but merely reiterate that as a result of the new medical standards each CSO is required to have an annual medical examination to determine if he or she meets the medical qualification for the CSO position. The medical records from that examination are sent to a reviewing physician employed by the USMS. That physician either accepts the CSO as medically qualified or informs the CSO that his or her status is “not medically qualified.” After receiving a “not medically qualified” letter, the CSO has 30 days to submit any additional medical documentation before a final determination is made.

Plaintiff McGovern began working as a CSO in the federal courthouse in Philadelphia in August, 1995. He became an MVM employee when that company took over the CSO contract for the Third Circuit on October 1, 2001. He submitted to a required annual medical examination on January 17, 2002. In March of that year, a USMS physician determined that McGovern was “not medically qualified” to work as a CSO, and gave McGovern thirty days to submit additional medical information, particularly with respect to McGovern’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”). In response to the *472 USMS’s instructions, McGovern went to his personal pulmonary physician, Dr. Earl King, for the requested follow-up testing and timely submitted additional medical information in the form of a report from Dr. King. On December 12, 2002, Dr. J.V. Barson, the USMS reviewing physician concluded that McGovern was medically disqualified from performing the essential functions of the CSO position as a result of his lung disease and problems with his blood oxygen levels. The Contracting Officer of the USMS sent MVM a letter to that effect on January 8, 2003. The next day MVM removed McGovern from the USMS contract and terminated him.

McGovern brought this suit challenging his termination in June, 2004. The USMS and MVM each filed a motion to dismiss. This court granted those motions in part, dismissing certain of McGovern’s claims against each defendant. McGovern v. MVM, Inc., 2004 WL 2554565, *1 (E.D.Pa. Nov. 9, 2004). On July 18, 2005, while the case was still in the discovery phase, the court placed the matter in suspense pending a decision from the Court of Appeals in Wilson v. MVM, 475 F.3d 166 (3d Cir.2007). Wilson presented some of the same issues facing the court in the instant matter. Once Wilson was decided, plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint and the parties were given the opportunity to conclude discovery. As noted above, MVM and the USMS now move for summary judgment.

II.

McGovern first alleges that the USMS violated his procedural due process rights under the Fifth Amendment when its reviewing physician found him to be medically disqualified. He contends that he should have received a hearing and accuses the USMS reviewing physician of failing to review the medical report of Dr. bang, McGovern’s personal physician.

The Wilson decision is clearly disposi-tive of this claim. 475 F.3d 166. There, three CSO’s employed by MVM and found to be medically disqualified by the USMS brought suit in which they contended the USMS violated their due process rights. The Wilson court concluded that the CSO’s had a constitutionally protected property interest in their employment and were entitled to procedural due process, the basic requirements of which are notice and an opportunity to be heard. Id. at 177-78. To determine the precise contours of the notice and hearing required before the CSO’s could be found medically disqualified, the court balanced the plaintiff’s interest in continued employment against the government’s interest in “providing healthy, physically qualified security to protect its court houses and employees.” Id. at 178-79. The court then examined “the risk of error in the procedure used compared with the degree of improved accuracy that additional procedures would provide.” Id. citing Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 334-35, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976).

The Wilson court held that the CSO’s were accorded sufficient process under the Due Process Clause and affirmed this court’s decision granting the motion of the USMS and other federal defendants for summary judgment on this question. Id. at 179. The court explained:

After the appellants were termed medically disqualified, but before they were terminated, they were provided with notice of their medical disqualification and offered an opportunity to respond with medical documentation from their own doctors regarding their ability to perform their positions.

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Bluebook (online)
545 F. Supp. 2d 468, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11846, 2008 WL 442118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcgovern-v-mvm-inc-paed-2008.