McIntosh v. Weinberger

617 F. Supp. 107, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16414
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 24, 1984
DocketNo. 82-0491 C (5)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 617 F. Supp. 107 (McIntosh v. Weinberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McIntosh v. Weinberger, 617 F. Supp. 107, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16414 (E.D. Mo. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant Turner’s motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. Defendant Turner advocates three grounds on which this Court should dismiss all claims against him or grant summary judgment in his favor. The grounds asserted are that: 1) this action does not warrant the Court’s authorization of a non-statutory remedy for plaintiffs’ alleged Fifth Amendment violations; 2) the plaintiffs, as a matter of law, have not been deprived of a property interest in violation of the Due Process Clause; and 3) defendant Turner is immune from suit, despite his actions, under the doctrine of qualified immunity. For the reasons stated below, defendant Turner’s motion is denied.

In Count IV of plaintiffs’ complaint (plaintiffs’ complaint alleges Title VII and ADEA violations by the U.S. Army), plaintiffs allege that defendant Turner deprived them of their property interest in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. All parties agree that defendant Turner did, in fact, order the destruction of certain documents produced by the investigation of a “reconstructed panel”. Plaintiffs aver that these documents contain the results of the reconstructed panel and that defendant Turner destroyed evidence in connection with the processing of their discrimination complaints. They further aver that they are without an adequate remedy for this wrong under the available Title VII and ADEA procedures and that defendant Turner’s knowing and willful act deprives him of any immunity.

Under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a movant is entitled to summary judgment if he can “show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that (he) is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See all Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). In passing on a motion for summary judgment, a court is required to view the facts and inferences that may be derived therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Butter v. Buechler, 706 F.2d 844, 846 (8th Cir.1983); Vette Co. v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., 612 F.2d 1076, 1077 (8th Cir.1980). The burden is on the moving party and a court should not grant a summary judgment motion unless it is convinced that there is no evidence to sustain a recovery under any circumstances. Butter, 706 F.2d at 846.

Plaintiffs have pled a federal tort cause of action against defendant Turner alleging deprivation of a property interest in violation of the Fifth Amendment. A direct federal civil suit for a constitutional violation, seeking monetary damages against the responsible federal official, was first recognized in Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotic Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Since Bivens, the Supreme Court has fine-tuned the scope of the “constitutional tort”. Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14, 100 S.Ct. 1468, 64 L.Ed.2d 15 (1980); Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 99 S.Ct. 2264, 60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979). A Bivens -type action can be defeated by two fact situations: 1) where “special factors counseling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by congress” exists; and 2) some type of [109]*109alternative form of judicial relief exists, especially an exclusive alternative remedy. Carlson, supra; Davis, supra.

Defendant Turner relies heavily on the recent Supreme Court case of Bush v. Lucas, 462 U.S. 367, 103 S.Ct. 2404, 76 L.Ed.2d 648 (1983), in which upon consideration of the Carlson and Davis principles, the Court refused to create a Bivens -type cause of action for a federal employee seeking damages under the First Amendment for retaliatory demotion. After careful and extensive analysis, the Court held that there was no need to create a new federal tort cause of action because the Civil Service Commission’s regulations adequately provided the plaintiff with a remedy. “Constitutional challenges to agency action, such as the First Amendment claims raised by petitioner, are fully cognizable within this system.” Bush v. Lucas, 103 S.Ct. at 2415, 76 L.Ed.2d at 662.

Such a situation does not exist in the present case. Count IV of the plaintiffs’ complaint seeks to remedy a wrong committed outside the context of their employment discrimination claims. Plaintiffs are alleging tortious interference with the ongoing investigatory processing of their EEO complaints. Plaintiffs’ injuries relate to their discrimination claims but do not directly stem from actions taken in regard to their employment status. Instead, plaintiffs’ cause of action is the type Justices Marshall and Blackman considered in their concurring opinion when they stated:

“Moreover, there is nothing in today’s decision to foreclose a federal employee from pursuing a Bivens remedy where his injury is not attributable to personnel actions which may be remedied under the federal statutory scheme.”

Bush v. Lucas, 103 S.Ct. at 2418, 76 L.Ed.2d at 666.

The Court finds here that plaintiffs are without redress as to defendant Turner’s actions in the absence of a constitutional remedy. Title VII and the ADEA simply are not designed to adequately provide relief to the plaintiffs under the circumstances of this case. The remedial system provided under Title VII and the ADEA does not redress the intentional deprivation of a property interest as alleged by the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs have, therefore, adequately stated a claim upon which relief may be granted.

The second ground for dismissal sought by defendant Turner is that, as a matter of law, there has been no violation of the Fifth Amendment because no property interest exists under the circumstances outlined by the plaintiffs. Defendant Turner avers that plaintiffs were not entitled to the destroyed documents, therefore no deprivation of a property interest took place. Defendants counter by attempting to characterize their property interest as entitlement to having their complaints properly investigated, having access to the results of the EEOC investigation, and in having the agency render a decision based on all the results of the investigation.

The Supreme.Court recently provided a thorough analysis of “property interests” protected by the Due Process Clause. Logan v. Zimmerman Bush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 428-431, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 1155, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982). The Court in Logan

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617 F. Supp. 107, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcintosh-v-weinberger-moed-1984.