Mills v. City of Shreveport

58 F. Supp. 3d 677, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139747, 2014 WL 4924909
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedSeptember 30, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-2670
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 58 F. Supp. 3d 677 (Mills v. City of Shreveport) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mills v. City of Shreveport, 58 F. Supp. 3d 677, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139747, 2014 WL 4924909 (W.D. La. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM RULING

S. MAURICE HICKS, JR., District Judge.

Before the court are three motions for summary judgment, the first filed by plaintiff Michael Mills (“Mills”), the second filed by defendants the City of Shreveport (“the City”), Willie L. Shaw, Jr. (“Chief Shaw”) and Duane Huddleston (“Deputy Chief Huddleston”), and the third filed by the Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board (“the Board”) and Jason Brook (“Sergeant Brook”).1 See Record Documents 23, 25, and 27. For the reasons set forth below, Mills’s motion is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, the motion filed by the City, Chief Shaw, and Deputy Chief Huddleston is [680]*680GRANTED, and the motion filed by the Board and Sergeant Brook is DENIED.

1. BACKGROUND

The events relevant to the instant lawsuit began on May 26, 2013. On that date, Mills, an officer with the Shreveport Police Department (“SPD”), was dispatched to 6100 Southern Avenue in Shreveport to respond to a call. See Record Document 23, Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 1; Record Document 28. Mills was accompanied by Officer Ernestine Morris (“Morris”). See Record Document 28. After arriving, Mills spoke with the homeowner, Ann Harris (“Harris”), who claimed that her son and his girlfriend were refusing to leave her home and she could not afford the fee to have them evicted. See id. When Harris asked Mills what he was going to do, he told her “not a damn thing.” Id.

Harris subsequently filed a complaint against Mills on June 11, 2013. See Record Document 23, Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 2, Ex. 2. The complaint was received by Sergeant J. Walker (“Walker”), who also completed a complaint referral. See id., Exs. 2 and 3. In the complaint referral, Walker noted possible violations of “SPD 100.15 — Knowledge of Laws” and “SPD 100.56 — Reports,” and also noted “[t]his is a possible violation of policy and/or other department rules and regulations.” Id., Ex. 3 at 1. Lieutenant Reginald Washington (“Lieutenant Washington”) interviewed Mills regarding the complaint on July 3, 2013. See Record Document 25, Statement of Undisputed Facts at ¶ 1, Ex. 3. Mills admitted to telling Harris there was “not a damn thing” he was going to do. See id., Statement of Undisputed Facts at ¶ 1, Ex. 3 at 6:40-7:35. Lieutenant Washington subsequently wrote an interoffice memorandum recommending that Harris’s complaint against Mills be sustained for violations of two SPD policies, specifically policy 100.492 on courtesy and policy 404.013 on reports. See Record Document 23, Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 5, Ex. 4.

On July 31, 2013, Lieutenant Carolyn Deal conducted a counseling session with Mills regarding the sustained complaint. See id., Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 8, Ex. 7. An inter-office memorandum documenting this counseling session was placed in Mills’s police personnel file. See id., Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 8, Ex. ’ 7.4 On that same day, Mills filed a request for an appeal with the Board regarding the documented counseling and also requested a hearing. See id., Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 9; Record [681]*681Document 27, Ex. A.5

The Board held proceedings on August 14, 2013. See Record Document 23, Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 11, Ex. 1. Mills alleges that the City objected to the Board hearing his appeal. See id., Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 11.6 Specifically, Mills contends that the City argued that verbal counseling is not discipline, and therefore the Board did not have the authority to hear an appeal. See id., Statement of Uncontested Facts at ¶ 11. The Board unanimously voted to deny Mills’s request for a hearing. See id., Ex. 1 at 18-19. Sergeant Brook, who served as chairman of the Board, stated that a documented verbal counseling “does not affect a transfer, it does not affect his seniority and it does not affect his job” and that Mills’s options were to “go to district court with it or ... talk to [Chief Shaw].” Id., Ex. 1 at 10.

Mills filed the instant lawsuit in state court on August 29, 2013, alleging violations of his civil service rights as well as his substantive and procedural due process rights under both state and federal law. See Record Document 1. In his complaint, Mills seeks a judgment reversing the City’s imposition of discipline — the documented verbal counseling — against him and ordering that all references to that discipline be removed from his personnel and internal affairs files. Alternatively, Mills asks that the court order Sergeant Brook and the Board to grant him a hearing on his appeal, and order the City, Chief Shaw, and Deputy Chief Huddleston to produce all written and verbal statements and other evidence that were considered prior to imposing the discipline. See id. The defendants removed the case to this court on the grounds that Mills’s complaint stated a federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, giving this court federal question jurisdiction. See Record Document 1.

The parties subsequently filed their respective motions for summary judgment, all seeking judgment as a matter of law in their favor. See Record Documents 23, 25, and 27. Specifically, Mills contends he is entitled to judgment because discipline was imposed against him without a pre-disciplinary conference (“PDC”) being held, in contravention of both state law and the City’s own policies, rendering the discipline an absolute nullity. Moreover, Mills claims that the Board’s policy of refusing to hear appeals from documented verbal counseling sessions violates state law. See Record Document 23. The defendants argue that Mills’s rights were not violated because documented verbal counseling is not discipline. See Record Documents 25, 27, and 28. The City, Chief Shaw, and Deputy Chief Huddleston contend they are entitled to immunity under Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2798.17 because they were exercising discretionary [682]*682authority when ordering counseling for Mills. See Record Document 25. Additionally, Chief Shaw and Deputy Chief Huddleston claim they are entitled to qualified immunity because no constitutional rights were violated and there was no clearly established law regarding due process rights following a documented verbal counseling. See id. The Board argues that it is entitled to quasi-judicial immunity because it is a reviewing body, and to discretionary acts immunity under Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2798.1, while Sergeant Brook claims he is entitled to absolute immunity. See Record Documents 27 and 28. All parties filed oppositions, and a reply brief was filed by the City, Chief Shaw, and Deputy Chief Huddleston. See Record Documents 30-34.

II. LAW AND ANALYSIS
A. Summary Judgment Standard.

Summary judgment is proper pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

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Bluebook (online)
58 F. Supp. 3d 677, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139747, 2014 WL 4924909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mills-v-city-of-shreveport-lawd-2014.