Terrell v. United States

7 Cl. Ct. 171, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1222
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 28, 1984
DocketNo. 408-83C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 7 Cl. Ct. 171 (Terrell v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terrell v. United States, 7 Cl. Ct. 171, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1222 (cc 1984).

Opinion

ORDER

KOZINSKI, Chief Judge.

Facts

In September 1980, plaintiff was commissioned as a reserve officer in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. On September 28 he reported to Fort Lee, Virginia for orientation. While at Fort Lee, he spoke with an Army psychologist and explained his theory of telemetric telepathy, a system whereby certain individuals (operators) control the thoughts, words, and deeds of others (victims). Plaintiff claimed that he was a victim and had been for some time.

As a result of these consultations, plaintiff was hospitalized and diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was transferred to the Portsmouth Naval Regional Medical Center for in-patient psychiatric treatment. At Portsmouth, plaintiff was evaluated by a Navy medical board and transferred to Fort Eustis, Virginia. He ended up at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where his case was considered by a physical evaluation board.

The board determined that plaintiff’s condition prevented him from performing his assigned duties and that it was a pre-induction condition that had not been aggravated by his military service. The board recommended that plaintiff be separated without benefits. In February of 1981 a formal physical evaluation board was convened at plaintiff’s request. It affirmed the initial board’s findings, and was itself affirmed in turn by the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency (USAPDA). Plaintiff was discharged April 6, 1981.

Plaintiff immediately filed suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking damages for his treatment and confinement, as well as reinstatement. He argued that the Army had deprived him of due process and had violated its own regulations. The court denied plaintiff’s request for an injunction and granted summary judgment in favor of defendant on plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory claims. The district court dismissed without prejudice plaintiff’s claims for reinstatement and back pay.

Plaintiff next sought relief in the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records (ABCMR). The board denied him relief on September 12, 1983. Plaintiff then brought a second action in district court, raising many of the same claims as [173]*173in his original complaint, and also challenging the ABCMR decision. The district court allowed plaintiff to withdraw his suit and he refiled in this court.

On August 22, 1983, defendant moved for summary judgment. On November 21, 1983, the court suspended all discovery pending the resolution of defendant’s motion. Plaintiff has responded to the summary judgment motion. At the same time, he argues that he needs discovery to make his case more convincing. Accordingly, plaintiff has moved for leave to file out of time a motion for reconsideration of the suspension order.

Issues Presented

Plaintiff states four counts in his complaint. First, he claims that the Army violated his rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and control over his mental processes, and that it subjected him to involuntary behavior experimentation and involuntary drug therapy in violation of the first, fifth and ninth amendments. Second, he alleges that as a result of the Army’s unlawful treatment he has been deprived of his employment and has lost professional stature. Third, plaintiff claims that his discharge violated Army regulations and deprived him of procedural due process under the fifth amendment. Fourth, plaintiff claims that the ABCMR acted arbitrarily and capriciously, and abused its discretion in failing to reinstate him.

Defendant argues that plaintiff’s first three counts are barred by res judicata because the district court granted the government’s summary judgment motion on these claims in plaintiff’s first suit. The government also points out that these claims sound in tort and are therefore beyond this court’s jurisdiction. With respect to count four, defendant argues that the ABCMR did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant plaintiff reinstatement and back pay.

Discussion

A. Res Judicata

Plaintiff originally filed suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, demanding reinstatement and damages. The court dismissed plaintiff’s claim for reinstatement without prejudice since he had not exhausted his administrative remedy before the ABCMR. The court did, however, grant summary judgment in favor of the government “on all remaining claims, including claims for damages for alleged violations of plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory rights.” Terrell v. United States, No. 81-1418, slip op. at 3 (E.D.Pa. Jan. 22, 1982).

The doctrine of res judicata or claim preclusion provides that “[a] final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties or their privies from relitigating issues that were or could have been raised in that action.” Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Moitie, 452 U.S. 394, 398, 101 S.Ct. 2424, 2427, 69 L.Ed.2d 103 (1981); Syntex Ophthalmics, Inc. v. Novicky, 745 F.2d 1423, 1432 (Fed.Cir.1984); Young Engineers, Inc. v. ITC, 721 F.2d 1305, 1314 (Fed.Cir.1983). The district court held that plaintiff’s claims based upon his treatment by the military were foreclosed by the doctrine of service immunity. Terrell, No. 81-1418, slip op. at 8. At that time, plaintiff had failed to identify or challenge “any specific army regulation as being unconstitutional in substance or application.” Id. at 6.1

Plaintiff would escape the effects of the prior judgment by arguing that the district court did not dismiss his claims on the merits, but because there were other remedies to which he had recourse. Further, he argues that the present suit is based on a different statute and seeks different remedies. Moreover he suggests that since the district court was not required to decide that his claims were barred by the doctrine of service immunity, res judicata is inapplicable.

[174]*174The district court’s opinion leaves no doubt that the court there resolved plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory claims on the merits. It held that any such claims were barred by the doctrine of service immunity under Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 71 S.Ct. 153, 95 L.Ed. 152 (1950); Jaffee v. United States, 592 F.2d 712 (3d Cir.), cert. denied 441 U.S. 961, 99 S.Ct. 2406, 60 L.Ed.2d 1066 (1979); and Jaffee v. United States, 663 F.2d 1226 (3d Cir.1981). The court specifically entered judgment for defendant on all “claims for damages for alleged violations of plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory rights.” Terrell v. United States, No. 81-1418, Order of January 22, 1982 (E.D.Pa.).

Having had the opportunity to litigate his constitutional and statutory claims, plaintiff is now barred from relitigating these same claims, as well as any claims based upon the same transaction that could have been raised but were not. Syntex Ophthalmics, Inc.,

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