The Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, Inc. v.

Opinion

18-3049 The Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, Inc. v. The State of New York

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

SUMMARY ORDER

RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.

At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 27th day of July, two thousand twenty-two.

PRESENT: JON O. NEWMAN, GERARD E. LYNCH, Circuit Judges.*

SIMILARLY SITUATED, ROLAND J. RUSSELL, ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, JOHN P. MORETTI, JR., ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, RICKY D. PALACIOS, ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, ROBERT WELSH, FREDERICK W. SCHEIDT,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v. No. 18-3049-cv

KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, PATRICIA A. HITE, INDIVIDUALLY, REBECCA A. CORSO, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE DEPARTMENT, CAROLINE W. AHL, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF THE NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, LANI V. JONES, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF THE NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, ROBERT L. MEGNA, INDIVIDUALLY, ROBERT F. MUJICA, JR., IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF THE BUDGET, THOMAS P. DINAPOLI, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMPTROLLER OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,

3

Defendants-Appellees.**

4

dispute growing out of the State’s 2011 decision to alter its rates of contribution to

retired former employees’ health insurance plans. We assume the parties’

familiarity with the facts, the procedural history of the case, and the

specifications of issues on appeal, which we set forth only as necessary to explain

our decision.

We reserved decision in this case pending disposition of Donohue v. Hochul,

No. 18-3193-cv, which was designated both in the district court and in this Court

as the lead case of eleven related cases alleging breach of contract and

constitutional contract-impairment claims based on the alteration of State health

insurance contribution rates for retirees. Following this Court’s final disposition

of Donohue, we directed the parties in this and the other related cases “to file

letter-briefs stating their views on how their case should be resolved in light of

Donohue v. Cuomo (‘Donohue II’), 980 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 2020), Donohue v. Cuomo

(‘Donohue III’), 38 N.Y.3d 1 (2022), and Donohue v. Hochul, [32 F.4th 200 (2d Cir.

2022)] (‘Donohue IV’),” addressing in particular “the extent to which anything in

the collective bargaining agreements at issue in the case, or any other

circumstances specific to the case, distinguish the case from Donohue.” ECF No.

116 at 2. The State filed such a supplemental letter-brief, and the PBANYST

Plaintiffs filed a letter informing this Court that they do not oppose the State’s

5

filing. We construe that non-opposition as a concession that this case is materially

indistinguishable from Donohue and therefore that we should affirm the district

court’s grant of summary judgment to the State on the same grounds as we did in

Donohue IV.

For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court

Footnotes

1. THE POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE TROOPERS, INC., THOMAS MUNGEER, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS PRESIDENT OF THE POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF THE NEW YORK SATE POLICE, INC., DANIEL ROMANO, ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, MARK ROBILLARD, ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS * Judge Peter W. Hall, originally a member of the panel in this case, died on March 11, 2021. The two remaining members of the panel, who are in agreement, authorized the issuance of this Summary Order. See 28 U.S.C. § 46(d); 2d Cir. IOP E(b); United States v. Desimone, 140 F.3d 457, 458-59 (2d Cir. 1998). FOR PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS: STEPHEN G. DENIGRIS, The DeNigris Law Firm, PLLC, Albany, NY. FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES: FREDERICK A. BRODIE, Assistant Solicitor General (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Andrea Oser, Deputy Solicitor General, on the brief), for Letitia James, Attorney General, State of New York, Albany, NY. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Mae A. D’Agostino, Judge). UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. Plaintiffs-Appellants the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, Inc. (“PBANYST”) and current and retired members of that union (collectively, “the PBANYST Plaintiffs”) appeal the judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Mae A. D’Agostino, J.) granting summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees, various State officials (collectively, “the State”) on all claims in this contractual and constitutional ** The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as set forth above. To the extent that former state officials were sued in their official capacity, current officeholders are substituted as defendants pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2).