Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/299/358/237142/
Timestamp: 2019-06-17 22:35:52
Document Index: 361150788

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1441', '§ 1442', '§ 1442', '§ 1441', '§ 1442', '§ 1306']

Jacob M. Poss, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Jerome Lieberman, Defendant-appellee, 299 F.2d 358 (2d Cir. 1962) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Second Circuit › 1962 › Jacob M. Poss, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Jerome Lieberman, Defendant-appellee
Jacob M. Poss, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Jerome Lieberman, Defendant-appellee, 299 F.2d 358 (2d Cir. 1962)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - 299 F.2d 358 (2d Cir. 1962)
Under the removal statute 28 U.S.C. § 1441 it is necessary for the facts to appear on the face of the complaint or subsequent amendments filed by the plaintiff; as to this there is no disagreement. Romick v. Bekins Van & Storage Co., 197 F.2d 369 (5 Cir. 1952). Hart & Wechsler, The Federal Courts and The Federal System, 763 n. 1 (1953). This is because the case may be removed under Section 1441 only where it is one over which the federal courts would have original jurisdiction. This they do not have based upon a federal right asserted by way of defense. This is not the case, however, under 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a) under which the removal in this case was sought and obtained. The removal is based on a federal interest in the matter, the facts underlying which may be stated in the removal petition itself, whether or not federal jurisdiction existed over the claim as stated in the complaint as originally served. Where a federal officer asserts a privilege for acts done under color of his office the defense is based upon a federal right, the purpose of which is to prevent federal employees from being unduly harassed by "vindictive or ill founded damage suits brought on account of action taken in the exercise of their official responsibilities." Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564-565, 79 S. Ct. 1335, 1336, 3 L. Ed. 2d 1434. Consequently, the federal government has a special interest in such matters which justifies the granting of removal jurisdiction to the federal courts in such cases. Congress has not in § 1442, as in § 1441, required that the case be one over which the court have original jurisdiction in order for the defendant to obtain removal. In the Revision of Title 28 U.S.Code, Act of June 25, 1948, c. 686, 62 Stat. 938, the right of removal was extended to apply to all officers and employees of the United States or any agency thereof. See Reviser's Note 28 U.S.C.A. § 1442. The action was properly removed.
It may be doubted that the first ground would have much validity if applied to merely clerical or minor administrative positions, important as it may be to positions on the policy making level. The recent cases upholding absolute privilege, Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579 (2 Cir. 1949), Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564, 79 S. Ct. 1335 (1959) and Howard v. Lyons, 360 U.S. 593, 79 S. Ct. 1331, 3 L. Ed. 2d 1454 (1959), while perhaps couched in language supporting the claim of absolute privilege regardless of the nature of the public office or employment, in fact involve relatively important official positions — in Gregoire v. Biddle Attorneys-General of the United States, Directors of the Alien Control Unit of the Department of Justice, and a District Director of Immigration, in Barr v. Matteo the Acting Director of Rent Stabilization, in Howard v. Lyons a naval captain, Commander of the Boston Naval Shipyard.
There has been some uncertainty among scholars as to the reach of absolute privilege to the lower echelons of administrative employees. Cf. Prosser on Torts, 2d ed. (1955), Sec. 95, p. 612. While the language of the recent cases indicates an unlimited reach to the privilege, it may be possible that a case involving such an administrative employee at a minor grade might lead to a reexamination of the language. Plainly, though, there is better reason to hold the privilege absolute when applied to reports required or permitted to be made within an agency in the normal functioning of the agency's business, when these reports are required to be confidential as here and their disclosure would be a misdemeanor under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1306(a). Chief Justice Warren, dissenting in Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564 at 582, 79 S. Ct. 1335 at 1345:
A classic statement of the reasons for the recognition of the privilege is that of Judge Learned Hand in Gregoire v. Biddle, 177 F.2d 579, 581 (2 Cir. 1949) as quoted in part by Justice Harlan in Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564 at 571, 572, 79 S. Ct. 1335