Source: http://openjurist.org/629/f2d/563/ellis-fischel-state-cancer-hospital-v-marshall-w
Timestamp: 2017-06-28 22:11:46
Document Index: 382504733

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 19', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 706', '§ 5851', '§ 25', '§ 706', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 5851', '§ 706', '§ 2134', '§ 2134']

629 F. 2d 563 - Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital v. Marshall W HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 629 F.2d.
Finally, in December 1978, the hospital staff was again reorganized to eliminate the division of medical physics. At the time, the hospital employed three medical physicists; Dr. Richter was the most senior. Each of the two junior medical physicists was assigned to be a member of a medical team in the reorganization, but Dr. Richter was laid off, purportedly because the position of chief medical physicist had been abolished. In the administrative proceedings, however, Dr. Nestor Canoy, the hospital's acting chief of staff, testified that after Dr. Richter's layoff the hospital had not had enough medical physicists and needed a chief medical physicist.
After his layoff, Dr. Richter complained to the Commission that he had been terminated in retaliation for his report of the iridium incident in violation of Commission regulations, 10 C.F.R. § 19.16(c) (1978). The complaint was referred to the Secretary of Labor for proceedings under 42 U.S.C. § 5851.1 A trial was held in May 1979 before an administrative law judge,2 who made findings and recommended reinstatement of Dr. Richter, back pay, attorney's fees and deletions of adverse references placed in Dr. Richter's file after April 1978. On August 10, 1979, the Secretary adopted the findings of the administrative law judge and issued the recommended order. See 42 U.S.C. § 5851(b)(2)(B). Petitioner sought review of the order in a timely fashion in this court. See 42 U.S.C. § 5851(c)(1). Subsequently, Dr. Richter obtained leave to intervene in this proceeding and filed a petition to enforce the order.
Before reaching petitioner's claims, we dismiss Dr. Richter's petition for enforcement and dismiss him as a party. This court has no jurisdiction over any enforcement proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 5851, which specifically requires enforcement proceedings in district court. At oral argument counsel for Dr. Richter conceded our lack of jurisdiction and Dr. Richter's dubious status as a party in this proceeding. We do not understand Dr. Richter to claim that he is adversely affected or aggrieved by the Secretary's order; therefore, we lack jurisdiction to entertain his petition for enforcement.3 42 U.S.C. § 5851(c)(1). We dismiss on our own motion. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h).
We next address petitioner's claims that the order was not supported by substantial evidence or that the order was arbitrary and capricious under the standard of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), specifically made applicable to this proceeding by 42 U.S.C. § 5851(c)(1). No lengthy discussion is needed to dispose of these arguments; the largely undisputed chronology of events outlined above provides substantial support for the Secretary's order. Petitioner makes much of the failure of any of the witnesses who appeared in the administrative proceeding on Dr. Richter's behalf to testify to personal and direct knowledge of retaliatory motivation. There is no requirement for such testimony, and there was certainly circumstantial evidence to support the finding of retaliation. Cf. Zoll v. Eastern Allamakee Community School District, 588 F.2d 246 (8th Cir. 1978).
Petitioner also argues that members of the hospital staff testified as to the absence of retaliatory motive behind the reorganization during which Dr. Richter was terminated. According to petitioner, the Secretary's finding of retaliatory motive unjustifiably implies that hospital staff who testified to the contrary perjured themselves. But their testimony failed in the administrative law judge's view to explain the termination. The presence or absence of retaliatory motive is a legal conclusion and is provable by circumstantial evidence even if there is testimony to the contrary by witnesses who perceived lack of such improper motive. See The Struggle, 13 U.S. (9 Cranch) 71, 3 L.Ed. 660, (1815); Schultz & Lindsay Construction Co. v. Erickson, 352 F.2d 425 (8th Cir. 1965); 1 J. Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law §§ 25-26 (1940). Moreover, there was testimony by Dr. Richter who expressed the opinion that retaliatory motive did cause the termination and by Dr. Canoy who thought retaliation was at least a part of the motive. We cannot find in the record any plausible explanation which does not include some element of retaliation for the proceedings against Dr. Richter six days after the Commission report, the sudden decline in Dr. Richter's evaluations and the decision to terminate him during a staff reorganization in which two less senior medical physicists were retained. We therefore conclude the Secretary's conclusion was supported by the evidence.4 Cf. Womack v. Munson, 619 F.2d 1292 (8th Cir. 1980) (finding of retaliatory discharge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
Petitioner also contends that the Secretary's order was contrary to its immunity under the eleventh amendment of the United States constitution, which petitioner asserts prohibits any administrative action against a state if initiated by a citizen. If so, the order would be improper under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(B), prohibiting administrative action in derogation of constitutional right or immunity. Petitioner, however cites no case law for the proposition that the eleventh amendment is any bar to administrative action, and we reject that position. The eleventh amendment bars judicial action, not action by Congress or the executive branch. See generally Tribe, Intergovernmental Immunities in Litigation, Taxation and Regulation: Separation of Powers Issues in Controversies about Federalism, 89 Harv.L.Rev. 682 (1976). Courts have found no eleventh amendment bar to actions brought by federal administrative agencies pursuant to complaints of private individuals. See Marshall v. A & M Consolidated Independent School District, 605 F.2d 186, 188-90 (5th Cir. 1979) (action under Fair Labor Standards Act by Secretary of Labor on behalf of citizen to recover back pay not barred by eleventh amendment); Brennan v. State of Iowa, 494 F.2d 100 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 1015, 95 S.Ct. 2422, 44 L.Ed.2d 683 (1975) (simil ). See also Employees of the Dept. of Public Health and Welfare v. Dept. of Public Health and Welfare, 411 U.S. 279, 285-86, 93 S.Ct. 1614, 1618, 36 L.Ed.2d 251 (1973); United States v. Mississippi, 380 U.S. 128, 140-41, 85 S.Ct. 808, 814-15, 13 L.Ed.2d 717 (1965). Implicit in these cases is the conclusion that administrative action against states pursuant to individual complaints does not run afoul of the eleventh amendment. For it would be absurd to hold that the eleventh amendment did not bar the Secretary from bringing a lawsuit, but did bar the Secretary from proceeding administratively to determine if the lawsuit was warranted. The eleventh amendment, therefore, is no bar to the Secretary's order.
We do not reach any question what effect the eleventh amendment might have in any potential enforcement proceedings that may occur under 42 U.S.C. § 5851(d) or (e) or other provisions, if the state should refuse to comply with the Secretary's order.
Accordingly, the order of the Secretary is affirmed.
42 U.S.C. § 5851 provides in relevant part:
§ 5851. Employee protection
(a) No . . . Commission licensee . . . may discharge any employee or otherwise discriminate against any employee with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee (or any person acting pursuant to a request of the employee)-
(3) assisted or participated or is about to assist or participate in any manner in such a proceeding . . . or in any other action to carry out the purposes of this Act or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
Complaint, filing and notification
(b)(1) Any employee who believes that he has been discharged or otherwise discriminated against by any person in violation of subsection (a) of this section may, within thirty days after such violation occurs, file (or have any person file on his behalf) a complaint with the Secretary of Labor ( . . . the "Secretary") alleging such discharge or discrimination. Upon receipt of such a complaint, the Secretary shall notify the person named in the complaint of the filing of the complaint and the Commission.
(2)(A) Upon receipt of a complaint filed under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall conduct an investigation of the violation alleged in the complaint. . . . Within ninety days of the receipt of such complaint the Secretary shall, unless the proceeding on the complaint is terminated by the Secretary on the basis of a settlement entered into by the Secretary and the person alleged to have committed such violation, issue an order either providing the relief prescribed by subparagraph (B) or denying the complaint. An order of the Secretary shall be made on the record after notice and opportunity for public hearing. The Secretary may not enter into a settlement terminating a proceeding on a complaint without the participation and consent of the complainant.
(B) If, in response to a complaint filed under paragraph (1), the Secretary determines that a violation of subsection (a) of this section has occurred, the Secretary shall order the person who committed such violation to (i) take affirmative action to abate the violation, and (ii) reinstate the complainant to his former position together with the compensation (including back pay), terms, conditions and privileges of his employment, and the Secretary may order such person to provide compensatory damages to the complainant. If an order is issued under this paragraph, the Secretary, at the request of the complainant shall assess against the person against whom the order is issued a sum equal to the aggregate amount of all costs and expenses (including attorneys' and expert witness fees) reasonably incurred, as determined by the Secretary, by the complainant for, or in connection with, the bringing of the complaint upon which the order was issued.
(c)(1) Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order issued under subsection (b) of this section may obtain review of the order in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the violation, with respect to which the order was issued, allegedly occurred. The petition for review must be filed within sixty days from the issuance of the Secretary's order. Review shall conform to chapter 7 of Title 5. The commencement of proceedings under this subparagraph shall not, unless ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Secretary's order.
(d) Whenever a person has failed to comply with an order issued under subsection (b)(2) of this section, the Secretary may file a civil action in the United States district court for the district in which the violation was found to occur to enforce such order. In actions brought under this subsection, the district courts shall have jurisdiction to grant all appropriate relief including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, compensatory, and exemplary damages.
(e)(1) Any person on whose behalf an order was issued under paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this section may commence a civil action against the person to whom such order was issued to require compliance with such order. The appropriate United States district court shall have jurisdiction, without regard to the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties, to enforce such order.
The Honorable Samuel A. Chaitovitz, Administrative Law Judge
We therefore do not agree with Dr. Richter's suggestion that we amend the Secretary's award of attorney's fees to provide compensation for work done in proceedings in this court. Dr. Richter did not become a person aggrieved or adversely affected by the Secretary's order because he incurred additional attorney's fees subsequent to that order. He is not entitled to attorney's fees for filing a petition for enforcement in a forum obviously lacking jurisdiction on the face of the statute. 42 U.S.C. § 5851(c), (d), (e)
Petitioner also appears to argue that the Secretary's order is an abuse of discretion, see 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), because the statutory provisions for licensing of medical therapy facilities provided for a "minimum amount of . . . regulation consistent with (the commission's) obligations . . . to promote the common defense and security and to protect the health and safety of the public." 42 U.S.C. § 2134(a). Petitioner seems to read this provision to mean that regulations are valid only if consistent both with the common defense and security and also with the public health and safety. Petitioner concedes that the Secretary's order protects public health and safety, but argues that the order is improper because it does not have any relation to common defense and security. We think this argument is frivolous. Protection of public health and safety is a valid objective under § 2134(a)