Opinion ID: 406593
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Respondeat Superior Liability on Bivens Claims

Text: 24 In Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the Supreme Court squarely held that Congress did not intend local governments to be subject to respondeat superior liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the acts of their employees. 436 U.S. at 691, 694, 98 S.Ct. at 2036, 2037. Appellant contends that the District Court erred in extending Monell 's proscription to his claims brought directly under the Constitution pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). We disagree. 25 As appellant concedes, every Circuit that has considered this question following the decision in Monell has concluded that municipalities are not subject to respondeat superior liability in Bivens actions. Ellis v. Blum, 643 F.2d 68, 85 (2d Cir. 1981); Dean v. Gladney, 621 F.2d 1331, 1334-37 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 983, 101 S.Ct. 1521, 67 L.Ed.2d 819 (1981); Jones v. City of Memphis, 586 F.2d 622, 624-25 (6th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 914, 99 S.Ct. 1230, 59 L.Ed.2d 464 (1979); Molina v. Richardson, 578 F.2d 846, 847-54 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1048, 99 S.Ct. 724, 58 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978); see Cale v. City of Covington, 586 F.2d 311, 317-18 (4th Cir. 1978) (no Bivens action available against municipalities after Monell ); cf. DeShields v. United States Parole Commission, 593 F.2d 354, 356 (8th Cir. 1979) (no respondeat superior liability in Bivens claim against U. S. Parole Commission). Similarly, courts that considered the question prior to Monell also ruled that municipalities cannot be held liable on a respondeat superior theory in Bivens actions. E.g., Turpin v. Mailet, 579 F.2d 152, 166-67 (2d Cir.) (en banc), vacated on other grounds, 439 U.S. 974, 99 S.Ct. 554, 58 L.Ed.2d 645 (1978) (for reconsideration in light of Monell ); Jamison v. McCurrie, 565 F.2d 483, 485 (7th Cir. 1977); Kostka v. Hogg, 560 F.2d 37, 41-44 (1st Cir. 1977); cf. Nix v. Sweeney, 573 F.2d 998, 1003 (8th Cir. 1978) (sovereign immunity protects municipalities from respondeat superior liability in Bivens claims). 23 26 Respondeat superior liability was not in issue in Bivens, and nothing in Bivens suggests that respondeat superior liability must be available in actions brought directly under the Constitution. See Dean v. Gladney, 621 F.2d 1331, 1335-36 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 983, 101 S.Ct. 1521, 67 L.Ed.2d 819 (1981). Indeed, one of the reasons the Court in Bivens held that individuals whose Fourth Amendment rights were violated by federal officials had an implied cause of action for damages directly under the Constitution was that no other remedy was available. See Hearth, Inc. v. Department of Public Welfare, 617 F.2d 381, 382 (5th Cir. 1980). Clearly, that is not the situation in this case, in which appellant seeks relief under section 1983 as well as under the Constitution. 27 Appellant argues that Monell 's interpretation of section 1983 does not preclude us from allowing respondeat superior liability against local governments in Bivens actions. This argument is subject to serious doubt. First, we note that in two cases remanded by the Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of Monell, City of West Haven v. Turpin, 439 U.S. 974, 99 S.Ct. 554, 58 L.Ed.2d 645 (1978), vacating Turpin v. Mailet, 579 F.2d 152 (2d Cir. 1978) (en banc); City of Independence v. Owen, 438 U.S. 902, 98 S.Ct. 3118, 57 L.Ed.2d 1145 (1978), vacating 560 F.2d 925 (8th Cir. 1977), the courts of appeals decided on remand that a Bivens action against municipalities was no longer appropriate in light of Monell. Turpin v. Mailet, 591 F.2d 426, 427 (2d Cir. 1979) (en banc) (there is no place for a cause of action against a municipality directly under the 14th Amendment, because the plaintiff may proceed against the (city) under § 1983); Owen v. City of Independence, 589 F.2d 335, 337 (8th Cir. 1978) (finding it unnecessary to rely on the Bivens doctrine because (b)y enacting section 1983, Congress has provided an appropriate and exclusive remedy for constitutional violations committed by municipalities), rev'd on other grounds, 445 U.S. 622, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980). See also Cale v. City of Covington, 586 F.2d 311, 317-18 (4th Cir. 1978). Although we need not go so far as to hold that section 1983 now bars any Bivens action against municipalities, these cases clearly undermine appellant's contention that Monell does not preclude a Bivens claim against local governments based solely on a respondeat superior theory. 24 28 Second, we think it significant that the decision in Monell clearly applied to claims of constitutional infringement brought pursuant to section 1983. Indeed, the Court in Monell observed that the touchstone of the § 1983 action against a government body is an allegation that official policy is responsible for a deprivation of rights protected by the Constitution .... 436 U.S. at 690, 98 S.Ct. at 2035. With this in mind, we believe that it would be anomalous indeed to acknowledge that local governments are not subject to respondeat superior liability on claims of constitutional violation brought under section 1983 and, at the same time, hold that municipalities may be held liable on a theory of respondeat superior on precisely the same constitutional claims brought directly under the Constitution. 25 29 The anomaly to which we refer is highlighted in this case. Appellant here seeks broader relief in his Bivens claim than in his section 1983 claim, based on precisely the same facts and the same legal theory, i.e., that his Fourth Amendment rights had been infringed. Although Monell did not decide the issue, we believe that a fair reading of the Court's decision forecloses appellant's contention that municipalities may be made subject to respondeat superior liability in a Bivens action of this sort. Consequently, we affirm the District Court's rulings insofar as they decline to imply an expanded Bivens cause of action that would hold the government appellees and the chiefs of police liable solely on a respondeat superior theory.