Opinion ID: 165608
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fourteenth Amendment Violations

Text: 12 The Fourteenth Amendment protects citizens from the deprivation of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. [P]rocedural due process ensures that a state will not deprive a person of life, liberty or property unless fair procedures are used in making that decision. Archuleta v. Colo. Dep't of Insts., Div. of Youth Servs., 936 F.2d 483, 490 (10th Cir.1991). To determine whether a plaintiff was denied procedural due process, we engage in a two-step inquiry: (1) Did the individual possess a protected interest to which due process protection was applicable? (2) Was the individual afforded an appropriate level of process? Hennigh v. City of Shawnee, 155 F.3d 1249, 1253 (10th Cir.1998). 13 Property interests are not created by the Constitution, but rather by independent sources such as state law. Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 538, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). [W]hen a person's employment can be terminated only for specified reasons, his or her expectation of continued employment is sufficient to invoke the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment. West v. Grand County, 967 F.2d 362, 366 (10th Cir.1992). New Mexico law clearly states that employees that have completed a probationary period of one year may only be terminated for just cause. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-9-18(F); Barreras v. State of N.M. Corrs. Dept., 133 N.M. 313, 62 P.3d 770, 775 (2002); N.M. Admin. Code tit. 1, § 7.11.10 (only non-disabled employees). 14 Nevertheless, Defendants first argue that because the regulation in question states that a permanently disabled employee can be terminated without a hearing or opportunity to appeal, Ms. Copelin-Brown has no protected property interest. Aplt. Br. at 12-14. Defendants also argue that there is no legitimate expectation of continued employment when the essential functions of one's job cannot be performed. Aplt. Reply. Br. at 8-9. We disagree. The challenged regulation provides that certain determinations must be made before the employee may be terminated because of permanent disability, such as whether the disability is permanent, whether accommodations have been made, and whether the state had considered the employee for other positions. These restrictions on the government's ability to terminate are sufficient to create a property interest in Ms. Copelin-Brown. Hennigh, 155 F.3d at 1253-54. Moreover, to accept the government's contrary argument would be to allow the government, at any time, to unilaterally declare an employee disabled and terminate that employee without a hearing, thus avoiding due process protections. 15 Once a protected property interest is established, the question then becomes what level of process is appropriate. In general, a post-termination hearing is required. Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 546-47, 105 S.Ct. 1487 (stating that the Due Process Clause requires provision of a hearing `at a meaningful time' after termination). Even when the employer articulates a permissible reason for discharge, [w]ithout adequate due process protection, an employee ... can never discover whether the reasons for her discharge are true — or are false and a mere subterfuge. Goudeau v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 37 of Okla. County, Okla., 823 F.2d 1429, 1431 (10th Cir.1987). 16 In this case, Ms. Copelin-Brown challenges only the efficacy of the post-termination process. To evaluate the constitutionality of post-termination process, we must view it in light of the pre-termination procedures it follows. Where, as here, the pre-termination process offers minimal opportunity for the employee to present her side of the case, the procedures in the post-termination hearing become much more important. Benavidez, 101 F.3d at 626. Such a post-termination hearing represents the only meaningful opportunity the employee has to challenge the employer's action.... Id. In the instant case, Ms. Copelin-Brown, under N.M. Admin. Code tit. 1, § 7.10.11, was afforded no post-termination hearing or opportunity to appeal the SPO's decision to terminate her. Accordingly, the district court was correct in finding that the lack of procedural due process violated Ms. Copelin-Brown's constitutional rights.
17 The Fourteenth Amendment also prohibits a state from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Both parties agree that disabled persons are a non-suspect class and rational basis scrutiny applies. City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 442-46, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985); Davoll v. Webb, 194 F.3d 1116, 1145 (10th Cir.1999). Under the rational basis test, the court upholds the policy if there is `any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification.' Spragens v. Shalala, 36 F.3d 947, 951 n. 3 (10th Cir.1994) (quoting FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 313, 113 S.Ct. 2096, 124 L.Ed.2d 211 (1993)). 18 As Defendants point out, the administrative ease of not requiring a hearing can be a reason sufficient to withstand rationality review. Cf. Davoll, 194 F.3d at 1146. However, Defendants' answer, response to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, and appellate briefs fail to present any facts showing that the regulation in question eased administrative burdens. Further, the Court has stated that within rational basis scrutiny, [t]he State may not rely on a classification whose relationship to an asserted goal is so attenuated as to render the distinction arbitrary or irrational. City of Cleburne, 473 U.S. at 446, 105 S.Ct. 3249. In the instant case, because Defendants have only alluded to the administrative burdens associated with providing disabled persons post-termination hearings or appeals, we find the distinction between disabled and non-disabled persons arbitrary and irrational. 19 Alternatively, Defendants argue that because terminated disabled employees are not provided a hearing, they are dismissed without prejudice. Thus, Defendants argue they are not stigmatized by being labeled as disabled. However, regardless of the label attached, the employee will nevertheless have to describe the cause of her termination when seeking future employment. If the employee does not seek future employment, the effect of any stigma would be minimal. Thus, the purported goal of preventing stigma is irrational. In conclusion, because the relationship between the distinction based on disability and the government's interest are so attenuated and because refusing administrative hearings and appeals to avoid stigma is irrational, the regulation cannot pass muster under the rational basis standard.