Opinion ID: 468856
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 George Metz was a driving instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) until his removal in November of 1982. FLETC is operated by the United States Department of the Treasury (USDT) as a training service to various law enforcement agencies of the federal government. According to plaintiffs' complaint, between 1977 and 1979 George Metz was deliberately passed over for promotions in favor of less qualified and less deserving candidates. This treatment prompted Metz to vocalize to his fellow employees charges of misconduct against FLETC administrators. Metz asserts that his complaints precipitated a conspiracy among FLETC supervisors against him. 3 Metz claims that, pursuant to this alleged conspiracy, his job performance was evaluated as excellent instead of the most favorable evaluation of outstanding. This performance evaluation, completed by Metz's immediate supervisor, prompted Metz to become even more uncomplimentary of the supervisors in his conversations with other employees. 4 As a result of these conversations between Metz and his co-workers, Metz was asked to meet with James Lanier, Metz's immediate supervisor, on August 3, 1982. Also present at this meeting were two other FLETC supervisors, David Epstein and Robert McCann. Metz claims this meeting was a trap whereby the FLETC officials attempted to elicit statements that would later be used against him. At the meeting, Metz voiced his frustrations and concerns about his treatment by his supervisors. After the meeting, Metz, a reservist in the United States Marines, left to report for active duty at Columbia, South Carolina. 5 Based on their stated belief that Metz presented a threat to their personal safety, Metz's supervisors took the following actions. David McKinley and George Graves contacted Metz's priest, Father Raymond Carr, and requested that Carr accompany them to the Metz residence. At the time, McKinley was the director of FLETC and Graves was a supervisor. Carr was told that the visit was necessary to locate Metz and to ask his wife what she knew about the personal threats Metz had been making against his supervisors. Carr phoned Mrs. Metz and obtained her permission to bring Graves and McKinley over to visit. At the Metzes' residence, Mrs. Metz told Graves, McKinley and Carr that Metz was en route to South Carolina to report for military duty. 6 In the early morning of August 4, 1982, George Metz's supervisors obtained an arrest warrant against Metz on charges of terroristic threats, a felony offense in Georgia. FLETC officials informed the Marines of the action taken against Metz. This communication to the Marine Corps led to Metz's seizure by Marine personnel and the search of Metz's vehicle, shortly after he arrived at the South Carolina military base. Metz was subsequently transported to a nearby Army mental hospital for psychological evaluation. Metz claims that he was detained there for two days, after which time he was allowed to return to duty at his reservist position. 7 Despite his mental clearance by Army psychiatrists, on August 6, FLETC supervisors notified Metz that he was being placed on indefinite and involuntary sick leave status pending an examination by a civilian psychiatrist. A notice stating that Metz was being placed on indefinite sick leave status was posted by FLETC officials and viewed by other employees at FLETC. 8 Upon his return from military duty, Metz underwent another psychiatric evaluation and was again found to be normal in all respects. On October 14, 1982, Metz was notified that he was to return to work but would be assigned to another instructional program. This notification, however, was countermanded by Graves in a letter that informed Metz that FLETC intended to terminate him based on the threatening statements he allegedly made to his co-workers at the August 3 meeting. Metz responded with a letter to Graves that charged certain FLETC administrators with a conspiracy designed to force Metz's resignation from federal employment. Metz was notified of his termination from FLETC by a letter dated November 10, 1982. The decision to terminate was made by McCann. 9 In addition to appealing his termination through the Merit System Protection Board, plaintiffs filed a Bivens suit against certain FLETC administrators alleging numerous deprivations of their constitutional rights. The district court dismissed that case, stating that the government employer-employee relationship is an area in which courts should hesitate to recognize constitutional causes of action. Metz v. McKinley, 583 F.Supp. 683, 688 (S.D.Ga.), aff'd, 747 F.2d 709 (11th Cir.1984). 10 In the instant case, plaintiffs filed a multi-count complaint under the FTCA against the United States government seeking 18 million dollars in damages. The complaint included claims for false arrest, false imprisonment, invasion of both Mr. and Mrs. Metz's privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress upon both Mr. and Mrs. Metz. The Metzes raise all of these issues on appeal.