Opinion ID: 474108
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Beach and Davis

Text: 13 The gravamen of Howe's claim against Beach and Davis is that these two defendants deprived him of property without due process of law when they failed to afford him a hearing before his suspension and transfer. In addressing claims based on procedural due process a court must first decide whether the complaining party has been deprived of a constitutionally protected liberty or property interest. Economic Development Corp. v. Stierheim, 782 F.2d 952, 953-54 (11th Cir.1986); cf. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2705, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972) (The requirements of procedural due process apply only to the deprivation of interests encompassed by the Fourteenth Amendment's protection of liberty and property.). Thus, we must determine whether in 1978 it was clearly established that Howe had a constitutionally protected property interest in not being suspended or transferred. 3 14 By 1978 it was clear that state law defined protectable property interests. See Roth, 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709. (Property interests ... are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law....) At the time of Howe's transfer and suspension, state law imposed constraints on the taking of such action. In 1977 Beach, exercising authority granted by Sec. 321.06 Fla.Stat.Ann., had issued General Order No. 43 which stated, No employee shall be suspended, reduced in pay, transferred, laid off, demoted or dismissed without just cause. Further, Sec. 22A-7.10(6) of the Florida Administrative Code provided, An agency head may suspend any employee for any of the reasons listed in Section 22A-7.10(7)(b) or for any other just cause.... Thus in 1978 it was clear that state law permitted suspension or transfer only for cause. The mere existence of this protection, however, does not inescapably lead to the conclusion that it was clear that Howe had a constitutionally protected property right in not being transferred or suspended. 15 We do not need to decide whether the protection afforded Howe by Florida law would give rise to a property right since Logan v. Zimmerman Brush, 455 U.S. 422, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982), in which the Supreme Court held that [t]he hallmark of property ... is an individual entitlement grounded in state law, which cannot be removed except 'for cause', id. at 430, 102 S.Ct. at 1155, decided four years after the events in this case took place. Though Logan's roots may be traced back to pre-1978 decisions such as Memphis Light, Gas & Water Div. v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 11-12, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 1561-62, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978), Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 573-74, 95 S.Ct. 729, 735-36, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1974), and Roth, 408 U.S. at 576-78, 92 S.Ct. at 2708-10, see Logan, 455 U.S. at 430, 102 S.Ct. at 1154 (citing these cases), its holding was not a foregone conclusion in the spring of 1978. In Roth the Court stated that property within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment arose from rules or understandings that secure certain benefits and that support claims of entitlement to those benefits 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709. The Court did not elaborate on what constituted a protected benefit. Instead, it noted that a promise of continued employment and entitlement to welfare payments were constitutionally protected property. Id.; see also Connell v. Higginbotham, 403 U.S. 207, 208, 91 S.Ct. 1772, 1773, 29 L.Ed.2d 418 (1971) (prohibiting summary dismissal of teacher who had implied promise of continued employment); Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970) (requiring hearing before terminating welfare benefits). No guidance was given as to what other interests would be brought under the Fourteenth Amendment's sweep. 16 In 1976 the Supreme Court recognized this lack of guidance: It is apparent from our decisions that there exists a variety of interests which are difficult of definition but are nevertheless comprehended within the meaning of either 'liberty' or 'property'.... Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 710, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1165, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976). The Court, however, did not formulate a rule that brought immediate certainty to this area of the law. Further, no decision between Paul and Howe's transfer and suspension sufficiently clarified the law so that a reasonable person would conclude that the just cause limitations granted Howe a property interest under state law. 17 This is not to say that the Court did not address this area of the law between 1976 and 1978. It did. In Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976), it again held that continued employment, if guaranteed, is a property right. In Memphis Light, Gas & Water Div. v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978), decided contemporaneously with the actions in this case, the Court held that state law restrictions on a utility company's ability to discontinue service gave consumers a property right in continued service. No decision of either the Supreme Court or this court, however, addressed the effect of cause limitations on a state's ability to transfer or temporarily suspend one of its employees. 18 Thus when Beach and Davis took the actions challenged here the following propositions were clearly established. State law protection of certain benefits gave rise to a property right in these benefits. These benefits included the right of continued employment, Roth, the right of continued utility service, Memphis Light, the right to use public roads, Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 29 L.Ed.2d 90 (1971), the right of parolees to remain at liberty provided that the conditions of their parole were satisfied, Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972) and the right to a public education, Goss, 419 U.S. at 575-76, 95 S.Ct. at 736-37. 19 These decisions did not clearly establish that the right to be transferred or suspended only with cause was also property. The benefits then included in the Fourteenth Amendment are of a different quality than those possessed by Howe; all are essential to functioning in today's society. 20 It would not have been unreasonable for one to assume in 1978, that the benefits protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were those essential to maintaining a minimum standard of life. Such a belief finds support in the relevant Supreme Court decisions. For example, in Goldberg v. Kelly the Court had said: 21 For qualified recipients, welfare provides the means to obtain essential food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Thus the crucial factor in this context ... is that termination of aid pending resolution of a controversy over eligibility may deprive an eligible recipient of the very means by which to live while he waits. Since he lacks independent resources, his situation becomes immediately desperate. His need to concentrate upon finding the means for daily subsistence, in turn, adversely affects his ability to seek redress from the welfare bureaucracy. 22 397 U.S. at 264, 90 S.Ct. at 1018 (citation, emphasis, and footnotes omitted). In Goss the Court, quoting Brown v. Board of Education, 47 U.S. 483, 493, 74 S.Ct. 686, 691, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954), reaffirmed that  'education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments'.... 419 U.S. at 576, 95 S.Ct. at 737. 23 Although temporary suspensions and transfers interfere with the employment relationship, they do not terminate that relationship. The affected individual is not deprived of means to make a living. To a reasonable person in 1978 it was not clearly established that the right to be transferred or suspended only for cause would be assimilated to other rights falling within the Fourteenth Amendment's meaning of property. Accordingly the district court correctly held that Beach and Davis are immune from monetary damages.