Opinion ID: 2973556
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Deprivation without due process

Text: Having recognized that Silberstein had a property right entitled to due process protection, we must determine what process Silberstein was due. Although the existence of a property interest is defined by state law, the procedures that must be followed in depriving an individual of that property interest are defined by the federal Constitution. Loudermill, 479 U.S. at 541. For a public employee with a property interest in continued employment, due process includes “a pretermination opportunity to respond, coupled with post-termination administrative procedures.” Id. at 547-48. The “root requirement” of the Due Process Clause requires that “an individual be given the opportunity for a hearing before he is deprived of any significant property interest.” Id. at 542 (quoting Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 379 (1971)). In so holding, the Supreme Court recognized the “severity of depriving a person of the means of livelihood” and that “[w]hile a fired worker may find employment elsewhere, doing so will take some time and is likely to be burdened by the questionable circumstances under which he left his previous job.” Id. at 543. Appellants do not dispute that the Civil Service Commission denied Silberstein an opportunity to be heard, but argue that this did not constitute a due process violation because an adequate state corrective judicial process existed. Appellants’ conclusion is in error. The rule requiring a § 1983 plaintiff to show the inadequacy of a state’s post-deprivation corrective proceedings, articulated by the Supreme Court in Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527 (1981), applies only where the deprivation complained of is random and unpredictable, such that the state cannot feasibly provide a predeprivation hearing. Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 132 (1990); see also Moore v. Bd. of Educ., 134 F.3d 781, 785 (6th Cir. 1998) (applying Zinermon holding in circumstances factually analogous to present case); Mitchell v. Fankhauser, 375 F.3d 477, 481-84 (6th Cir. 2004) (reaffirming Moore). When a deprivation occurs through an established state procedure, “then it is both practicable and feasible for the state to provide pre-deprivation process, and the state must do so regardless of the adequacy of any post-deprivation remedy,” whereas when a random and unauthorized deprivation occurs, “the pre-deprivation procedures are simply impracticable and an adequate post-deprivation remedy affords all the process that is due.” Walsh v. Cuyahoga County, 424 F.3d 510, 513 (6th Cir. 2005). Silberstein was fired by an official action of the city’s Civil Service Board after lengthy deliberation and consultation with attorneys. This was not a random, unauthorized deprivation, and Silberstein need not show that the state’s post-deprivation corrective procedures were inadequate in order to allege adequately a deprivation of her due process rights. B. Whether Silberstein’s rights were clearly established Having concluded that Silberstein suffered a violation of her constitutional right to due process, we examine whether Silberstein’s right was clearly established at the time of the deprivation, asking specifically whether it would have been clear to a reasonable person in the Board Members’ position that their conduct was unlawful. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201. The district court properly determined that Silberstein has satisfied this second half of the qualified immunity analysis. At the time of Silberstein’s termination in August 2002, Supreme Court precedent had clearly established that a pre-termination hearing is required before terminating an employee who holds a property interest in her employment, and also clearly established that statutes restricting the terms and procedures under which an employee may be terminated create such a property interest. See Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 541. However, the inquiry over whether a constitutional right is No. 05-3630 Silberstein v. City of Dayton, et al. Page 8 “clearly established” must be undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201. The Board Members do not dispute that a City of Dayton employee in the classified service had a clearly established right to a pre-termination hearing at the time of Silberstein’s termination; rather, they argue that Silberstein’s status as a classified employee is disputable such that a reasonable person would not know that he or she was violating Silberstein’s rights. At the time of Silberstein’s termination, Ohio law clearly established that provisions of municipal charters should be given their plain meaning, Eschen, 656 N.E.2d at 944, and that unambiguous language must be applied faithfully in accordance with its plain meaning, Roxane Labs., Inc., 661 N.E.2d at 1012. Ohio state court opinions had examined city charters to determine whether an employee is classified or unclassified, and in doing so had looked to the text of the provision listing the positions that constituted unclassified service. See, e.g., Hart v. City of Fairborn, 688 N.E.2d 1084, 1084 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996); Goins v. Summit Co. Clerk of Courts, No. 14796, 1991 WL 35129, at  (Ohio Ct. App. Mar. 6, 1991). No reasonable official reading the plain language of the Charter would reach the conclusion that Silberstein was an unclassified employee. Although some cases reveal disagreement or ambiguity regarding an employee’s status as classified or unclassified, these cases address whether an employee’s position falls within the particular statutory language defining the categories of unclassified service. For example, in Goins, 1991 WL 35129, at , the court addressed whether a records clerk in a clerk of courts office fell within the state statute’s unclassified service category of “deputies of clerks of the courts of common pleas who supervise, or who handle public moneys or secured documents,” focusing on whether her position entailed handling public moneys and secured documents. No case contemplates the possibility that, where classified service is defined as all positions not specifically included within unclassified service, an unclassified position could still exist that does not fall under any of the specifically enumerated categories. Even Ohio’s 1932 decision in Kerr, which found an unenumerated position to be unclassified under the city’s charter, did so because the position was enumerated under state law. 181 N.E. at 547. Silberstein’s position was clearly established as classified not only by the plain language of the Charter but also by general understanding and practice. This court has held that a plaintiff satisfied the second prong of qualified immunity analysis by presenting evidence that for twenty-five years it had been generally understood that employees in his position were entitled to a hearing before their positions were terminated, and the defendant presented no evidence that he did not share such an understanding. See Singfield v. Akron Metro. Hous. Auth., 389 F.3d 555, 567-68 (6th Cir. 2004). Numerous facts on the record demonstrate that Silberstein’s position was generally understood to be classified. A former employee of the civil service who held the position of executive secretary had been disciplined as a classified employee and afforded all the protections granted to classified employees. The procedures Silberstein followed in applying for her job, namely, submitting a resume and a letter of application, were standard procedures for classified noncompetitive positions. In the early 1980s, legal opinions had been requested to clarify the status of the Secretary/Chief Examiner position – the position to which Silberstein had directly reported – and the legal opinions had concluded that the position was classified. The relatively low level of Silberstein’s position on the management scale also indicated that it was a classified position. Subsequent to Silberstein’s termination, a new position was created with duties substantially similar to hers with the title of Senior Manager of Test and Validation Services; this newly-created position was posted with a notation that the position was “Previously Assistant Chief Examiner,” and was No. 05-3630 Silberstein v. City of Dayton, et al. Page 9 posted as a classified position.3 In short, everything about the city’s own treatment of Silberstein’s position and other, similar positions within her division further supports the conclusion that the classification of Silberstein’s Assistant Chief Examiner position was clearly established. Taken in conjunction with the clear language of the Charter, the Board Members’ argument that an objectively reasonable official could misunderstand Silberstein’s employment classification is unpersuasive. The Board Members also argue that their actions were objectively reasonable because they relied upon the advice of counsel that Silberstein was an unclassified employee. This circuit has determined that reliance on counsel’s legal advice constitutes a qualified immunity defense only under “extraordinary circumstances,” and has never found that those circumstances were met. See Ross v. City of Memphis, 423 F.3d 596, 603-04, 604 n.3 (6th Cir. 2005); York v. Purkey, No. 005650,14 F. App’x 628, 633-34 (6th Cir. July 20, 2001). The Board Members cannot cloak themselves in immunity simply by delegating their termination procedure decisions to their legal department, as the availability of such a defense would invite all government actors to shield themselves from § 1983 suits by first seeking self-serving legal memoranda before taking action that may violate a constitutional right. Cf. V-1 Oil Co. v. Wy. Dept. of Envtl. Quality, 902 F.2d 1482, 1488 (10th Cir. 1990) (stating that reliance upon counsel’s advice cannot be “inherently extraordinary, for few things in government are more common than the receipt of legal advice”). There is no evidence that the Board Members’ circumstances were in any way extraordinary. The Board Members argue that they are not attorneys, but this fact alone cannot give rise to “extraordinary circumstances.” A reasonably competent public official is presumed to know the law governing his or her conduct. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 819 (1982). The Board Members also argue that they were “very newly appointed” at the time of Silberstein’s termination, and therefore their ignorance of Silberstein’s employment classification was objectively reasonable. The record reflects that Lindsey had been on the Board approximately seven months at the time of Silberstein’s termination, and Grooms approximately three months. The record also suggests that Toney had served on the Board longer than Lindsey or Grooms, but there is no indication of specifically how long she had served. Given the collective experience of the Board, the clarity of the Charter’s language, and the ample evidence of how positions such as Silberstein’s had been treated in the past, we do not agree that these facts give rise to a conclusion that the Board Members could not be expected to know Silberstein’s proper employment classification. For all of the reasons set forth above, we conclude that the Board Members were not entitled to summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity as to Silberstein’s Fourteenth Amendment claim.