Opinion ID: 71892
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Monell's Policy or Custom Requirement

Text: 35 In Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the Supreme Court held that municipalities may not be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on a theory of respondeat superior. Instead, municipalities may only be held liable for the execution of a governmental policy or custom. As the Monell Court explained: 36 [I]t is when execution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy, inflicts the injury that the government as an entity is responsible under § 1983. 37 Id. at 694, 98 S.Ct. at 2037-38 (emphasis added). 38 Later, in Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986), and City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 108 S.Ct. 915, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988) (plurality opinion), the Supreme Court clarified Monell 's policy or custom requirement. In Pembaur, the Court explained that municipal liability may be imposed for a single decision by municipal policymakers under appropriate circumstances. 475 U.S. at 480, 106 S.Ct. at 1298 (emphasis added). In Praprotnik, a plurality of the Supreme Court held that appointing authorities who have authority to initiate personnel decisions are not municipal policymakers if those decisions are subject to meaningful administrative review. See 485 U.S. at 129-30, 108 S.Ct. at 927-28. 39 Since Pembaur and Praprotnik, this Court's decisions have consistently recognized and given effect to the principle that a municipal official does not have final policymaking authority over a particular subject matter when that official's decisions are subject to meaningful administrative review. See Scala v. City of Winter Park, 116 F.3d 1396, 1398-99 (11th Cir.1997) (holding that city manager was not a final policymaker with respect to employment termination decisions at municipal fire department where those decisions were reviewable by the city civil service board); Manor Healthcare Corp. v. Lomelo, 929 F.2d 633, 638 (11th Cir.1991) (holding that a mayor was not a final policymaker with respect to zoning decisions where the city charter provided that the city counsel could override the mayor's veto of zoning ordinances); Mandel v. Doe, 888 F.2d 783, 792-94 (11th Cir.1989) (recognizing that a municipal officer has final policymaking authority when his decisions are not subject to review and holding that discretionary review initiated by the municipal official himself does not prevent the official from being a final policymaker); cf. Hill v. Clifton, 74 F.3d 1150, 1152 (11th Cir.1996) (accepting concession that city police chief was not final policymaker with respect to employment decisions where police chief's decisions could be reversed by the city manager); Martinez v. City of Opa-Locka, 971 F.2d 708, 713-15 (11th Cir.1992) (finding final policymaking authority where the City Manager's decision to hire or fire administrative personnel is completely insulated from review). 40 Under our precedents, it is extremely doubtful that Chief Deutcsh is a final policymaker with respect to police discipline such that he may subject the City to § 1983 liability. As the City points out, the Chief's disciplinary decisions regarding dismissal, demotion, or suspension are subject to review by the Jefferson County Personnel Board, with limited further review by the Circuit Court. In fact, the Personnel Board reviewed and reversed the Chief's decision in this case, which demonstrates that the Personnel Board is not merely a rubber stamp for the Chief. Additionally, attached as appendices to the City's appellate brief are copies of excerpts from the Enabling Act of the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, 1945 Ala. Acts 248 (as amended), the Personnel Board of Jefferson County Rules and Regulations, and the City of Birmingham Supplemental Personnel Policies and Procedures. Those materials seem to take final decisionmaking authority on dismissals, demotions, and suspensions out of the Chief's hands. 41 Based on the City's governing regulations and evidence of its actual practices, it seems that local law makes the Jefferson County Personnel Board, and not the police chief, the final policymaker with respect to police dismissals, demotions, or suspensions. If the City had preserved that issue for trial in the district court, and thus for our review on appeal, we have little doubt that the City would be entitled to escape the judgment against it on that basis. However, as the district court noted in its memorandum opinion, the City failed to identify its potentially available Monell defense as an issue at the pretrial conference or to obtain a modification of the pretrial order to permit it to raise the issue later in the proceedings. 42