Opinion ID: 336380
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Plaintiff's Constitutional Claim to Due Process.

Text: 16 To evaluate Dr. Stretten's constitutional claim we must employ a two-step analysis. Cf. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972); Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). First we must determine whether his interest here being asserted rises to the level of a property or liberty interest. If the answer is no, the second step becomes unnecessary because Dr. Stretten has no constitutional claim entitled to recognition. If, however, either a property or liberty interest is at stake, then we must weigh the competing interests of the individual and the state to determine what process is constitutionally required. We turn first to determine whether Dr. Stretten's claim involves an interest in liberty. Thereafter we will consider whether a property interest is involved. 17
18 At the outset it should be made clear that the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Paul v. Davis, --- U.S. ----, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405, 44 U.S.L.W. 4337 (1976) does not obviate the need for inquiry into Dr. Stretten's liberty interest. In Davis the Court held that a liberty interest was not infringed when the only loss suffered at the hands of the Government is a stigma or damage to reputation. Unlike Davis, Dr. Stretten has, in addition to any damage to his reputation, suffered a tangible loss in being dismissed from his residency. The Court did not alter the holding of Board of Regents v. Roth which is that when the individual has suffered a tangible loss a liberty interest is implicated only when the state makes a charge against him that might seriously damage his standing and associations in his community. 408 U.S. at 573, 92 S.Ct. at 2706. The Roth Court stated that a charge of dishonesty or immorality would implicate an individual's liberty interest. While Roth's line between liberty interests and all other interests is imprecise, this Circuit has concluded that it should be drawn on the basis of the nature of the charge used as a grounds for termination and not the actual consequences of the charge. Further, this Court has concluded that Roth's notion of liberty, while imprecise, distinguishes between a stigma of moral turpitude, which infringes the liberty interest, and a charge of incompetence or inability to get along with coworkers which does not. Gray v. Union County Intermediate Educ. Dist., 520 F.2d 803 (9th Cir. 1975); Jablon v. Trustees of California State Colleges, 482 F.2d 997 (9th Cir. 1973). 12 19 This distinction is a reasonable one. The liberty interest is the interest an individual has in being free to move about, live, and practice his profession without the burden of an unjustified label of infamy. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. at 572, 92 S.Ct. at 2706, 33 L.Ed.2d at 557. In the context of Roth-type cases, a charge which infringes one's liberty can be characterized as an accusation or label given the individual by his employer which belittles his worth and dignity as an individual and, as a consequence is likely to have severe repercussions outside of professional life. Liberty is not infringed by a label of incompetence, the repercussions of which primarily affect professional life, and which may well force the individual down one or more notches in the professional hierarchy. 13 The distinction is not perfect; our utility affects our dignity and worth whether viewed from within or without. However, implicit in such a distinction is the notion that the constitutional need for procedural protection is not strong when the charge (e. g., incompetence) involves a matter which is peculiarly within the scope of employer-employee relations and when the likely results of even a false charge are reduced economic returns and diminished prestige, but not permanent exclusion from, or protracted interruption of, gainful employment within the trade or profession. Employers, including the Veterans' Administration, have a strong interest in conserving resources and dealing expeditiously with incompetent employees. 20 The record in this case does not support the contention that Dr. Stretten's liberty interest has in any way been infringed. All the charges which surround his termination center around his inability to perform satisfactorily as a pathology resident, including an unwillingness or inability to deal with his coworkers in a professional manner. These are not the kind of charges which are likely to preclude Dr. Stretten from practicing medicine, and in fact there is evidence in the record that the charges may not have precluded him from staying in his specialty of pathology. 14 Thus we find no infringement of liberty and hence no deprivation of due process on that account. 15 21
22 It is clear from the Supreme Court decision in Board of Regents v. Roth that the Constitution protects interests not embraced within the traditional notions of real or personal property. However, the Court indicated that a benefit which merits protection as a property interest must be one to which there is more than a unilateral expectation. 408 U.S. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709, 33 L.Ed.2d at 560. Rather there must exist rules or understandings which allow the claimant's expectations to be characterized as a legitimate claim of entitlement to (the benefit). Id. 23 The defendants argue that the district court was in error in finding a property right in continuation as a pathology resident. Defendants assert that the district court relied in making this finding solely upon the historical infrequency of termination a ground, defendants argue, which was implicitly rejected by the Supreme Court in Roth. We believe the defendant misreads both the district court's finding and overstates the scope of Roth's refusal to regard rehire rates as conclusively demonstrating a property interest. 24 It is inaccurate to characterize the holding of the court below as resting solely upon the statistical evidence of failures to terminate. Such failure to terminate was consistent with and reinforced by a specified four-year duration of the residency. The district court recognized this and stated that (i)t is undisputed that the duration of the residency program in pathology was four years. We find nothing in the record which would lead us to overturn this finding. 25 Moreover, we believe Roth recognized that rehire rates under some circumstances may evidence a common law of employment sufficient to support the finding of a property interest. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. at 578 n. 16, 92 S.Ct. at 2710, 33 L.Ed.2d at 561. But we need not rest rejection of the defendant's position on this interpretation of Roth. Certainly nothing in Roth precludes the use of historical termination patterns as evidence that a plaintiff's claim is a property interest deserving of the protection of due process. 26 However, in holding that Dr. Stretten's claim to his residency is a property interest, we need not place primary reliance on the fact that no one had been officially terminated in the 20-year, 5,000-physician history of the program. Such reliance is unnecessary because Dr. Stretten, at the time of his appointment, was advised that he would be employed for the duration of this training unless sooner terminated, and subject to periodic review by resident review board and, as found by the district court, the duration of the training was four years. We rely primarily on these facts in finding no error in the district court's conclusion that Dr. Stretten's claim to his residency is a property interest deserving of appropriate due process before it is removed. 16 27