Court Opinion

ID: 9562724
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:32:56.539046+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:29.801018
License: Public Domain

ROVIRA, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I disagree with part V of the majority opinion holding that the trial court erred in dismissing Uberoi’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against the University of Colorado. As the majority correctly points out, the conclusion in Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), that “local governments, like every other § 1983 ‘person,’ may be sued for constitutional deprivations resulting from governmental ‘custom’,” has been extended to a state university. Majority op. at 900-901, and cases cited therein. However, Monell also added that, “Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some sort caused a constitutional tort.” 436 U.S. at 691, 98 S.Ct. at 2036 (emphasis added); see also Gay Student Services v. Texas A & M University, 612 F.2d 160,164 (5th Cir.1980) (“Of course, for a university to be suable under § 1983, the injury must be due to an official policy or custom.”), cert, denied, 449 U.S. 1034, 101 S.Ct. 608, 66 L.Ed.2d 495 (1980). Thus, since a discriminatory policy or custom is a requirement for local government liability under § 1983, the plaintiff’s complaint must allege that his injuries were the result of such a governmental policy or custom. Zanghi v. Incorporated Village of Old Brookville, 752 F.2d 42, 45 (2d Cir. *9051985). In Zanghi, the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of a § 1983 action against a municipality for failure to state a claim on grounds that an allegation limited to “[m]ere negligence in permitting the continued employment of personnel ... does not rise to the level of ‘action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature.’ ” Id.; see also Slay v. State of Alabama, 636 F.2d 1045, 1046 (5th Cir.1981); Glaros v. Perse, 628 F.2d 679 (1st Cir.1980).
A conclusory allegation of a discriminatory custom or policy is not sufficient to meet this pleading requirement. Plaintiff must also set forth factual allegations which, if true, would establish the existence of such a policy or custom. Strauss v. City of Chicago, 760 F.2d 765, 766-67 (7th Cir. 1985). In Strauss, the Seventh Circuit dismissed a § 1983 claim against the City of Chicago for failure to state a claim, despite the fact that the complaint alleged that an arresting officer struck the plaintiff pursuant to the police department’s “custom and practice” of hiring officers with a history of brutality, of brutality in investigative procedures, of violation of prisoners’ civil rights, and of exonerating officers for such wrongdoing. Id. The Strauss court held that:
The existence of a policy that caused a plaintiff’s injury is an essential part of Section 1983 liability, so that some fact indicating the existence of some such policy must be pled. Without some evidence apart from the fact of employment, regardless how slight, that a policy causing plaintiff’s injury might exist, the plaintiff simply cannot proceed in court against the municipality....

We do not mean to imply that a plaintiff must plead in greater detail, but merely that the plaintiff must plead some fact or facts tending to support his allegation that a municipal policy exists that could have caused his injury....
760 F.2d at 769. See also Silo v. City of Philadelphia, 593 F.Supp. 870, 875 (E.D. Pa.1984) (conclusory allegation of policy to mishandle prisoner pro se petitions insufficient to survive motion to dismiss); Mui v. Dietz, 559 F.Supp. 485, 488 (N.D.Ill.1983) (claim dismissed where no facts alleged to support asserted customs); Durkin v. Bristol Township, 88 F.R.D. 613, 616 (E.D. Pa.1980) (conclusory allegation of official policy insufficient to meet the requirement of particularized fact pleading in civil rights cases); Bready v. Geist, 83 F.R.D. 432, 434 (E.D.Pa.1979) (claim against defendant township dismissed where conclusory allegations made it impossible to determine the precise nature of the custom or policy which may have produced the alleged deprivation); cf Luera v. Snyder, 599 F.Supp. 1459, 1466 (D.Colo.1984) (granting a directed verdict for defendant city where plaintiff presented no evidence of a discriminatory city policy).
This additional pleading requirement for maintaining a § 1983 action against a governmental entity is entirely consistent with both our holding in International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Colorado State Fair, 673 P.2d 368 (Colo.1983), and the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. In Krishna Consciousness, we held that:
To state a claim for relief under section 1983, a complainant need allege only (1) that some person deprived complainant of a right, privilege or immunity secured by the federal constitution; and (2) that such person acted under color of state law. Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 100 S.Ct. 1920, 64 L.Ed.2d 572 (1980)....
673 P.2d at 373.
Neither Krishna Consciousness nor Gomez considered the question of governmental liability authorized under Monell. Rather, in limiting the pleading requirement for § 1983 claims against a government official, the Supreme Court, in Gomez, simply reversed a lower court dismissal for failing to allege that the actions complained of were committed in bad faith, on the ground that since good faith is merely a possible affirmative defense, its absence need not be pleaded by a plaintiff:
Nothing in the language or legislative history of § 1983, however, suggests that in an action brought against a public *906official whose position might entitle him to immunity if he acted in good faith, a plaintiff must allege bad faith in order to state a claim for relief. By the plain terms of § 1983, two — and only two — allegations are required to state a cause of action under that statute. First, the plaintiff must allege that some person has deprived him of a federal right. Second, he must allege that the person who deprived him of that right acted under color of state or territorial law.
446 U.S. at 639-40, 100 S.Ct. at 1923-24. Thus, the pleading requirements in actions against government officials simply track the statutory requirements of § 1983. Where, in claims against governmental and quasi-governmental entities, the Supreme Court has added the additional requirement that the deprivation be made pursuant to a policy or custom of the entity, a requirement that the policy or custom be alleged is not inconsistent.
The holdings in Krishna Consciousness and Gomez also do not displace the provisions of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. C.R.C.P. 8(a)(2) requires that a pleading set forth “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” The purpose of a complaint is to afford the defendant reasonable notice of the general nature of the matter presented. Vance v. St. Charles Mesa Water Ass’n, 170 Colo. 313, 460 P.2d 782 (1969). The mere allegation that individual defendants acted pursuant to an institutional custom, without describing that custom in even the most superficial terms, does not provide adequate notice to the defendant since such conclusory allegations make it “impossible to ascertain the precise nature of the ‘policy’ or ‘custom’ which may have resulted in the alleged deprivation.” Bready v. Geist, 83 F.R.D. at 434. At the very least, such a custom must be identified sufficiently for the defendant to conduct its own investigation of the matter and begin to construct a defense. Generally, that identification will require that other incidents of unconstitutional conduct be pled. See Strauss, 760 F.2d at 768. As the court in Strauss points out:
To allow otherwise would be tantamount to allowing suit to be filed on a respon-deat superior basis. Plaintiffs could file claims whenever a police officer abused them, add Monell boilerplate allegations, and proceed to discovery in the hope of turning up some evidence to support the “claims” made.
760 F.2d at 768.
In my view, Uberoi has not sufficiently alleged that the individual defendants in this case were acting pursuant to discriminatory customs or policies of the University. Indeed, the only reference to such customs or policies in plaintiff’s amended complaint is contained in paragraph 51 of his 7th claim for relief, which states:
51. During all times mentioned in this Complaint, Defendants acted under color and pretense of law, to wit, the statutes, ordinances, regulations, customs and usages of the State of Colorado and the University of Colorado, a State institution. (emphasis added).
At best, this allegation is conclusory. While a pro se civil rights complaint, such as the one filed here, is held to less stringent standards than one drafted by an attorney, courts still need not conjure up unpled facts to support such conclusory •allegations. See Hurney v. Carver, 602 F.2d 993, 995 (1st Cir.1979); Guy v. Swift and Co., 612 F.2d 383, 385 (8th Cir.1980). Since plaintiff has alleged no facts that would indicate the existence of discriminatory customs or policies, he has not met the Monell requirement for finding governmental liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. I would therefore affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Uberoi’s claims against the University of Colorado.
I am authorized to say that Chief Justice QUINN joins in this concurrence and dissent.