Court Opinion

ID: 9786846
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:03:38.738574+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:47.291272
License: Public Domain

SUMMERS, J.,
Dissenting and joined by BOUDREAU, J.
¶ 1 I respectfully dissent for two reasons. The first, and most important, is that the Court exercises appellate jurisdiction over what appear to be non-appealable orders. I further dissent because Cochran is entitled to qualified immunity.
¶ 2 I would first request the parties to comment on whether the trial court's orders were immediately appealable because of pending claims left unadjudicated in the trial court. If the orders are indeed not immediately appealable, I would recast a portion of Plaintiffs' petition in error as an application for an extraordinary writ on the issue of Cochran's immunity, assume original jurisdiction but deny the writ (upholding a qualified immunity defense),1 and then decline to review the issues relating to the City of Edmond in advance of a proper appeal.2
I. Appellate Jurisdiction
3 This Court has an obligation to make a sua sponte inquiry into its appellate jurisdic*855tion. Baptist Medical Center of Oklahoma, Inc. v. Aguirre, 1996 OK 133, n. 14, 930 P.2d 213, 218; Chickasaw Telephone Co. v. Drabek, 1996 OK 76, n. 16, 921 P.2d 333, 337. Upon a sua sponte inquiry into our appellate jurisdiction we generally afford the parties an opportunity to address the issue. Conterez v. O'Donnell, 2002 OK 67, ¶ 6, n. 5, 58 P.3d 759, 760-761. The appellate record before us appears to show an order that is not immediately appealable. I would thus require a response from the parties on this issue.
¶ 4 Several summary judgment motions, responses, and replies were filed in the trial court.3 The City of Edmond (or Edmond) sought and was granted "summary judgment." - Plaintiffs noted that Edmond's motion was for only partial summary judgment. Plaintiffs stated that Edmond "has completety ignored the other claims against it, choosing not to seek judgment on Plaintiffs' breach of contract, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims." Plaintiffs Combined Motion to Strike and Objection to Defendant City of Edmond's Motion for Summary Judgment, Dec. 4, 2001, at p. 11 n. 6, (emphasis in original). The reply of Edmond to this motion did not contest Plaintiffs' characterization of the other pending theories not addressed by Edmond. The City of Edmond's response filed October 10, 2001, does argue that it did not breach the contract because there was a lack of finality in the selection process. At p. 18. But Edmond did not request, then or later, a judgment on the contract theory, and Edmond's motion for summary judgment filed two months later did not discuss Plaintiffs' contract or tort theories.
¶ 5 Plaintiffs clearly stated in the summary judgment stage that they were seeking judgment against Cochran on a theory that he violated their constitutional rights, and not on contract or tort theories based upon state law.4 The appellate record appears to show that Cochran has been granted judgment in his favor on the only theory pressed against him. Further, Edmond has been granted summary judgment in its favor on a theory that it violated the Due Process Clause, but not on the contract and tort theories urged by Plaintiffs against Edmond.
¶ 6 I first note that the judgment has no certification authorized by 12 0.8.2001 $ 994. Secondly, when theories arise from the same transaction or occurrence they are the same claim (or cause of action) for purpose of requiring their adjudication prior to an appeal. See Liberty Bank and Trust Co. v. Rogalin, 1996 OK 10, ¶ 9, ¶ 11 n. 3, 912 P.2d 836, 838, 839, where we indicated that affirmative defenses and compulsory counterclaims must be adjudicated when a court adjudicates the related cause of action, and that a trial court lacks the power to certify for appellate review an order that splits a cause of action.5 This means that when a *856plaintiff presses theories pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and breach of contract, and the same transaction or occurrence is used for both the contractual and § 1988 judicial relief, then only one claim or cause of action is brought by that plaintiff.
T7 A "partial summary judgment" or partial summary adjudication is not an appeal-able order. Reams v. Tulsa Cable Television, Inc., 1979 OK 171, 604 P.2d 373, 376; Allen v. Lynn Hickey Dodge, Inc., 2001 OK 93, 39 P.3d 781, 789, (Opala, J., concurring). In the case before us, this principle means that a cause of action must thus be completely adjudicated on both the contract and § 1983 theories as a prerequisite to an appeal from a judgment6 on that cause of action or claim for relief.
8 The United States Supreme Court has stated that claim preclusion may, pursuant to State law, be used to bar a § 1988" action when the claim in the § 19837 action arises from the same transaction or occurrence that was previously used as a basis for an action in contract. Migra v. Warren City School Dist. Bd. of Ed., 465 U.S. 75, 104 S.Ct. 892, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984). Similarly, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Cireuit has explained that res judicata will bar a § 1988 action filed in a federal court when it follows an action filed in an Oklahoma state District Court involving the same transaction or occurrence, i.e., a previous adjudication on the same claim will bar a subsequent § 1988 action. Jarrett v. Gramling, 841 F.2d 354 (10th Cir.1988). Jarrett involved a police officer terminated from employment who filed a mandamus proceeding for the purpose of obtaining a hearing, and then later filed a § 1983 lawsuit alleging, in part, that he did not receive a hearing. Id. $41 F.2d at 855.
T9 I would call for a response from the parties on the appealability question before issuing an opinion in the case.
IL - Qualified Immunity
110 Qualified immunity is an immunity from suit by government officials performing discretionary functions "insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 588, 118 S.Ct. 1584, 140 L.Ed.2d 759 (1998). The Court stated that using an objective reasonableness test "avoids the unfairness of imposing liability on a defendant who 'could not reasonably be expected to anticipate subsequent legal developments, nor ... fairly be said to know that the law forbade conduct not previously identified as unlawful'" Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. at 590, 118 S.Ct. 1584, quoting, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Thus, the inquiry shifts to whether the law identified a particular official's conduct as unlawful at the time the conduct occurred.
[ 11 In applying qualified immunity a court must define the particular right at issue to determine if it was "clearly established," and if so, then qualified immunity does not apply. At one end of the spectrum a right may be defined so broadly that the immunity would seldom apply, and at the other end a right could be defined so narrowly that qualified immunity would apply in almost every case. The High Court explained:
*857[The right to due process of law is quite clearly established by the Due Process Clause, and thus there is a sense in which any action that violates that Clause (no matter how unclear it may be that the particular action is a violation) violates a clearly established right. Much the same could be said of any other constitutional or statutory violation. But if the test of "clearly established law" were to be applied at this level of generality, it would bear no relationship to the "objective legal reasonableness" that is the touchstone of Horlow. _... It should not be surprising, therefore, that our cases establish that the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been "clearly established" in a more particularized, and hence more relevant, sense: The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, see Mitchell, supra, 472 U.S. at 535, n. 12, 105 S.Ct. at 2820, n. 12; but it is to say that in the light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent.
Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 639-640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987), emphasis added and material omitted). See also Dill v. City of Edmond, 155 F.3d 1193 (10th Cir.1998).
The Tenth Cireuit has stated that a plaintiff need not show a pre-existing case that is factually identical.
Qualified immunity does not protect official conduct simply because the Supreme Court has never held the exact conduct at issue unlawful. Rather, the shield of qualified immunity is pierced if in light of preexisting law, the unlawfulness of the conduct is apparent to the officer. Id. "This ordinarily means that there must be a Supreme Court or Tenth Cireuit opinion on point, or the clearly established weight of authority from other courts must have found the law to be as the plaintiff maintains."
Lawmaster v. Ward, 125 F.3d 1341, 1350 (10th Cir.1997), quoting, Garramone v. Romo, 94 F.3d 1446, 1451 (10th Cir.1996).
But there must be some authority "on point" showing that the officials' conduct violate a clearly established right. Id.
{12 The opinion of the Court concludes that Plaintiffs met their burden of showing a clearly established right in that they possessed a property interest in their rank. The opinion fails to address the pivotal issue underlying both Plaintiffs' claim and Cochran's defense of immunity-the authority of the arbitrator and Edmond's duty to follow the arbitrator's ruling. Simply, the Court focuses on a "right" without considering the corresponding "duty" of Cochran. 8
13 The opinion of the Court states that the arbitrator ruled that the promotional process was invalid, but the ruling did not mention Plaintiffs and "did not include a finding or recommendation that Appellants' promotions were invalid." Slip Opn. at €4, (emphasis in original). That is true. But instead of focusing on what the arbitrator did not say, let us look at what the arbitrator did actually say and what those words mean:
I further find that as a result of the significant contractual violations committed during the promotional exam on July 29, 1998 renders it void, as well as the promotional list resulting from the application of that test, and hereby order that another examination and assessment center be conducted that is in full compliance with GPO 88-2 (revised).
Motion for Summary Judgment, Sept. 24, 2001, Plaintiffs Exhibit D, at pg. 18.
The arbitrator did say that the "promotional exam" is "void," and say that the "promotional list" generated from that "void" exam is also "void", The promotional process, including the exam, was created by the collective bargaining agreement-a contractual obligation.
1 14 The word "void" is a legal term of art that was used by an arbitrator in a ruling on *858interpreting a contract. Harkrider v. Posey, 2000 OK 94, ¶ 11, 24 P.3d 821, 827. The arbitrator did not hold that the promotion process was merely "invalid." He stated that the promotion process was a nullity. What impact does this have on the Plaintiffs? The contract provides for a promotional process that includes an examination and provides that a certain number of officers will be promoted based upon their ranking within the process. The officers are competing with each other for a limited number of promotional placements. If a particular placement process and associated examination is a contractual nullity-so too, arguably, are any promotions springing from that void process. Cochran's actions were arguably correct, and by use of that word, I mean his actions were reasonable in light of then existing precedent. The reasonableness of Cochran's actions in light of precedent shows that he is entitled to immunity.
¶ 15 One court has explained that "there are two levels at which the immunity shield operates. First, the particular right must be clearly established in the law. Second, the manner in which this right applies to the actions of the official must also be apparent." Maciariello v. Summer, 973 F.2d 205, 298 (4th Cir.1992). The Court continued: "Officials are not liable for bad guesses in gray areas; they are liable for transgressing bright lines." Id. (citing Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 639-40, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987)).
T16 In this case, there were competing, conflicting, and unclear legal forces operating upon the chief when he made his decision to return Plaintiffs to their former rank. On one hand, section 7.1(F) of the collective bargaining agreement provided that a permanent employee may be demoted only for cause, subject to the "disciplinary grievance procedures ... if such action falls within the definition of grievance." On the other hand, until today, the law was unclear as to whether the arbitrator's ruling constituted cause for returning Plaintiffs to their former rank. Further, Cochran's - decision - concerning Plaintiffs had nothing to do with "discipline." And finally, Cochran's reluctance not to follow the arbitrator's ruling was objectively reasonable since, in a very recent case, he had chosen not to follow the ruling of an arbitrator, only to be told by the trial court (subsequently affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals) that he had to follow the arbitrator's ruling whether it was right or not. Neal v. City of Edmond, No. 83,932, (Okla.Civ.App. June 16, 2000), cert. denied, October 17, 2000.
¶ 17 Generally, courts refuse to review the merits of an arbitration award under collective bargaining agreements. United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 596, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960). If an arbitrator is arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the seope of his authority, and not acting through fraud or dishonesty the arbitrator's decision is enforced by courts. - United Paperworkers Intern. Union, AFL-CIO v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 38, 108 S.Ct. 364, 98 LEd.2d 286 (1987). This Court has said that "Only when the 'arbitrator's words manifest an infidelity to this obligation' will courts refuse to enforce the award." City of Yukon v. International Ass'n of Firefighters, Local 2055, 1990 OK 48, 792 P.2d 1176, 1180, quoting, United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. at 597, 80 S.Ct. 1358. We further said that "this Court may only consider whether the arbitrator's decision 'draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement.'" City of Yukon v. International Ass'n of Firefighters, Local 2055, 792 P.2d at 1179, quoting, United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. at 597, 80 S.Ct. 1358.
§18 This Court has adopted the concept from federal law that an arbitrator's ruling should be followed whether right or not. City of Yukon, supra. The Court now, for the first time, puts officials on notice that they may not in good faith rely upon an arbitrator's ruling, even though the parties have previously made that ruling contractually binding.
19 The Court's opinion states that a void promotional process has no impact on Plaintiffs because their names were not in the arbitrator's order. This conclusion rests upon some assumptions that cannot be made. First, did the arbitrator have the power to issue a decision binding on Edmond stating that the promotional process and exam were *859void? The collective bargaining agreement states that a grievance may include an interpretation as well as an application of rights created by the contract. The contract states that the arbitrator may make "recommendations" as part of the arbitrator's decision. And it states that the arbitrator's ruling is binding.
20 Secondly, assuming that the decision of the arbitrator to void the promotional process was in excess of the arbitrator's power-is the decision of the arbitrator itself void or voidable? The Court's opinion necessarily implies the former when it denies Cochran his immunity. This too, I believe is error.
¶ 21 The City of Edmond and the F.O.P. considered the arbitrator's order to be based upon the essence of the collective bargaining agreement. -In my view, an arbitrator's power under a collective bargaining agreement to review the validity of a promotional exam includes the power to declare the exam void as to all applicants of that exam when the contracting parties to the collective bargaining agreement have a contractual intent to create such power. The F.O.P. and the City of Edmond thought that the arbitrator in this case had such power, and this Court should not lightly cast aside what the parties intended. The Court does so by stating that the Plaintiffs' possessed a right that was clearly established-a right held by Plaintiffs that required the City of Edmond to ignore an order of an arbitrator that was made binding on Edmond according to a collective bargaining agreement.
122 Generally, as a matter of Oklahoma jurisprudence, when parties to a compulsory obligation act in conformity therewith this Court does not penalize them for their failure to anticipate a legal decision holding the compulsory obligation to be void. One example of this occurs in the context of the conduct of public officials following compulsory statutes later adjudicated to be void, and this Court's recognition that people rely upon the validity of statutes until they determined to be unconstitutional (void). See, eg., Ethics Commission of State of Okla. v. Cullison, 1993 OK 37, 850 P.2d 1069, 1079; General Motors v. Oklahoma County Board of Equalization, 1983 OK 59, 678 P.2d 233, 238-241, cert. denied, 466 U.S. 909, 104 S.Ct. 1689, 80 LEd.2d 163 (1984).9 A similar concept occurs in contract jurisprudence where this Court recognizes that the conduct on one party may create an estoppel so that the other party need not comply with a written provision in a contract. See, eg., Knittel v. Security State Bank, Mooreland, 1979 OK 47, 593 P.2d 92, 95-96. The common legal principle is that parties acting in good faith while attempting to fulfill compulsory obligations are not penalized for their good-faith conduct.
23 What this concept has to do with our controversy today is simply this--the Court penalizes the "good faith" of Cochran's act in attempting to follow the compulsory obligation of the arbitrator's ruling, and strikes a blow at the purpose of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity has been known as a "good faith" immunity. Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 194, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984). One reason for this is that the immunity was designed to shield officials when they could not reasonably anticipate that their conduct would give rise to liability. 468 U.S. at 195, 104 S.Ct. 8012. The official's good faith is measured by an objective standard. See C. Richey, Manual on Employment Discrimination and Civl Rights Actions in the Federal Courts, E-12-14 (rev. ed.1988), (Judge Richey explains Harlow v. Fitzgerald, supra, and Anderson v. Creighton, supra). As previously pointed out, the immunity "avoids the unfairness of imposing liability on a defendant who 'could not reasonably be expected to anticipate subsequent legal developments, nor ... fairly be said to know that the law forbade conduct not previously identified as unlawful." Crawford-El v. Britton, supra.
¶ 24 The City of Edmond states that it was required to vacate the promotions by an order made by arbitration that it considered to be binding. The F.O.P. evidently considered *860the arbitrator's order to be binding on the City of Edmond and the F.O.P. Could Cochran have reasonably known that following the arbitrator's order would give rise to liability?
1 25 The Court's opinion does not cite to a single binding precedent pre-dating Cochran's act that would inform him that he must disregard the arbitrator's decision considered as binding by the City of Edmond. The facts are sufficiently developed to show that Coc-harn is entitled to the immunity. Under the facts of this case, I do not believe that Cochran transgressed a bright line. "Officials are not liable for bad guesses in gray areas; they are liable for transgressing bright lines." Maciariello v. Summer, supra. I believe that Cochran is thus entitled to qualified immunity.
126 In sum, I would have the parties brief the issue of the Court's appellate jurisdiction. In the event that the Court has no appellate jurisdiction I would recast the petition in error as an application for a writ, then assume original jurisdiction and deny the writ, thus recognizing Cochran's qualified immunity. I would decline to address whether the interlocutory "judgment" in favor of the City of Edmond was correct.

. The Court has assumed original jurisdiction to review an order adjudicating a party's immunity to suit in a § 1983 proceeding. See, eg., Lambert v. Town of Stringtown, 1992 OK 103, 834 P.2d 955; McLin v. Trimble, 1990 OK 74, 795 P.2d 1035; Phillips v. Wiseman, 1993 OK 100, 857 P.2d 50; Powell v. Seay, 1976 OK 22, 553 P.2d 161.

. A qualified immunity defense does not apply to a municipality such as the City of Edmond. The Court has said that "in Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 650, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 1415, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980), we rejected a claim that municipalities should be afforded qualified immunity, much like that afforded individual officials. ..." Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 166, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 LEd.2d 517 (1993). See also Board of County Commissioners, Wabaunsee County, Kan. v. Umbehr, 518 U.S. 668, 677, 116 S.Ct. 2342, 135 L.Ed.2d 843 (1996), ("immunity from suit under § 1983 extends to public servants only in their individual capacities"); Whitesel v. Sengenberger, 222 F.3d 861, 870 (10th Cir.2000); (municipal entities and local governing bodies are not entitled to the traditional common law immunities for section 1983 claims).

. The motions in chronological order are: (1) September 24, 2001, Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment; (2) October 2, 2001, Cochran's motion for summary judgment (3) October 9, 2001, Cochran's response to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment; (4) October 10, 2001, City of Edmond's response to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment; (5) October 17, 2001, Plaintiffs responded to Cochran's motion for summary judgment (6) November 1, 2001, Plaintiffs filed a reply to the City's response; (7) November 1, 2001, Plaintiffs replied to Cochran's response; (8) November 19, 2001, the City of Edmond's motion for summary judgment; (9) December 4, 2001, Plaintiffs' motion to strike the City's motion for summary judgment and response to motion; and (10) December 10, 2001, City of Edmond responded to Plaintiff's motion to strike and response.

. See Plaintiffs' Response filed on October 17, 2001, at n.4, pp. 5-6, where they state that the only claim that they are bringing against Cochran is based upon the Due Process Clause and not tort or contract theories.

. Liberty Bank & Trust Co. relies upon "the same transaction or occurrence" definition of a cause of action or claim for relief. See the definition for "cause of action" in Retherford v. Halliburton Company, 1977 OK 178, ¶ 11, 572 P.2d 966, 968-969; Chandler v. Denton, 1987 OK 38, ¶ 13, n. 20, 741 P.2d 855, 863-864; Resolution Trust Corp. v. Greer, 1995 OK 126, ¶ 11, n. 5, 911 P.2d 257, 260; and Greenberg v. Wolfberg, 1994 OK 147, n. 42, 890 P.2d 895.
A cause of action cannot be split or divided into several lawsuits, - Christian v. American Home Assur. Co., 1977 OK 141, 577 P.2d 899, 905. A cause of action may not be split into more than one judgment because a judgment is, by definition a final determination of a single cause of action, and in the creation of a judgment the cause of action is merged into the *856judgment-the cause of action ceases to exist. See note 7 infra. See also Liberty Bank and Trust Co. v. Rogalin, 1996 OK 10, n. 2, 912 P.2d 836, 838-839, (a transaction or occurrence cannot be split into two claims).

. A judgment is a final determination of the rights of the parties with respect to a particular cause of action or claim for relief. 12 0.$.2001 § 681. See City of Lawton v. International Union of Police Associations, Local 24, 2002 OK 1, ¶ 5, 41 P.3d 371, 374. See also Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Tidwell, 1991 OK 119, 820 P.2d 1338, 1341, (there is only one "judgment" or one final judicial determination upon a single cause of action). Upon entry of a judgment the cause of action is merged into the judgment and the cause of action ceases to exist. Johnson v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety, 2000 OK 7, ¶ 9, 2 P.3d 334; Black v. Russell, 1927 OK 485, ¶ 12, 266 P. 448.

. Section 1983 is not a "cause of action'" but a statutory remedy for judicial relief based upon the particular transaction or occurrence at issue. The High Court has explained that section 1983 "creates no substantive rights; it merely provides remedies for deprivations of rights established elsewhere." City of Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 816, 105 S.Ct. 2427, 85 L.Ed.2d 791 (1985).

. A "right" possessed by one entity exists in conjunction with a corresponding "duty" by a different entity. See Silver v. Slusher, 1988 OK 53, n. 28, 770 P.2d 878, 884, quoting, W. Hoh-feld, Fundamental Legal Conceptions, 78, (1923).

. The act of reliance by a person upon the conduct of others as justification for that person's conduct of his or her affairs is a doctrine of equity jurisprudence. See, e.g., Waters v. Stevens, 1947 OK 4, 176 P.2d 808, 811-812; Luschen v. Stanton, 1943 OK 177, 137 P.2d 567, 569. Accord, Russell v. Board of County Commissioners, Carter County, 1997 OK 80, 952 P.2d 492, 503, (elements of promissory estoppel discussed).