Church v. Steller

Page 215

35 F.Supp.2d 215

Evan F. CHURCH, David A. Church and Judith H. Church, Plaintiffs, v. Arthur W. STELLER,¹ Individually and as Superintendent of Schools for the Kingston City Schools Consolidated; William Dederick; and Kathleen Frazer, Individually and as a member of the Board of Education of the Kingston City Schools Consolidated, Defendants.

David A. Church, Plaintiff, v. Kingston City School District; Arthur Stellar, Individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Kingston City School District; and Douglas Goodemote, Individually and in his official capacity as Assistant Superintendent of the Kingston City School District, Defendants.

No. 97-CV-856 (LEK/DRH).

No. 98-CV-917 (TJM/DRH).

United States District Court, N.D. New York.

February 2, 1999.

Bohl, Della Rocca & Dorfman, P.C., Albany, NY (James B. Tuttle, of counsel), for plaintiffs.

Louis J. Patack, Deputy Counsel, School Administrators Association of New York State, Latham, NY, for plaintiff David Church.

Shaw & Perelson, LLP, Poughkeepsie, NY (Susan G. Whiteley, of counsel), for defendants.

Maynard, O'Connor, Smith & Catalinotto, LLP, Albany, NY (Michael Catalinotto, Jeffrey E. Hurd, of counsel), for defendants.

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

HOMER, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs have moved this Court for an order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(e) certifying facts to the district court which plaintiffs contend constitute contempt of a settlement agreement "so ordered" by the Court. Docket Nos. 64-66.² For the reasons which follow, that motion is granted.

I. 28 U.S.C. § 636(e)(1)

The jurisdiction of a magistrate judge derives from the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636. The jurisdiction of a magistrate judge on a motion for contempt is described in section 636(e) in pertinent part as follows:

In a proceeding before a magistrate judge, any of the following acts or conduct shall constitute a contempt of the district court for the district wherein the magistrate is sitting: (1) disobedience or resistance to any lawful order, process, or writ.... Upon the commission of any such act or conduct, the magistrate shall forthwith certify the facts to a judge of the district court and may serve or cause to be served upon any person whose behavior is brought into question under this section an order requiring such person to appear before a judge of that court upon a day certain to show cause why he should not be adjudged in contempt by reason of the facts so certified. A judge of the district court shall thereupon, in a sunnare manner, hear the evidence as to the act or conduct complained of and, if it is such as to warrant punishment, punish such person in the same manner and to the same extent as for a contempt committed before a judge of the court, or commit such person upon the conditions applicable in the case of defiance of the process of the district court or misconduct in the presence of a judge of that court.

Thus, on a motion for contempt, a magistrate judge functions only to "certify the facts." See Litton Systems, Inc. v. AT & T, 700 F.2d 785, 827 (2d Cir.1983); Stein Indus., Inc. v. Jarco Indus., Inc., 33 F.Supp.2d 163, 164-65 (E.D.N.Y.1999); Nova Biomedical Corp. v. i-STAT Corp., 182 F.R.D. 419, 423-24 (S.D.N.Y.1998); Tenen v. Winter, No. 94-934S, 1996 WL 947560, at *8 (W.D.N.Y. July 23, 1996).³ This limitation appears to exist even where the parties consent to proceed before a magistrate judge pursuant to section 636(c). See Collins v. Foreman, 729 F.2d 108, 117 (2d Cir.1984); Stein Indus., Inc., 1999 WL 16342, at *2.

The certification of facts under section 636(e) serves to determine whether the moving party can adduce sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of contempt. Proctor v. State Gov't of N.C., 830 F.2d 514, 521 (4th Cir.1987); Tenen, 1996 WL 947560, at *8. In determining whether to certify facts, a magistrate judge may conduct a hearing on the issue of certification. See In re Kitterman, 696 F.Supp. 1366, 1370 (D.Nev.1988); NLFC, Inc. v. Devcom Mid-America, Inc., No. 93 C 0609, 1994 WL 188478, at *6 (N.D.Ill. May 11, 1994); see also Rinaolo v. Better, No. 97-CV-413 (FJS/RWS), slip op. at p. 6 (N.D.N.Y. Nov. 14, 1997) (Smith, M.J.). Absent magistrate judge certification, a district court may not proceed further on a motion for contempt where the conduct at issue occurred before a magistrate judge. See Nova Biomedical Corp., 182 F.R.D. at 423-24. Only a district court may resolve issues of credibility and fact. See Taberer v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 954 F.2d 888, 907-08 (3d Cir.1992) (district court erred in failing to conduct a de novo hearing after certification of contempt by magistrate judge); Stein Indus., Inc., 1999 WL 16342, at *2. Whether the conduct of a party constitutes contempt and any sanctions therefor are committed to the discretion of the district court. Litton Sys., Inc., 700 F.2d at 827; Tenen, 1996 WL 947560, at *8. However, upon certification a magistrate judge may recommend that certain sanctions be imposed by the district court upon a finding of contempt. See Peker v. Fader, 965 F.Supp. 454, 460 (S.D.N.Y.1997).

II. Facts

In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(e), the following facts are certified to the district court. Those facts are derived from affidavits submitted by the parties, are described in the light most favorable to plaintiffs as the moving parties, and do not constitute findings of fact. Except where noted, however, such facts do not appear to be disputed by the defendants.

Plaintiff David Church ("Church") was employed by the Kingston Enlarged City School District ("school district") as the principal of the Kingston High School. His son, Evan Church, was at the times alleged in the complaints a high school student within the school district but attending a different high school under a special program. During his final year of high school, Evan Church applied for acceptance at various colleges which necessitated providing a transcript of high school courses and grades. The school district endeavored to convert the courses and grades from the high school attended by Evan Church to a transcript from the school district. Church became involved in this process from which arose a series of charges and counter-charges among the parties. Church was suspended as principal of the high school but remained an employee of the school district.

Civil and administrative actions followed. The Churches commenced an action alleging violations of their civil rights by the school district, its superintendent, and various members of its board of education. Church v. Steller, No. 97-CV-856 (LEK/DRH). Church commenced a second action alleging violations of rights under the Family Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. Church v. Kingston City Sch. Dist., No. 98-CV-917 (TJM/DRH).⁴ Church also commenced two administrative proceedings against the school district, one before the New York State Division of Human Rights alleging violations of his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and one before the New York State Public Employment Relations Board alleging improper employment practices. The school district commenced an administrative proceeding against Church under N.Y. Educ. Law § 3020-a (McKinney 1995) alleging improper conduct by Church as principal of the high school.

Following a series of settlement conferences, an agreement was reached among all parties resolving all proceedings. The terms of that agreement were placed on the record on September 11, 1998. Tr. of Proceedings on Sept. 11, 1998 (Docket No. 71, Ex. A) ("Agreement"). Among the school district's interests in entering into the Agreement was terminating Church's employment with the school district. Thus, the Agreement included a provision that Church would resign effective June 30, 1999 and attached a signed letter of resignation. Agreement, p. 6 & Ex. B. Among Church's interests in entering into the Agreement was optimizing his opportunity to obtain new employment by lifting his suspension and resuming his employment with the school district while he sought a new position elsewhere.⁵ Thus, the Agreement included a provision that, among other things, the letter of resignation would remain sealed. Agreement, p. 10.⁶ All parties affirmed the Agreement and it was "so ordered." Agreement, pp. 13-27.⁷

The school district board of education was scheduled to meet on the evening of September 16, 1998. Dr. Arthur Stellar, the Superintendent of Schools, advised defendants' attorneys, Susan Whiteley and Jeffrey Hurd, that the school board intended to act on Church's letter of resignation and release the public statement at the board meeting. Stellar Aff., ¶¶ 9-14. Because the school district possessed only an unsigned copy of Church's letter of resignation, Stellar asked the attorneys to confirm with Church's attorney, James Tuttle, that the board could act on the unsigned copy. Id.

The parties dispute what occurred in the telephone calls between Tuttle and defendants' attorneys. According to Tuttle, on September 14 or 15, 1998, he spoke by telephone on separate occasions with both Whiteley and Hurd. Whiteley and Hurd both asked Tuttle if Church would object to the school board acting on Church's resignation without the signed original, which had been filed as an attachment to the transcript of the settlement agreement. Docket No. 67. Tuttle advised the attorneys that he was not aware of any reason why the Board should act on the letter of resignation at all. Although they did not specify any authority for the proposition at that time, they both made general statements to the effect that the Board felt obligated to do so for some reason based on New York State law. I told them I was unaware of any such obligation⁸ and that I would object to any public action with regard to any of the terms and conditions of the settlement or the letter of resignation...