Hatley v. City of Charlotte

826 F.Supp.2d 890

Tammy HATLEY, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF CHARLOTTE, Defendant.

No. 3:10cv423.

United States District Court, W.D. North Carolina,Charlotte Division.

Nov. 28, 2011.

Louis L. Lesesne, Jr., Norris Arden Adams, II, Essex Richards, P.A., Charlotte, NC, for Plaintiff.

Angelique Regail Vincent, Brian Lee Church, Charles E. Johnson, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Mark H. Newbold, Charlotte–Mecklenburg Police Dept., Charlotte, NC, for Defendant.

ORDER

MAX O. COGBURN, JR., District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the court on plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 23) and the defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 25). Having carefully considered those motions and conducted a hearing, the court enters the following findings, conclusions, and Order granting in part and denying in part the motions for summary judgment, and directing the Clerk of this court to place this matter on the December 2011 trial calendar.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

I. Nature of the Claims

In this action, plaintiff contends that the City of Charlotte Metropolitan Police Department (hereinafter “CMPD”) denied her the protections afforded under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution when it demoted her from “Response Area Commander” (hereinafter “RAC”), which carried with it staff sergeant insignia, back down to sergeant. Plaintiff also contends that such employment action violated similar protections afforded under the North Carolina Constitution, the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution, amounted to a breach of contract, and violated legislatively delegated powers under North Carolina law. For the reasons discussed below, the court will dismiss the Contracts Clause claim, the breach of contract claim, and the delegated powers claims, grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiff on the issue of liability under the federal and state due process claims, and set this matter on for trial as to the issue of damages.

II. Factual Background

The following factual background is intended to aid the decision-making process and is not intended to bind the court or the parties at trial. As agreed to by all parties at the hearing, the decisive issue is whether plaintiff's elevation from the position of sergeant to the position of staff sergeant was a promotion or whether it was simply a temporary assignment, not carrying with it any cognizable property interest recognized by North Carolina law and, therefore, not protected from deprivation under either the federal or state constitution. Defendant contends that plaintiff was not promoted and, therefore, had no procedural due process rights or similar state constitutional rights when her assignment was terminated. In stark contrast to that argument, plaintiff has come forward with not only evidence that she was promoted, but direct evidence that defendant represented to her and others that her elevation from sergeant to staff sergeant was a promotion.

Defendant does not dispute that when plaintiff and 38 other sergeants were selected to fill the role of RAC in 2008, CMPD held a ceremony which it called a “promotion ceremony” at which all 39 sergeant were presented by defendant with insignia indicating that they had been promoted to the rank of staff sergeant, which is another stripe for a non-commissioned officer. It is equally undisputed that in preparation for such ceremony, CMPD sent the 39 successful candidates a memorandum captioned “Your New Rank,” which provided the candidates with information and instructions concerning the formal promotion ceremony. In addition to supplying plaintiff with new insignia at the ceremony, CMPD also provided plaintiff with a take home car, additional authority over and responsibility for the sergeants working in her response area, and a substantial pay increase of seven percent. Two years after going through such promotion ceremony, in 2010 she and two other RACs were demoted back down to the rank of sergeant and replaced by other sergeants. While defendant argued that some process was provided, it is undisputed that plaintiff did not receive notice from or an opportunity to be heard by the Charlotte Civil Service Board (hereinafter “CSB”) before being demoted.

The parties agree that the pivotal issue is whether plaintiff was promoted. At the hearing, defendant argued how this was not a promotion to a higher rank inasmuch as it never presented the elevations to the CSB. Rather, it argued that the position of RAC was simply another special assignment within the rank of sergeant and that plaintiff had received any number of special assignments during her long career with CMPD, including assignment to a hostage negotiation team. Upon questioning by the court, defendant conceded at the hearing that it had never before held a promotion ceremony or awarded another stripe for any special assignment.

The court has also considered the context of the elevation of plaintiff to the position of staff sergeant. In June 2008, Chief Monroe was hired as CMPD Chief. In July 2008, he began restructuring the police department by increasing the number of officers on the streets and increasing accountability for performance. Rodney Monroe First Affidavit (hereinafter “First Monroe Aff.”), at ¶ 4. One of the measures he implemented was to emphasize crime fighting and prevention by geographic response area rather than function. Id., at ¶ 5. He divided the City of Charlotte into 39 response areas and held individuals responsible for each of those areas. Id. It is undisputed that before Chief Monroe came on board, there were four ranks in the police departments: sergeant; captain; major; and deputy chief. To ensure such accountability, Chief Monroe attempted to add the rank of lieutenant in 2008–2009, with lieutenants assigned as RACs; however, the downturn in the economy prevented the City of Charlotte from authorizing that rank. Id., at ¶ 6. Instead, Chief Monroe created temporary RAC positions and staffed those positions not with lieutenants, but with sergeants already on the payroll, providing each with an additional stripe.

It is at this point that the factual submissions diverge. Plaintiff described the process of her selection as “competitive,” while the defendant described it “as a temporary special assignment” which was “open to qualified sergeants throughout the department.” Id., at ¶ 7 & Ex. A. Further, defendant contends that this temporary special assignment was intended as a stop-gap measure until CMPD could adopt and budget a new rank of lieutenant; however, it was undisputed that nearly three years later, when the court conducted the hearing, the issue of approving and funding lieutenants was only then coming on to be heard by city council. According to defendant, the City Manager has now approved implementation of the rank of lieutenant during the 2011–2012 fiscal year. Kerr Putney Affidavit (“Putney Aff.”), at ¶ 20.

III. Plaintiff's Claims

Plaintiff has asserted the following causes of action: (1) breach of contract; (2) a Section 1983 violation of her Fourteenth Amendment right to procedural due process; (3) a Section 1983 violation of the Contracts Clause contained in U.S. Const. Art. I, § 10; (4) violation of the “Law of the Land” clause in N.C. Const. Art. 1, § 19; and (5) violation of the City's legislatively delegated power under N.C. Const. Art. VII, § 1 and N.C. Session Law 2000–26.

IV. Applicable StandardsA. Cross Motions for Summary Judgment

The respective parties have each filed a motion for summary judgment. Where cross motions for summary judgment are filed, such motions are

no more than a claim by each side that it alone is entitled to summary judgment, and the making of such inherently contradictory claims does not constitute an agreement that if one is rejected the other is necessarily justified or that the losing party waives judicial consideration and determination whether genuine issues of material fact exist. If any such issue exists it must be disposed of by a plenary trial and not on summary judgment.

In short, the mere fact that both parties seek summary judgment does not constitute a waiver of a full trial or the right to have the case presented to a jury.

Wright & Miller, 10A Fed. Prac. & Proc. Civ.3d § 2720.

B. Summary Judgment Standard

In moving for summary judgment, the parties generally contend that no genuine issues of fact remains for trial. Plaintiff contends that no genuine issue remains as to liability as it is clear that she was promoted and that the only issue that remains is damages. Defendant contends that no genuine issue of fact remains for trial and that it is entitled to judgment on plaintiff's state and federal due process claims, because plaintiff could not have been demoted in violation of any federal or state constitutional protection inasmuch as she never had a property interest in her RAC assignment. In addition, defendant has argued for summary judgment on separate grounds as to the plaintiff's claims under the Contracts Clause, for breach of contract, and based on delegated powers.

In conducting such review, the court is guided by Rule 56(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides:

A party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense—or the part of each claim or defense—on which summary judgment is sought. The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The court should state on the record the reasons for granting or denying the motion.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The rule goes on to provide procedures for responding to a motion for summary judgment:

(c) Procedures.

(1) Supporting Factual Positions. A party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by:

(A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents,...