STATE of Minnesota, by David BEAULIEU, Commissioner, Department of Human Rights, Respondent, v. CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW, Minnesota, et al., petitioners, Appellants.
No. C3-92-1780.
Supreme Court of Minnesota.
June 30, 1994.
508 N.W.2d 503
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Richard L. Varco, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for respondent.
Carla J. Heyl, League of Minnesota Cities, Shoreview, for amicus curiae.
OPINION
TOMLJANOVICH, Justice.
We are asked to decide whether the defense of official immunity is available to police officers sued for racial discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act,
The case arises out of an investigatory stop of Lateesa Agunbiade and her 13-year-old son, Adewale Agunbiade, who are African American, by three Mounds View police officers.
On October 19, 1989, police officers Jack Chambers, Larry Siluk, and Lieutenant David Brick received a police dispatch that an armed robbery had just occurred at the VFW post on Pleasant View Drive in Spring Lake Park. The dispatch described the suspect as a black male wearing black clothing and a shiny black shirt. The dispatch reported that the suspect had left on foot with the direction of travel unknown.2
All three officers responded to the dispatch. Officers Chambers and Siluk responded by driving northwest on Highway 10 toward the VFW post in an unmarked car. Lieutenant Brick responded by driving northwest on Highway 10 in a marked car. Brick was some distance behind Siluk and Chambers. The officers intended to cut off possible escape routes the suspect may have taken from the VFW. Siluk and Chambers were to proceed from Highway 10 to County Road I en route to the VFW. Brick was to proceed west on Highway 10 instead of turning onto County Road I.
At the intersection of Highway 10 and County Road I, Chambers and Siluk pulled into the left-hand lane to turn onto County Road I. While waiting for the stop light to change they observed a light-colored car with two occupants traveling eastbound on County Road I come to a stop at the intersection. The officers observed that the passenger was a black male with short-cropped hair wearing a dark colored shirt or sweater. The officers observed that the driver was black, but could not determine the driver‘s gender or any other physical characteristics. The car was in fact being driven by Lateesa Agunbiade and the passenger was her 13-year-old son, Adewale Agunbiade.
The officers made a U-turn to follow the Agunbiades and radioed Officer Brick that they were pursuing a possible suspect. When Brick reached the intersection of County Road I and Highway 10, he made a U-turn and joined the pursuit. According to Siluk and Chambers, as they followed the Agunbiades’ car, they noticed the following: (1) the car was traveling a high rate of speed and faster than the flow of traffic; (2) the car
Lateesa and Adewale Agunbiade dispute the officers’ description of these events. Lateesa Agunbiade asserts that she was not speeding and that she properly changed lanes once or twice, using appropriate turn signals. Adewale Agunbiade asserts that he did not turn around to look in the backseat of the car until he heard Brick‘s siren, just before the car was stopped.
Brick ultimately stopped the Agunbiades at the intersection of Highway 694 and Snelling Ave. The officers executed standard felony stop procedures. Brick pulled behind the vehicle, and Siluk and Chambers pulled in front. Brick exited his car, drew his weapon, and ordered the Agunbiades to place their hands on the windshield. Brick then ordered the driver, Lateesa Agunbiade, out of the car. Brick next ordered the passenger, Adewale, out of the car and frisked him for a weapon.
During the stop, the officers identified the driver of the vehicle as Lateesa Agunbiade and the passenger as her son. The Agunbiades were informed that they had been stopped in part because the suspect had been seen leaving the VFW post in a gray car, even though the officers did not in fact have knowledge that a car was used in the robbery. After telling the Agunbiades why they had been stopped, the officers determined that they were not suspects and released them. The Agunbiades were detained for approximately 15 minutes before they were released.
On March 26, 1990, Lateesa Agunbiade, on behalf of herself and her son, filed a charge of racial discrimination against the Mounds View Police Department with the Department of Human Rights (“the department“). On March 14, 1991, the department found probable cause to believe that defendants (the City of Mounds View, Chambers and Siluk), had committed an unfair discriminatory practice by denying the Agunbiades full utilization or benefit from a public service on account of their race.3 The department filed a formal complaint against appellants on January 17, 1992. Prior to administrative hearing, defendants filed a prehearing brief asserting that the department‘s action was barred by the doctrines of qualified and official immunity. Treating the immunity arguments raised as a motion for summary judgment, the Administrative Law Judge concluded that an action brought against police officers under the Human Rights Act is not barred by qualified or official immunity. Defendants appealed the ALJ‘s ruling on the inapplicability of official immunity.4 The court of appeals affirmed the ALJ‘s conclusion that official immunity did not apply to a claim brought under the Human Rights Act. State by Beaulieu v. City of Mounds View, 498 N.W.2d 503 (Minn.App. 1993). This appeal followed.
I.
At issue is whether the common law doctrine of official immunity applies to an action under the
We have recognized that generally the duties of police officers call for the exercise
In this case, police officers engaged in an investigatory stop of persons suspected of having committed an armed robbery only minutes before. The decision to stop and detain an armed robbery suspect, like the decision to engage in a high-speed car chase, requires a significant degree of independent judgment and discretion. The officers were required to weigh a multitude of factors requiring the exercise of their judgment and discretion under trying circumstances.
This is apparently the first time in which official immunity has been invoked as a defense to a discrimination claim brought under the public service provision of the
This court has not heretofore distinguished between common law and statutory causes of action in applying official immunity, but rather, has broadly defined official immunity to apply to any claim against public officials involving personal liability “for damages.” Moreover, this court has long followed the presumption that statutory enactments are consistent with common law doctrines. Wirig v. Kinney Shoe Corp., 461 N.W.2d 374, 377 (Minn.1990). If a statutory enactment is to abrogate common law, the abrogation must be by express wording or necessary implication. Id. at 378.6 It is apparent that nothing in the Human Rights Act expressly disallows official immunity as a defense to a claim brought under the act. We focus our attention on whether the act abrogates the doctrine by necessary implication.
The court of appeals suggests that to apply the doctrine of official immunity to a racial discrimination claim under section 363.03, subdivision 4, of the Human Rights Act would thwart its essential remedial purpose. Beaulieu, 498 N.W.2d at 507. This is a valid concern and one that merits careful scrutiny. The manifest purpose of
We do not believe that allowing public officials to assert the defense of official immunity to a claim under
A comparison of the standards we have articulated for a finding of discrimination under
(1) an adverse difference in treatment with respect to public services of one or more persons when compared to the treatment accorded others similarly situated except for the existence of an impermissible factor such as race, color * * *; or (2) treatment so at variance with what would reasonably be anticipated absent discrimination that discrimination is the probable explanation.
Meanwhile, we have stated that in determining whether an official has committed a malicious wrong, the fact finder considers whether the official has intentionally committed an act that he or she had reason to believe is prohibited. Rico v. State, 472 N.W.2d 100, 107-08 (Minn.1991). The Rico standard contemplates less of a subjective inquiry into malice, which was traditionally favored at common law, and more of an objective inquiry into the legal reasonableness of an official‘s actions.
We believe there are few circumstances where a public official might be deemed to have committed a discriminatory act under
In finding the official immunity doctrine inconsistent with the Human Rights Act, the court of appeals also finds significant that a provision of the
Because we find that the
II.
Having determined the defense of official immunity is available to defendants, we must next decide whether the lower courts correctly denied their motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on the basis of official immunity if there are no genuine issues of material fact tending to show defendants’ felony stop of the Agunbiades constituted a willful or malicious violation of the Agunbiades’ rights under
In applying the Richardson standard, the totality of the circumstances surrounding the alleged discriminatory conduct must be examined. In the context of a felony stop, the considerations must include (1) whether there was a reasonable basis for suspecting the citizens stopped to have been engaged in criminal activity, (2) whether the length of the stop was unnecessarily long, and (3) whether any evidence tends to show defendants acted in bad faith or with malicious intent.
We address first whether a reasonable fact finder could conclude that the officers lacked a reasonable basis for suspecting the Agunbiades to have been engaged in criminal activity. The department alleges that defendants lacked a particularized and objective basis for stopping the Agunbiades and stopped them solely on account of their race. It is well-established that an investigatory stop may be based in part on a description of a suspect‘s race, but race or color alone is not a sufficient basis for making an investigatory stop. United States v. Bautista, 684 F.2d 1286, 1289 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1211, 103 S.Ct. 1206, 75 L.Ed.2d 447 (1983).9 Here defendants argue that they relied on a number of factors other than race in deciding to stop the Agunbiades. In particular, defendants assert that the decision to stop the Agunbiades was based on the following factors: (1) The suspect was described as male and the passenger in the suspect vehicle was male; (2) The suspect vehicle reached the intersection of Highway 10 and County Road I at a time in which a vehicle leaving the crime scene would have reached this intersection; (3) The suspect vehicle turned southbound onto Highway 10, a possible escape route; (4) The suspect was described as wearing dark clothing and the passenger in the suspect vehicle appeared to wear dark clothing; (5) The suspect was described as having short hair and the passenger in the suspect vehicle had short hair; (6) The suspect vehicle was weaving in and
The department disputes the presence of many of the factors purportedly relied upon by defendants. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party on defendants’ motion for summary judgment, a reasonable fact finder could conclude that Lateesa Agunbiade was not speeding or making improper lane changes, and that Adewale Agunbiade did not look into the rear seat of the vehicle until he heard the police siren. Moreover, a reasonable fact finder could conclude that the officers were unaware the suspect had short hair and had fled the crime scene in an automobile.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, defendants had a sufficient, albeit tenuous, basis for initially stopping the Agunbiades vehicle under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), because the suspect vehicle was moving in a direction away from the crime scene shortly after commission of an armed robbery and the suspect‘s dark clothing and race matched the description of the suspect. That said, however, we are unable to conclude in the absence of further fact finding that the basis for initially stopping the vehicle was strong enough to preclude any possibility of discrimination under the Human Rights Act. An investigatory stop may be constitutionally permissible and yet be discriminatory under the standards of the Human Rights Act. See note 9, supra.
Having addressed the officers’ decision to initially stop the Agunbiades’ vehicle, we next consider whether discrimination might be inferred from the duration of the stop. A detention after a stop must be reasonable in scope and duration. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1325-26, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983) (plurality opinion). The Agunbiades were stopped for a period of about 15 minutes. Defendants had no reason to believe that the suspect was a 13-year-old boy or that he had a woman as an accomplice. Moreover, the police dispatch stated the suspect was wearing black clothing including a shiny black shirt. There is no evidence that Adewale Agunbiade was wearing a shiny black shirt or any other black clothing. Rather, there is evidence that he had on a dark navy blue sweater. Construing this evidence in the light most favorable the nonmoving party, we believe a reasonable fact finder could determine that the length of detention was unreasonable and was the product of racial discrimination.
We finally note that the department has produced evidence tending to show defendants acted in bad faith. Deposition evidence indicates that the Agunbiades were told by defendants after being stopped that they had been stopped because defendants were looking for a gray car when, in fact, no vehicle description had been broadcast.
In conclusion, when factual disputes are resolved favorably to plaintiff‘s, the basis for initially stopping the Agunbiades was tenuous but met constitutional standards. The length of the stop may have been unreasonable, however, given that Adewale Agunbiade‘s age and clothing failed to correspond with the description of the suspect in the original dispatch and given the apparent absence of any other evidence tending to link the Agunbiades to the crime. In addition, defendants’ false statement to the Agunbiades that they had been stopped because their vehicle matched a description received by defendants may be evidence of bad faith.
Under the totality of the circumstances surrounding defendants felony stop of the Agunbiades, we conclude that a reasonable fact finder could find that defendants maliciously discriminated against the Agunbiades in violation of
SIMONETT, Justice (concurring specially).
I agree the Human Rights Act does not preclude application of official immunity and I agree the issue of “malice” survives the
It seems to me only when the evidence preponderates heavily in favor of the moving party must (or should) the appellate or trial court view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party; because only then is the “in the light most favorable” test needed to ascertain if there is a genuine issue of material fact.
If the facts are plainly in dispute on a genuine issue, there is no need, in order to deny summary judgment, to consider how the evidence might be interpreted to “favor” one party over another. To discuss “favorableness” in this situation runs the risk of being misconstrued as factfinding.
In this case, the respondent officers claim their stop of complainant‘s vehicle was a constitutional Terry stop, where race may be a proper consideration. The majority opinion points out this claim does not necessarily absolve the officers of a racial discrimination charge because there are still material facts in dispute on the issue of “malice” and on the issue of racial discrimination. The majority opinion further points out the proof on these two issues may overlap. These observations are appropriate. But at this stage of the proceedings, to avoid putting a thumb on the scales, I would say little more, except that because there are genuine issues of material fact the case goes to a full hearing before an administrative law judge who is the factfinder.
COYNE, Justice (concurring specially).
I join in Justice Simonett‘s special concurrence.
WAHL, Justice (concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I concur with the holding of the majority opinion that the petitioners’ motion for summary judgment was properly denied and that the matter must be remanded for further proceedings but I respectfully dissent from the holding that the defense of official immunity may be asserted in an action brought under the public service provision of the
Official immunity is a common law doctrine applicable to state tort actions. Under its protection, “a public official charged by law with duties which call for the exercise of his judgment or discretion is not personally liable to an individual for damages unless he is guilty of a willful or malicious wrong.” Elwood v. Rice County, 423 N.W.2d 671, 677 (Minn.1988). The
Even under the analysis of the majority opinion, however, official immunity should not be asserted in an action brought under the Human Rights Act. The majority opinion relies on the presumption that statutory enactments are consistent with common law doctrines unless the statute abrogates the common law by express wording or necessary implication. As the majority opinion notes, nothing in the Human Rights Act ex
To establish a claim of discrimination under
(1) an adverse difference in treatment with respect to public services of one or more persons when compared to the treatment accorded others similarly situated except for the existence of an impermissible factor such as race, color * * *; or (2) treatment so at variance with what would reasonably be anticipated absent discrimination that discrimination is the probable explanation.
City of Minneapolis v. Richardson, 307 Minn. 80, 87, 239 N.W.2d 197, 202 (1976).
The majority opinion recognizes that the “manifest purpose of section 363.03, subdivision 4 of the Human Rights Act is to eradicate discrimination in the provision of public services, including the provision of law enforcement services,” but concludes that official immunity will not undermine this remedial purpose because police officers will not be protected from willful or malicious misconduct. Thus, “official immunity would only bar discrimination claims brought under
This conclusion inappropriately equates the standard for proving racial discrimination under the Human Rights Act with the “willful and malicious” standard necessary to avoid application of official immunity. These standards are not the same. Nothing in the Human Rights Act requires a plaintiff to prove discriminatory intent on the part of the defendant. By permitting the defendant to assert a defense of official immunity, the majority opinion grafts an intent requirement onto the Act.
Contrary to the claim of the majority opinion that “there are few circumstances where a public official might be deemed to have committed a discriminatory act under
To add a motive-centered intent requirement creates an imaginary world where discrimination does not exist unless it is intended. The injury of racial discrimination exists irrespective of the defendant‘s motives and it is no less injurious or reprehensible when it originates in the unconscious. Since improper motives are easy to hide, the majority opinion gives those the statute was designed to protect a heavy burden of persuasion and severely limits the number of cases in which
I would affirm the decision of the court of appeals and hold that official immunity does not apply to discrimination claims under the
GARDEBRING, J. I join in Justice Wahl‘s dissent in part.
PAGE, J. I join in Justice Wahl‘s concurrence in part and dissent in part.
PAGE, Justice (dissenting).
I write to comment on the court‘s determination that stopping the Agunbiades did not violate the standard set out in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
As the court notes at footnote 9, Terry permits an officer to make an investigatory stop only when the officer can “point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion.” Id. at 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1880. Nothing contained in Terry permits discriminatory stops.
Appellants list seven factors, in addition to race, which “reasonably warranted” the officers’ stop of the Agunbiades in connection with the robbery. The court, in concluding that there was a reasonable basis for the stop of the Agunbiades’ vehicle, relies on two of these factors, in addition to race. In my view, these factors, taken either individually or in combination, did not reasonably warrant the stop.
1) “The suspect was described as male and the passenger in the vehicle was male.” Gender alone is no reason to believe a person has been involved in a crime. Additionally, here the suspect was a lone male, yet the stop was of an adult female and a thirteen-year-old male.
2) “The suspect vehicle reached the intersection of Highway 10 and County Road I at a time in which a vehicle leaving the crime scene would have reached this intersection.” The speed of a vehicle, given the time elapsed, would determine how far a vehicle would be from the crime scene, assuming it was continuously in motion, and assuming it took a direct route. Further, if a vehicle was involved, it could not be known how long it would have taken the suspect to reach the vehicle in order to flee from the area of the robbery. Given the number of possible variables involved, an officer could scarcely predict that a vehicle used in the robbery would be at place X at exactly Y minutes after the robbery. Thus, the location of the vehicle alone does not “reasonably warrant” the stop.
3) “The suspect vehicle turned southbound onto Highway 10, a possible escape route.” Any route away from the robbery scene was a possible escape route. This factor, therefore, does not create an individualized, articulable suspicion.
4) “The suspect was described as wearing dark clothing and the passenger in the suspect vehicle appeared to wear dark clothing.” The communication the officers received actually stated “BLACK CLOTHING, SHIRT WAS A SHINY BLACK.” It is not disputed that Adewale Agunbiade was wearing a navy blue sweater. The officers obviously could not have seen him wearing a “shiny black” shirt and so this factor cannot play any role in justifying the stop.
5) “The suspect was described as having short hair and the passenger in the suspect vehicle had short hair.” Many African American males have short hair, as do some African American females. Short hair is not, in itself, suspicious.
6) “The suspect vehicle was weaving in and out of traffic and traveling faster than the flow of traffic.” This factor may well have been the basis for making a traffic stop. It is also, however, the way many Twin Cities commuters drive. Unless the officers were in hot pursuit, this method of driving does not imply the occupants of the car were armed robbers.
7) “The passenger in the suspect vehicle moved between the seats and looked back at the police car.” This factor approaches the ridiculous. The reasons why a passenger in a car might look back at a following police car are too numerous to contemplate.
The court‘s opinion does not list the most important factor leading to this investigative stop—the fact that most people in Mounds View are white. The Agunbiades were stopped because their race differed from the race which predominates in Mounds View. That most people in Mounds View are white certainly did not give the police a basis for an individualized, articulable suspicion that the Agunbiades were involved in the robbery. This case raises the specter of the police being permitted to stop innocent individuals solely because they happen to be someplace they do not “belong.” The court‘s opinion suggests such stops are simply one of the hazards people who belong to an identifiable minority must be willing to accept. It is unimaginable that a white mother driving her thirteen-year-old son to school would have been stopped had the suspect been a white male.
As the Supreme Court said in United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 878, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2579, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975), reasonableness depends on “a balance between the public interest and the individual‘s right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law officers.” Here, there is nothing to balance—the public simply has no interest in stopping every person of color within range of a place where a person of color is alleged to have committed a crime.