[Download] "White v. Thomas" by Fifth Circuit United States Court Of Appeals ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: White v. Thomas
- Author : Fifth Circuit United States Court Of Appeals
- Release Date : January 06, 1981
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 57 KB
Description
A deputy sheriff, James White, was fired because, in responding to a direct question on his employment application about prior arrests, he failed to disclose his detention while a juvenile for shooting another person. White brought a section 1983 suit against the sheriff, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department (which he alleged to be a subdivision of Dallas County), Dallas County, and various county officials in federal court, invoking federal question and civil rights jurisdiction. In a document filed ex parte prior to a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction in the action, White also invoked diversity jurisdiction. He sought an injunction commanding his reinstatement, $20,000 monetary damages from denial of his salary and other employment benefits, and $100,000 in damages for having ""been the subject of public ridicule and embarrassment by being denied his Federal constitutional benefits ... and the failure of defendants to recognize their statutory and constitutional duty to honor the expunction order referred to above."" In addition, White sought an additional $100,000 in exemplary damages to compensate him for the ""arbitrary, wanton, reckless and grossly negligent"" actions of the defendants. In a memorandum in support of White's request for a preliminary injunction he asserted that he had been deprived of liberty without due process by being refused the opportunity to have a ""name clearing"" hearing. The trial court rendered summary judgment in favor of all defendants, relying on an affidavit of the sheriff and the evidence at the hearing on the preliminary injunction. White filed nothing in opposition to the motion save a memorandum asserting that some of the facts were disputed. Even in cases where the party against whom summary judgment is sought fails to comply with Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e),1 it is inappropriate to grant summary judgment on the merits on those issues whose decision depends on resolution of evident factual disputes not put beyond dispute by the affidavit, especially if a limited evidentiary hearing did not afford the party an opportunity to adduce his full case. Cubbage v. Averett, 626 F.2d 1307, 1308 (5th Cir. 1980); Beech v. United States, 345 F.2d 872 (5th Cir. 1965).