Plaintiff Kevin C. Ellis sued defendants Paul Hopkins and other individual employees of the John J. Pershing Veterans’ Administration Medical Center (VA) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Southeastern Division, raising claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Defendants moved to dismiss plaintiff’s claims under Rule 12(b)(6). Plaintiff also sought a preliminary injunction.
Factual Overview
Kevin Ellis, a Union President and Voluntary Services Assistant at the VA, alleged that VA employees targeted him because of disclosures and representations related to unsafe work conditions. In June 2018, Dale Garrett told Ellis that he did not want him to be part of voluntary services with the VA and allegedly defamed Ellis by telling others that he was the reason Violet Ferrell retired from federal service. Two months later, Ellis received a proposal to terminate his employment, which he claims was jointly drafted by numerous people. The proposal caused Ellis to seek medical attention and be diagnosed with Major Depression and Anxiety Disorder.
Ellis also alleged that Patricia Hall launched an informal fact-finding investigation in April 2017 involving a letter allegedly sent by Ellis, but no proof was provided. In October 2017 and 2019, Patrick Shea targeted Ellis’s employment by initiating Administrative Investigation Boards. Robert Ritter issued Ellis proposals to terminate his employment in August and September 2018, and Lisa Edwards made a false claim that Ellis committed a privacy violation.
Legal Analysis
Civil Service Reform Act Preemption
The court found that Ellis’s claims were preempted by the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA), which established a comprehensive system for reviewing personnel actions taken against federal employees. The CSRA applied because Ellis was a covered employee in the competitive service, and the facts he alleged related to retaliation for whistleblowing, a prohibited employment practice under the CSRA.
Other Arguments
The court addressed the defendants’ other arguments for dismissal, finding that:
- The issue of suing the wrong defendant was moot due to the substitution of proper defendants.
- Ellis’s Title VII claim failed because he did not allege any discrimination based on a protected characteristic.
- Ellis’s FTCA claim was preempted by Title VII and barred by the statute of limitations.
- Ellis’s Fourteenth Amendment Bivens claim was barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
Conclusion
The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and denied Ellis’s motion for preliminary injunction as moot.
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