BENJAMIN B. JACKSON, M.D., PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
NORTON-CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS, INC., AND CERTAIN COMMITTEES AND DIRECTORS THEREOF, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES

6th Cir. | 1973-11-13
No. 73-1303
487 F.2d 502 United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1973) Negative Treatment
Cited by 30 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the hospital's discharge of a physician did not constitute state action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and even if it did, the physician received due process.


Facts & Procedural History

A licensed physician sued a hospital for wrongful discharge, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985. The physician claimed federal jurisdic…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff, a licensed physician, sued the hospital for discharging him from the hospital staff, claiming federal jurisdiction on the basis of 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983 and 1985, and also on the basis of the general federal question statute, 28 U.S.C. See. 1343. The district court in a carefully reasoned opinion sustained the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiff’s action. He was of the opinion that the action of the defendant hospital did not constitute state action within the meaning of Sec. 1983, not withstanding the receipt by the hospital of Hill-Burton funds and the existence of state regulations governing hospitals. A number of cases support this holding and we are of the opinion that it is correct. Whenever state action has been discovered in the activities of an ostensibly private hospital something more than a partial federal funding is involved. See Ward v. St. Anthony Hospital, 476 F. 2d 671 (10th Cir. 1973); O’Neill v. Grayson County Memorial Hospital, 472 F. 2d 1140 (6th Cir. 1973); Place v. Shephard, 446 F. 2d 1239 (6th Cir. 1971); Chiaffitelli v. Dettmer Hospital, Inc., 437 F. 2d 429 (6th Cir. 1971); Meredith v. Allan County War Memorial Hospital Commission, 397 F. 2d 33 (6th Cir. 1968).

The district court further found that plaintiff was accorded due process of law in his discharge even if it should be assumed that state action was present. The record fully supports the conclusion that the plaintiff was accorded proper notice and a fair hearing at all three levels of the administrative process prior to his discharge, including the Personnel Relations Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors Medical Staff Liaison Committee. Despite proper notice, plaintiff failed to attend the hearings or to present any evidence to controvert the charges which had been made against him in connection with his conduct.

As to the Sec. 1985 claim, the district court found that the statute was not applicable so as to confer federal jurisdiction inasmuch as the record wholly failed to reveal a “class-based invidious discriminatory animus” or intent on the part of the alleged conspirators. Our examination of the record convinces us that this finding of the district court is entirely correct.

The judgment of the district court dismissing the action is therefore affirmed.

Although we are constrained to affirm the judgment of the district court for the reasons stated herein, we express no opinion concerning the merits of the appellant’s contention's.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (15 total)

Previewing 3 of 15 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw