Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 49631-3-II Published Order.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 49631-3-II Published Order.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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§ 1983 suit on the basis of collateral estoppel.6 We need not decide whether the arbitration decision

precludes the § 1983 action because, based on the undisputed material facts, Billings presented

insufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case under § 1983. Because Billings failed to

present a prima facie case under § 1983, the trial court properly granted summary judgment on this

issue.

42 U.S.C. § 1983 reads:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation,
custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or
causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the
jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities
secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action
at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.

“Thus, in order to proceed in a § 1983 action, a plaintiff must show that some person deprived

plaintiff of a federal constitutional or statutory right, and that person must have been acting under

color of state law.” Lutheran Day Care v. Snohomish County, 119 Wn.2d 91, 117, 829 P.2d 746

(1992).

6
Our courts have clearly established that they may apply collateral estoppel to determinations in
administrative hearings. Shoemaker v. City of Bremerton, 109 Wn.2d 504, 512, 745 P.2d 858
(1987) (while the commission could not have decided the § 1983 civil rights claim, it may have
decided a fact common to the administrative claim for reinstatement and the § 1983 claim); see
also White v. City of Pasadena, 671 F.3d 918 (9th Cir. 2012).

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49631-3-II