Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Claims Alleging Violation Of Constitutional Rights Related To Bench Trial Of Workers’ Compensation Case

A pro se plaintiff brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama against her former attorney and doctor for alleged violations of her constitutional rights, claiming that her attorney violated her Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by preventing her from receiving a jury trial and failing to adequately represent her interests in a workers’ compensation case.  She further asserted her doctor violated her Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights based on an alleged deliberate indifference to serious medical needs and his determination that her injuries were not work-related.  Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of the motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim, holding that the plaintiff failed to establish federal question jurisdiction.

Under Alabama law, workers’ compensation claims are tried before a judge unless the defendant asserts the defense of willful misconduct.  As this defense was not asserted, the Eleventh Circuit held that the plaintiff was not entitled to a jury trial, so could not have been prevented from receiving one by her attorney.  The plaintiff’s remaining allegations were held to consist of malpractice claims that did not arise under federal jurisdiction.  The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment claims against the doctor were likewise dismissed because the plaintiff did not receive medical treatment while in prison or receiving punishment, nor did she establish how private medical care constituted state action.