Balderman v. United States Veterans Administration and Veterans Administration Medical Center

KEARSE, Circuit Judge Plaintiff Samuel C. Balderman, M.D., appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, John T. Curtin, then-Chief Judge, dismissing his complaint against defendants Veterans Administration Medical Center in Buffalo, New York (""Medical Center""), and the United States Veterans Administration (collectively the ""VA""), seeking redress for the termination of his employment as a surgeon on the staff of the Medical Center. The district court granted the VA's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground that Balderman was a part-time employee of the Medical Center and hence had no tenure and no right to a pretermination hearing. Balderman, formerly a full-time surgeon on the staff of the Medical Center, contends principally that this ruling was erroneous because his conversion to part-time status was invalid on account of the VA's failure to forewarn him that he would thereby lose these rights. For the reasons below, we affirm the dismissal of Balderman's claim that his termination was a disciplinary action requiring a pretermination hearing, but we conclude that summary judgment should not have been granted dismissing the claim with respect to his tenure rights, and we remand to the district court for further proceedings on the latter claim. I. BACKGROUND