Collins v. City of Harker Heights

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented is whether § 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U. S. C. § 1988, provides a remedy for a municipal employee who is fatally injured in the course of his employment because the city customarily failed to train or warn its employees about known hazards in the workplace. Even though the city’s conduct may be actionable under state law, we hold that §1983 does not apply because such conduct does not violate the Due Process Clause.

On October 21, 1988, Larry Michael Collins, an employee in the sanitation department of the city of Harker Heights, Texas, died of asphyxia after entering a manhole to unstop a sewer line. Petitioner, his widow, brought this action alleging that Collins “had a constitutional right to be free from unreasonable risks of harm to his body, mind and emotions and a constitutional right to be protected from the City of Harker Heights’ custom and policy of deliberate indifference toward the safety of its employees.” App. 7. Her complaint alleged that the city violated that right by following a custom and policy of not training its employees about the dangers of working in sewer lines and manholes, not providing safety equipment at jobsites, and not providing safety warnings. The complaint also alleged that a prior incident [*118] had given the city notice of the risks of entering the sewer lines [1] and that the city had systematically and intentionally failed to provide the equipment and training required by a Texas statute.