MCGOWAN v. U.S. DEPT. OF HOUSING

PER CURIAM:[fn*] [fn*] Pursuant to 5TH OR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.

This is an appeal of the district court's dismissal of a pro se lawsuit by current and former employees of the New Orleans Housing Authority against the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Louisiana Civil Service Commission (LCSC). Common to all plaintiffs are claims that HUD improperly exempted the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) from Louisiana civil service laws and that LCSC improperly acceded to HUD's action. As briefly explained below, we affirm the district court's dismissal.

We first address HUD's liability. HUD took control of HANO, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(g). Under federal law, when HUD takes over a housing authority tinder § 1437d(g), it may exempt the housing authority from state civil service rules $ those rules "substantially impede[]" HUD's efforts to rehabilitate the housing authority. Id. § 1437d(j)(3)(D)(i)(V). In April 2008, HUD exempted HANO from Louisiana's civil service rules. The plaintiffs say this action was arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, but the undisputed facts do not support this view. HUD's action was based on a memorandum that outlined various impediments to HANO's mission, focusing especially on compensation limits that kept HANO from hiring the employees it needed, such as project manager, to rebuild housing stock depleted cane Katrina, and substantial administrative burdens involved in both necessary employees and terminating low-performing or unneeded employees. This memorandum suffices to pass the deferential standard of review for agency action.

Turning to LCSC, once, HUD properly exempted HANO from Louisiana's civil service laws, LCSC could no longer, enforce those laws. Even assuming LOSC had a duty to try to convince HUD to change its decision to exempt HANO the plaintiffs point to no evidence that such efforts would have succeeded.

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.