THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.
An investigation into the questionable business practices of Appellant Alan D. Knowlton's employer, Bankers Life and Casualty Co. ("Bankers Life" or "the Company"), eventually led the Maine Bureau of Insurance ("the Bureau") and the Maine Attorney General's Office ("the AG's Office") to Knowlton's front door. In exchange for Knowlton accepting responsibility for his own unlawful conduct, Appellees Judith Shaw, Glenn Griswold and Andrew Black (collectively, "the state officials"), representing the Bureau and the AG's Office, agreed to take no further action against Knowlton. That promise turned out to be short-lived, however, when they agreed to Knowlton's termination in a separate agreement with Bankers Life. Knowlton appeals the district court's dismissal of his complaint against the state officials. We affirm.
As this case comes before us on a grant of a motion to dismiss, we treat as true all well-pleaded facts, viewing those facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and drawing all reasonable inferences therefrom for him. Gagliardi v. Sullivan, 513 F.3d 301, 305 (1st Cir.2008). We recite only the relevant facts.
In or around 2001, the Bureau began investigating Bankers Life's improper marketing practices targeting elderly consumers. Shaw, the Bureau's Deputy Superintendent, became involved and initiated a parallel investigation into Bankers Life's sales practices. Griswold, Director of the Consumer Healthcare Division of the Bureau, led that investigation. In or around January 2005, after finding that Bankers Life had engaged in improper sales practices in Maine, Assistant Attorney General Black, Shaw and Griswold began negotiating with Bankers Life to resolve those claims.
On the heels of the investigation into Knowlton's actions, Knowlton entered into a consent agreement with the AG's Office and the Bureau to resolve licensing violations associated with the sales recruitment meeting and his conversation with the potential recruit. In the agreement, Knowlton admitted that he violated the Maine Insurance Code, Me.Rev.Stat. tit. 24-A, § 1, et seq., by distributing materials containing a misleading representation about Bankers Life's financial condition and by acknowledging the attendee's comment about the A.M. Best Company rating. In addition to accepting responsibility for those violations, he agreed to submit to a 60-day suspension of his insurance producer license and a 270-day period of license probation, pay a civil penalty of $750.00, and comply with other requirements regarding recruiting materials and the reporting of consumer complaints. In exchange, the Bureau and the AG's Office agreed to "forgo pursuing further disciplinary measures or other civil or administrative sanctions against [him] for the violations" described in the agreement.
Not one week passed before the Bureau and the AG's Office entered into a separate consent agreement with Bankers Life to resolve the claims against it. During their negotiations, the Bureau accepted Bankers Life's proposal that the branch managers of its South Portland and Bangor branch offices (which included Knowlton's position as the Bangor branch manager) be terminated. Thus, the agreement called for Bankers Life to "relieve the managers of its South Portland and Bangor branch offices of their positions as branch managers."
Knowlton's complaint asserts claims against Shaw, Black and Griswold in their individual capacities for violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985(2). Specifically, the complaint alleges that by agreeing to Bankers Life's termination of Knowlton's position as branch manager, the appellees deprived Knowlton of continued employment with the Company without due process under § 1983. The complaint adds that Shaw, Black and Griswold violated his rights under § 1985(2) by participating in a conspiracy with the Bureau and Bankers Life to deprive him of his rights to challenge the termination provision in the consent agreement.
We review de novo the grant of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). Feliciano-Hernández v. Pereira-Castillo, 663 F.3d 527, 532 (1st Cir.2011), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 2742, 183 L.Ed.2d 615 (2012).
We first consider whether the district court erred in dismissing Knowlton's due process claim on the basis that the state officials had absolute immunity from suit.
While "[t]he presumption is that qualified rather than absolute immunity is sufficient to protect government officials in the exercise of their duties," Burns v. Reed, 500 U.S. 478, 486-87, 111 S.Ct. 1934, 114 L.Ed.2d 547 (1991), "there are some officials whose special functions require a full exemption from liability." Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 508, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978).
In considering whether absolute immunity attaches to an official's conduct, we employ a "functional approach," Buckley, 509 U.S. at 269, 113 S.Ct. 2606; Harrington v. Almy, 977 F.2d 37, 40 (1st Cir. 1992) ("[T]he availability of absolute immunity turns on a functional analysis."), which looks to the "nature of the function performed," not the identity of the actor who performed it. See Forrester v. White, 484 U.S. 219, 229, 108 S.Ct. 538, 98 L.Ed.2d 555 (1988); Buckley, 509 U.S. at 269, 113 S.Ct. 2606; Frazier v. Bailey, 957 F.2d 920,
Knowlton argues that the district court got it wrong: negotiating and executing the consent agreements to resolve the civil violations against Bankers Life and Knowlton, he argues, were not prosecutorial-type functions protected by absolute immunity, but rather were actions taken in the state officials' administrative and investigative capacities which do not afford them absolute immunity. The question before us is whether the state officials' actions were, as the district court found, prosecutorial in nature to warrant absolute immunity. We agree that they were.
Shaw and Griswold, as representatives of the Bureau, have the duty and authority to enforce Maine's insurance laws, and through the AG (Black), may "invoke the aid of the Superior Court through proceedings" to enforce any action taken by the Bureau or pursue criminal prosecution based on violations of the Code. Me.Rev.Stat. tit. 24-A, § 214; see also id., § 211.
An agency official's decision to initiate administrative proceedings "aimed at legal sanctions," Wang v. New Hampshire Bd. of Registration in Med., 55 F.3d 698, 701 (1st Cir.1995), is discretionary, "very much like [a] prosecutor's decision to initiate or move forward with a criminal prosecution" and is, therefore, entitled to absolute immunity. Butz, 438 U.S. at 515, 98 S.Ct. 2894; see Wang, 55 F.3d at 701 (finding
While no administrative proceeding was initiated in this case (only a petition to enforce was issued), we see no meaningful difference between the nature of an agency official's decision to pursue an administrative proceeding and that of her decision to resolve a violation before reaching that step. In both instances, the agency official acts as the State's advocate, exercising her "broad discretion in deciding whether a proceeding should be brought and what sanctions should be sought." Butz, 438 U.S. at 515, 98 S.Ct. 2894; see Romano v. Bible, 169 F.3d 1182, 1187 (9th Cir.1999) (finding that Gaming Control Board was entitled to absolute immunity for initiating disciplinary proceedings against the plaintiff and entering into settlement negotiations with him, actions which were prosecutorial in nature). The discretion officials exercise in deciding which cases should move forward to further legal proceedings and which may be resolved with consent agreements "might be distorted if their immunity from damages arising from that decision was less than complete." Butz, 438 U.S. at 515, 98 S.Ct. 2894. Indeed, in noting the "serious danger" that an official's "decision to authorize proceedings will provoke a retaliatory response," Butz considered it unlikely that anyone would be "willing and legally able to seek damages from the officials" for "not authoriz[ing] [an] administrative proceeding." 438 U.S. at 515, 98 S.Ct. 2894 (emphasis in original).
In an attempt to show that absolute immunity is nonetheless unavailable here, Knowlton argues that the state officials' decision to execute the consent agreements was administrative and investigative in nature but he fails to fully develop that argument. As best we can tell, Knowlton appears to argue that his case is analogous to Burns and Buckley.
Burns and Buckley teach us that investigative steps taken to search for "clues and corroboration" that might lead to an arrest are more removed from the judicial process and merit only qualified immunity. Buckley, 509 U.S. at 273, 113 S.Ct. 2606; see Giraldo v. Kessler, 694 F.3d 161, 166 (2d Cir.2012) (noting that "investigative acts that are entitled to only qualified immunity are those undertaken in the phase of law enforcement that involves the gathering and piecing together of evidence for indications of criminal activities and determination of the perpetrators"). But here, the state officials' execution of the consent agreements was not part of any investigative activity. By the time the consent agreements were on the table, the investigation had already revealed Knowlton's and Bankers Life's violations of Maine's insurance laws. The agreements resolved those violations and allowed all parties to avoid further legal proceedings on the matter.
In one last ditch effort to save his case, Knowlton argues that the state officials' actions were not subject to "judicial oversight" and, as a result, cannot be entitled to absolute immunity. To support that argument, Knowlton relies on Butz, a § 1983 case involving administrative proceedings brought by federal agency officials. Butz, 438 U.S. at 480, 98 S.Ct. 2894.
The state officials' decision to agree to the termination provision, however, need not be "put in the framework for adversarial testing and judicial supervision," for absolute immunity to apply. Harrington, 977 F.2d at 42. The "availability of the safeguards" which arise from an adversarial setting or judicial supervision are "not necessary preconditions" to claiming absolute immunity. Id. (discussing Imbler). The crux of Knowlton's argument is that the state officials abused their discretion when they agreed to allow Knowlton's termination in one agreement after they had agreed to take no additional action against him in another.
In sum, the state officials carried their burden in establishing they are entitled to absolute immunity for entering into the consent agreements with Knowlton and Bankers Life. Given our ruling, we need not reach whether qualified immunity applies or delve into the merits of Knowlton's due process claim.
Knowlton next argues that the state officials should have been judicially estopped from asserting an immunity defense for the § 1983 claim. We review the district court's decision not to invoke judicial estoppel for abuse of discretion. Alt. Sys. Concepts, Inc. v. Synopsys, Inc., 374 F.3d 23, 30 (1st Cir.2004); Perry v. Blum, 629 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2010). "Within that rubric, we accept the trial court's findings
"[J]udicial estoppel is an equitable doctrine," New Hampshire v. Maine, 532 U.S. 742, 750, 121 S.Ct. 1808, 149 L.Ed.2d 968 (2001) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), intended to "prevent[] a litigant from pressing a claim that is inconsistent with a position taken by that litigant either in a prior legal proceeding or in an earlier phase of the same legal proceeding." InterGen N.V. v. Grina, 344 F.3d 134, 144 (1st Cir.2003). It protects "the integrity of the courts by preventing parties from improperly manipulating the machinery of the judicial system." Alt. Sys. Concepts, 374 F.3d at 33.
Although the contours of judicial estoppel may be hazy, courts generally consider three factors before invoking the doctrine in a particular case. Perry, 629 F.3d at 8-9. First, a party's earlier and later positions must be "clearly inconsistent." New Hampshire, 532 U.S. at 750, 121 S.Ct. 1808; Alt. Sys. Concepts, 374 F.3d at 33. Second, the party must have succeeded in persuading a court to accept the party's earlier position. Alt. Sys. Concepts, 374 F.3d at 33. "Third, the party seeking to assert the inconsistent position must stand to derive an unfair advantage if the new position is accepted by the court." Perry, 629 F.3d at 9; New Hampshire, 532 U.S. at 751, 121 S.Ct. 1808.
Knowlton contends that the state officials should not be able to claim immunity for the § 1983 claim when, in his view, they had just represented to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in a previous lawsuit that he had a viable claim. See Knowlton v. Attorney General, 976 A.2d 973, 975-76 (Me.2009). In that lawsuit, Knowlton sued the State for breach of contract (the consent agreement between Knowlton and the State). Id. at 975.
Knowlton faces an uphill battle with his argument. For one thing, a party against whom judicial estoppel is invoked, typically, must be the same party who made the prior inconsistent representation. See, e.g., Perry, 629 F.3d at 8 (explaining that judicial estoppel "operates to prevent a litigant from taking a litigation position that is inconsistent with a litigation position successfully asserted by him" in the same or earlier proceeding); Brewer v. Madigan, 945 F.2d 449, 455 (1st Cir.1991) (explaining that judicial estoppel prevents "a party from taking a position inconsistent with one successfully and unequivocally asserted by that same party in a prior proceeding"). As the district court recognized, the party asserting the alleged "position" in state court and the parties here are not the same. In the state court action, Knowlton sued the State. In this case, Knowlton sued three state officials in their individual capacities only.
For another, even assuming the parties were the same, we see no clear inconsistency between the position taken before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and that taken below. A close look at the record tells us why. During oral argument before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, in response to Justice Silver's comment
Finally, as we have made clear, "a proponent of judicial estoppel must affirmatively show, by competent evidence or inescapable inference, that the prior court adopted or relied upon the previous inconsistent assertion." Perry, 629 F.3d at 11-12. On this record, Knowlton, as the party pressing judicial estoppel, has failed to demonstrate that the Maine Supreme Judicial Court accepted the AAG's alleged representation that Knowlton had an actionable § 1983 claim to seek redress for the alleged unfair treatment he received. The Court's ruling in that case resolved one issue: whether the State had waived its sovereign immunity regarding Knowlton's breach of contract claim. Knowlton, 976 A.2d at 978. Nothing about the decision permits us to draw even the slightest inference that the Court determined the State had not waived its sovereign immunity based on any acceptance of or reliance upon the AAG's representation that Knowlton might have a viable § 1983 claim. See id.
Lastly, Knowlton challenges the district court's finding that the complaint failed to plead a plausible § 1985(2) claim. The second clause of § 1985(2), which Knowlton claims applies here, prohibits conspiracies to obstruct "the due course of justice in any State or Territory, with intent to deny to any citizen the equal protection of the laws, or to injure him or his property for lawfully enforcing, or attempting to enforce, the right of any person, or class of persons, to the equal protection of the laws."
While the complaint alleges that the state officials conspired with others to deprive Knowlton of a constitutionally protected property interest — i.e., his job with Bankers Life — it fails to allege any racial, or otherwise class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus underlying the state officials' actions. As the district court properly concluded, the complaint's failure to do so dooms Knowlton's § 1985(2) claim. See, e.g., Hahn, 523 F.2d at 469 (finding allegation of invidiously discriminatory animus is required to state a claim under the portion of § 1985(2) proscribing conspiracies to interfere with the administration of justice in state courts); Schneider, 8 F.3d at 809 (finding meritless plaintiff's § 1985(2) claim for obstruction of state court proceedings for failure to allege that defendants were motivated by any class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus); see also Mason v. Village of El Portal, 240 F.3d 1337, 1340 (11th Cir.2001) (failure to establish invidiously discriminatory racial animus behind conspiratorial decision defeated § 1985(2) claim). Accordingly, Knowlton's § 1985(2) claim was properly dismissed.
In the end, we