Anderson v. Cornejo

225 F. Supp. 2d 834, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4378, 2002 WL 411724
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 14, 2002
Docket97 C 7556
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 225 F. Supp. 2d 834 (Anderson v. Cornejo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Cornejo, 225 F. Supp. 2d 834, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4378, 2002 WL 411724 (N.D. Ill. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HART, Senior District Judge.

As presently constituted, this case has approximately 90 named plaintiffs, all of whom are African-American women with United States citizenship who allegedly were searched by employees of the United States Customs Service at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (“O’Hare”) following their arrival on international flights. The searches of the named plaintiffs allegedly occurred between March 1996 and August 1999. 1 Named as defendants are the United States, the United States Customs Service (“Customs”), and approximately 70 current or former employees of Customs. Management officials, lower-level supervisors, and nonsupervisory employees are sued in their individual capacities. 2 Presently *839 pending are certain defendants’ motions for summary judgment and related procedural motions.

I. ISSUES RAISED

A. Allegations of the Complaint

Following prior rulings on motions to dismiss, for class certification, and for summary judgment, the following claims remain pending in the Seventh Amended Complaint. See Anderson v. Cornejo, 199 F.R.D. 228 (N.D.Ill.2000) (“Anderson IV”); Anderson v. Cornejo, 1999 WL 258501 (N.D.Ill. April 21, 1999) (‘Anderson II”). See also Anderson v. Cornejo, 1999 WL 35307 (N.D.Ill. Jan.11, 1999) (‘Anderson I” ). 3 Count I is an equal protection claim that Customs inspectors targeted African-American women for non-routine personal searches. 4 Count III is a Fourth Amendment claim that Customs inspectors lacked sufficient cause or suspicion to seize, detain, and search plaintiffs. Count V is a Federal Tort Claims Act claim against the United States that the conduct of the individual defendants constitutes false imprisonment, assault, and battery. Count VI is a Fourth and Fifth Amendment claim that Customs inspectors 5 denied due process by not obtaining judicial authorization for the searches and by holding plaintiffs “in communicado.” 6

Count II is an equal protection claim that Managerial and Supervisory Defendants failed to take proper action to prevent or stop the discriminatory selection of African-American women for nonroutine personal searches alleged in Count I. Count IV is a Fourth Amendment claim that Managerial and Supervisory Defendants failed to take proper action to prevent or stop the illegal seizures, searches, and detentions alleged in Count III. Count VII is a Fourth and Fifth Amendment due process claim that Managerial and Supervisory Defendants promulgated and executed a “policy and practice allowing the Customs inspectors, on nothing more than alleged ‘reasonable suspicion,’ (a) to detain plaintiffs for an indefinite and wholly discretionary time-period; (b) to conduct the non-routine personal searches described herein without judicial authorization; (c) while holding the plaintiffs in communica-do. 7 7th Am. Compl. ¶ 175. Count IX is a *840 claim that Managerial Defendants, Supervisory Defendants, and possibly Customs inspectors conspired together in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) to commit the violations alleged in Counts I, III, and VI, including by establishing criteria for targeting persons to be searched, fabricating search justifications, destroying plaintiffs’ Customs declaration cards, and ignoring complaints of discrimination against African-American women. Count X is a claim that Managerial and Supervisory Defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1986 by failing to prevent the conspiratorial conduct alleged in Count IX.

Count VIII is a claim for injunctive relief on behalf of a putative class of all persons in the country subjected to non-routine personal searches at international airports. It is labeled as an Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) due process claim based on the various Customs Commissioners’ promulgation of the policy and practice alleged in Count VII. 8

The damages claims of each count are on behalf of the named plaintiffs only. 9 Classes have been certified for injunctive relief only as to Counts II, IV, VII, VIII, IX, and X. 10 Anderson IV, 199 F.R.D. at 237-45, 264-65, 267.

B. The Motions for Summary Judgment

Managerial Defendants Sam Banks (“Banks”), George Weise, 11 Kevin Weeks, Sergei Hoteko, and Robert Trotter have moved for summary judgment on all the individual capacity claims brought against them in Counts II, IV, VII, IX, and X, 12 primarily on the ground that they were not personally involved in any of the alleged misconduct. 13 Managerial Defendant Patrick Noonan also moves for summary judgment, adopting the briefs of the other Managerial Defendants. 14 The parties have agreed that any ruling as to Counts II, IV, and VII should also be applied to the claims in those counts that are against Supervisory Defendants Mario Cornejo, Larry DiGianntonio, William Desmond, Gloria, Banks, Ronald Zaczek, Gene Taylor, David Gooding, Dominic Biagioni, Michael Johnson, and Mark Woods, except as to selected searches in which one or more of these Supervisory Defendants were directly involved. 15 See Agreed Motion of *841 Certain Defendants to Join in the Pending Motion for Summary Judgment of the Managerial Defendants [Docket Entry 313]. The parties have also agreed that any ruling as to Count IX should apply as to the Count IX § 1985 conspiracy claims against Customs inspectors Olga Martinez, Maria Rocha, Michelle Belcastro, Jennifer Usleber, Melissa Zytowski, Lynda Hall, Guadalupe Corona, Chen W. Yu, and Samuel Ko. See id.

C. Issues Adequately Raised by the Motions

On a motion for summary judgment, the entire record is considered with all reasonable inferences drawn in favor of the non-movant and all factual disputes resolved in favor of the nonmovant. Schneiker v. Fortis Insurance Co., 200 F.3d 1055, 1057 (7th Cir.2000); Baron v. City of Highland Park, 195 F.3d 333, 337-38 (7th Cir.1999). The burden of establishing a lack of any genuine issue of material fact rests on the movant. Wollin v. Gondert,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
225 F. Supp. 2d 834, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4378, 2002 WL 411724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-cornejo-ilnd-2002.