Boykin v. Bloomsburg University

893 F. Supp. 409, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9839, 1995 WL 416290
District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania·Decided July 7, 1995·No. No. 4:CV-94-306·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

[411]*411 OPINION

MUIR, District Judge.

I. Introduction and Background.

This order relates only to Defendant Virginia McAfee, a clerk-typist employed by Bloomsburg University.

On March 2, 1994, Plaintiffs Michael R. Boykin, Margaret L. Boykin, and Aaron M. Boykin filed a complaint in this Court against several Defendants. On May 9, 1994, the Boykins filed a virtually identical complaint based upon the same facts in the Court of Common Pleas of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, whieh was removed to this Court on May 31, 1994. The two cases were consolidated on June 15, 1994.

On February 1, 1995, McAfee filed a motion for summary judgment, a brief in support thereof, a statement of material facts, and other documents in support of her motion.

On February 22, 1995, we issued an order in which we granted the Boykins’ motion for a substantial extension of time, until March 24, 1995, to respond to McAfee’s motion for summary judgment as well as other motions for summary judgment filed by other Defendants in this case. The Boykins subsequently obtained an additional 3-week enlargement of time to respond to the McAfee’s motion for summary judgment as a result of a then pending motion for disqualification of the undersigned judge filed in this case. Similarly, in order No. 2 of April 19,1995, we reluctantly allowed the Boykins an additional 15 days to respond to McAfee’s motion for summary judgment. In our order of April 19, 1995, we stated that “[t]he Boykins shall receive no further extensions of time absent exigent circumstances.” In Order No. 3 of May 3, 1995, we allowed the Boykins an additional extension of time within which to respond to McAfee’s motion for summary judgment. Furthermore, on May 10, 1995, we granted the Boykins’ “Emergency Motion For Brief Extension Of Time,” until May 18, 1995, within which to file a response to McAfee’s motion for summary judgment.

On May 18, 1995, the Boykins finally filed a brief in opposition to McAfee’s motion for summary judgment and a so-called response to McAfee’s statement of material facts. The Boykins also filed individual declarations of Michael Boykin, Margaret Boykin, Howard B. Johnson, and George Mitchell as well as a binder of documents comprised of miscellaneous documents following a declaration of George Mitchell with the caption on it of the case of Mitchell vs. Bloomsburg University, et al, 93-1870 (M.D.Pa.) (McClure, J.).

The individual declarations of Michael Boykin, Margaret Boykin, and George Mitchell were defective because they were not sworn to and were unsigned.

On May 22, 1995, we issued an order in which we deemed withdrawn pursuant to Local Rule 7.5 the Boykins’ “Motion To Supplement Record” because they had failed to file a brief in support of their motion.

On May 26, 1995, the Boykins filed a “Motion To Lodge Documents.” In this motion, the Boykins requested leave to file corrected declarations as well as additional documents in opposition to the Defendants’ motions for summary judgment. Along with the motion, the Boykins filed corrected declarations of Michael Boykin, Margaret Boykin, George Mitchell, and Howard Johnson. In additional to the declarations, the Boykins also filed two volumes of other documents which were not included in their original responses. Volume I is comprised largely of transcripts relating to the criminal proceedings against Michael Boykin from late 1992 and 1993. Volume II contains nothing but 1992 and 1993 newspaper articles and a portion of one transcript from the 1993 trial of Michael Boykin.

In Order No. 1 of May 30, 1995, we required the parties to brief the issue raised in the Boykins’ motion to lodge documents. On June 5, 1995, the Boykins filed a brief in support of their motion to lodge documents. On June 5,1995, McAfee filed a reply brief in support of her motion for summary judgment. On June 7, 1995, the Commonwealth Defendants filed a brief in opposition to the Boykins’ motion to lodge documents. On June 12, 1995, we denied the Boykins’ emergency motion filed on the date their reply brief was due for an extension of time within whieh to file a reply brief. On June 13,1995, [412]*412we issued an order in which we granted the Boykins’ motion to lodge documents. Therefore, McAfee’s motion for summary judgment became ripe for disposition on June 13, 1995.

The individual declarations of Michael Boykin, Margaret Boykin, and George Mitchell are based largely on speculation, hearsay, and otherwise inadmissible opinion. The declaration of George Mitchell largely does not even concern the Boykins. Where it does, it expresses Mitchell’s opinions and speculation and fails adequately to provide a foundation for a number of his assertions. Moreover, George Mitchell’s declaration does not even address the issues raised in this ease. The individual declaration of Howard Johnson suffers from similar deficiencies and also bears no relation to the issues raised in this ease.

On February 1, 1995, McAfee filed a statement of material facts in accordance with Local Rule 7.4. The Boykins’ response to McAfee’s statement of material facts is hopelessly defective. This Court’s orders of April 19, 1995, May 3, 1995, and May 10, 1995, granting the Boykins’ last three motions for extensions of time, each provided that the Boykins’ response to the Defendants’ statements of material facts comply strictly with Local Rule 7.4.

Local Rule 7.4 provides:

The papers opposing a motion for summary judgment shall include a separate, short and concise statement of the material facts, responding to the numbered paragraphs set forth in the statement required in the foregoing paragraph, as to which it is contended that there exists a genuine issue to be tried.
All material facts set forth in the statement required to be served by the moving party will be deemed to be admitted unless controverted by the statement required to be served by the opposing party.

This Rule furthers the purpose of the summary judgment process in identifying material facts generally in dispute for which a trial is necessary. A non-moving party must adduce more than a mere scintilla of evidence in its favor and cannot simply reassert factually unsupported allegations contained in its pleadings. The failure of the non-moving party to produce such affirmative evidence to create issues in dispute material to the claims presented will result in the grant of judgment in favor of the moving party. See Hankins v. Temple University, 829 F.2d 437, 440 (3d Cir.1987).

The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that the non-moving party is obligated under these rules to identify those facts of record which would contradict the facts identified by the movant. A district court judge is not required to search through the record for facts which might support the Respondents’ claim. Allowing the non-moving party to rely on denials of those facts by referring to unidentified evidence provides an unworkable and illogical approach contravening the directive of Rule 56(e) requiring the non-moving party to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Childers v. Joseph, 842 F.2d 689 (3d Cir.1988).

Despite these requirements, the Boykins’ statement of material facts is largely unresponsive to McAfee’s statement, provides additional irrelevant information, and routinely fails to provide any citation to the record for any of the facts they do allege.

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Boykin v. Bloomsburg University, 893 F. Supp. 409, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9839, 1995 WL 416290 (M.D. Pa. 1995).

893 F. Supp. 409 (Boykin v. Bloomsburg University) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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