Bracken v. Okura

955 F. Supp. 2d 1138, 2013 WL 3223873, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88479
CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedJune 24, 2013
DocketCivil No. 11-00784 LEK-BMK
StatusPublished

This text of 955 F. Supp. 2d 1138 (Bracken v. Okura) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bracken v. Okura, 955 F. Supp. 2d 1138, 2013 WL 3223873, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88479 (D. Haw. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER (1) GRANTING DEFENDANT AND COUNTERCLAIM PLAINTIFF KYO-YA AND DEFENDANT AARON OKURA’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS UNDER 42 U.S.C. § 1983, (2) GRANTING DEFENDANT KINCHUNG CHUNG’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND (3) DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

LESLIE E. KOBAYASHI, District Judge.

Before the Court are: (1) Defendant/Counterelaim Plaintiff Kyo-ya Hotels [1142]*1142and Resorts, L.P. (“Kyo-ya”), and Defendant Aaron Okura’s (“Okura”)1 Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, filed December 18, 2012 (“1983 Motion”), [dkt. no. 103;] (2) Defendant Kinchung Chung’s (“Chung”) Motion for Summary Judgment, filed December 18, 2012 (“Chung’s Motion”), [dkt. no. 104;] and (3) Plaintiff Dillon L. Bracken’s (“Plaintiff’) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, filed December 18, 2012 (“Plaintiffs Motion”), [dkt. no. 107]. The Kyo-ya Defendants filed their memorandum in opposition to Plaintiffs Motion on May 14, 2013.[Dkt. no. 145.] Plaintiff filed his memorandum in opposition to the 1983 Motion on May 21, 2013, [dkt. no. 149,] and to Chung’s Motion on May 20, 2013, [dkt. no. 148]. Plaintiff filed his reply on May 25, 2013. [Dkt. no. 150.] The Kyo-ya Defendants filed their reply on May 28, 2013, [dkt. no. 151,] and Chung filed his reply on the same day, [dkt. no. 152],

These matters came on for hearing on June 10, 2013. Appearing on behalf of Plaintiff was Charles S. Lotsof, Esq., appearing on behalf of the Kyo-ya Defendants was Adrian Y. Chang, Esq., and appearing on behalf of Chung was D. Scott Dodd, Esq. After careful consideration of the motions, supporting and opposing memoranda, the arguments of counsel, and the relevant legal authority, the 1983 Motion is HEREBY GRANTED, Chung’s Motion is HEREBY GRANTED, and Plaintiffs Motion is HEREBY DENIED.

BACKGROUND

This action arises out of what Plaintiff alleges was an attack on him by security personnel when he tried to enter Rumfire, a Kyo-ya restaurant in Honolulu, on New Year’s Eve in 2009. Plaintiff alleges that Chung was working at Rumfire as a special duty police officer, meaning that, although he was a Honolulu Police Department (“HPD”) officer, he “work[ed] with and alongside” Kyo-ya’s in-house security guards. [Fourth Amended Complaint, filed 7/13/12 (dkt. no. 60), at ¶ 55.] Chung was “wearing clothing that identified him as an officer of the Honolulu Police Department.” [Id. at ¶ 38.]

Plaintiff alleges that he entered Rum-Fire “unaware that it was supposedly closed to the public” for a private New Year’s Eve celebration. [Id. at ¶ 23.] Plaintiff states that Okura, a private plainclothes Kyo-ya security guard “abruptly grabbed [him] by his shoulder.” [Id. at ¶ 24.] Thinking that Okura was an intoxicated RumFire patron “trying to pick a fight,” Plaintiff says he “tried to avoid any altercation with him.” [Id. at ¶ 25.] Plaintiff claims his efforts to get away from Okura were “thwarted” by Chung. [Id. at ¶ 26.] Plaintiff asserts that he “repeatedly stated that he was trying to leave the premises and implored Defendants Okura and Chung to stop preventing him from leaving,” but that Okura and Chung “blocked [his] egress.” [Id. at ¶¶46, 47.]

Plaintiff alleges that Okura, together with “additional security guards employed by [Kyo-ya], including a person in a supervisory position, participated in the attack on [Plaintiff], restrained [his] freedom, abducted him and injured him.” [Id. at ¶ 34.] Plaintiff further alleges that Chung “had the opportunity to intercede,” but failed to stop the Kyo-ya security guards from assaulting him. [Id. at ¶ 47.] Instead, Plaintiff alleges, Chung “repeatedly demanded [Plaintiff’s] identification even after Defendant Okura had by force pinned [Plaintiffs] left arm so that he could not [1143]*1143retrieve any identification.” [Id. at ¶ 44.] Plaintiff complains that “Chung exhibited hostility” toward him, and “engaged in making demands” on him, “all the while ignoring the fact that others were illegally attacking him.” [Id. at ¶ 42.] Besides failing to “interfere with the assault” or “take any steps to prevent it,” Chung allegedly failed to “confront the perpetrators.” [Id. at ¶ 43.]

Plaintiff asserts that he suffered the following injuries from the New Year’s Eve incident:

(a) deprivation of freedom and liberty during the time he was being attacked and pinned on the ground by agents and employees of Defendant Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts, as well as during the time his movement away from Defendants and their premises was restrained; (b) loss of consciousness; (c) larynx and vocal cord injury, causing pain, and inconvenience; (d) bruising of his wrists; (e) physical pain; (f) temporary inability to speak above a hoarse raspy whisper; (g) emotional distress and depression; (h) interference with the right to be secure in his person[;] (i) deprivation of the right of equal protection of law secured to him by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution[;] (j) deprivation of the rights and privileges secured to other citizens[;] and (k) incurring medical and allied expenses.

[Id. at ¶ 70.]

Plaintiffs Fourth Amended Complaint2 asserts eight causes of action: (1) “Negligence in Operating Public Accommodation and Premises Liability” against Kyo-ya (Count 1); (2) “Negligence in Employing and Training” against Kyo-ya (Count 2); (3) “Assault, Battery, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, False Imprisonment, and Wrongful Detention” against Kyo-ya, Okura, and Chung (Count 3); (4) “Deprivation of Civil Rights in Violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983” against Kyo-ya, Okura, and Chung (Count 4); (5) “Failure to Intercede, Denial of Civil Rights” against Kyo-ya and Chung (Count 5); (6) “Potential Cover-Up Resulting in Denial of Civil Rights” against Kyo-ya and Chung (Count 6); (7) “Common Law Torts: Exercising Excessive Force” against Okura and Kyoya (Count 7); and (8) “Claims Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 et seq. Actions Under Color of Law” against all defendants (Count 8).

In a November, 13, 2012 Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendant Kinehung Chung’s Motion to Dismiss Fourth Amended Complaint (“11/13/12 Order”), this district court3 dismissed as against Defendant Chung Counts 6 and 8. Bracken v. Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts, LP, Civ. No. 11-00784 SOM7BMK, 2012 WL 5493997 (D.Hawai’i Nov. 13, 2012).4

[1144]*1144I. 1983 Motion

In the 1988 Motion, the Kyo-Ya Defendants argue that Bracken’s § 1983 claims against them should be dismissed because they did not engage in state action.- The Kyo-ya Defendants note that the Ninth Circuit has stated that private parties are not generally acting under color of state law. [Mem. in Supp. of 19823Motion at 4 (citing Price v. State of Hawaii, 939 F.2d 702

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Bluebook (online)
955 F. Supp. 2d 1138, 2013 WL 3223873, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88479, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bracken-v-okura-hid-2013.