Calicchio v. Sachem Central School District

185 F. Supp. 3d 303, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59873, 2016 WL 2599121
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 5, 2016
Docket14-CV-5958 (DRH) (SIL)
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 185 F. Supp. 3d 303 (Calicchio v. Sachem Central School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Calicchio v. Sachem Central School District, 185 F. Supp. 3d 303, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59873, 2016 WL 2599121 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

HURLEY, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiffs Matthew Calicchio (“Matthew” or “Plaintiff’), Sandra Calicchio and Michael Calicchio commenced this action against defendants Sachem Central School District (the “District”), Lisa Johnson (“Johnson”), John Dolan (“Dolan”), Andrew Larsen (“Larsen”), Jack Renda (“Renda”), Karen Mott (“Mott”) (Johnson, Dolan, Larsen, Renda, and Mott are collectively referred to as “Individual District Defendants”)(District and Individual District Defendants are collectively referred to as “District Defendants”), the Suffolk County Police Department (“SCPD”) and the County of Suffolk (the “County”)(SCPD and the County are collectively referred to as the “County Defendants”) alleging, inter alia, claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Fourth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, together with various state law claims.

Presently before the Court is (1) the motion of the District Defendants to dismiss the first, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth causes of action and the District’s motion to dismiss the Monell claims (contained in the first and fourth causes of action); and (2) the motion of the County Defendants to dismiss the twelfth cause of action. For the reasons set forth below, the District’s motion is granted in part and denied in part and the County’s motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

The following allegations are taken from the Amended Complaint (“AC”).1

[307]*307During the years 2010 through 2013, Matthew was a student in the District. AC at ¶ 20. During this time period, the Individual District Defendants “required” Matthew to perform work for the District consisting of “working on the computer system, the computer network and security for computers” for the District. Id. at ¶¶ 22-23. Matthew “was repeatedly removed from his classroom learning environment and from his lunch period and was forced [to] perform” this “uncompensated work.” Id. at ¶¶ 24-25. Matthew was told by Assistant Principal Larson “that if he did not do the work they wanted him to do on the computers that he would have him arrested by the FBI, and the FBI would raid his house.” Id. at ¶ 26. Principal Dolan told Matthew that if he did not do the work “they would have him expelled from school.” Id. at ¶27. When Matthew stopped working on the District computer, “the Defendants had him expelled from school and had him arrested.” Id. at ¶28.2 Matthew was forced to perform this work without his parents’ permission and in fact Matthew was ordered by the Individual Defendants not to tell his parents about this “forced” work! Id. at ¶¶ 106-07, 112-13. In November 2013, Matthew who was born on August 10, 1996 and “eligible for compulsory education,” was expelled from the District without notice and an opportunity to be heard and was not “afforded an opportunity for a hearing on the continued eligibility of himself for attendance and instruction.” Id. at ¶¶ 34, 55-62.

At some unspecified time, the District caused a knowingly false criminal complaint to be lodged resulting in Matthew being “arrested and charged with the crimes of Computer Trespass and Unlawful Duplication of Computer Material.” Id. at ¶¶ 65-66, 78. In addition, the District reported to various news sources that Matthew “had ‘illegally accessed student records,’ had ‘hacked into’ the computer system, and committed an act of ‘computer trespass.’ ” Id. at ¶ 67.

The County Defendants had Matthew ‘go through a ‘perp walk’ for the media. After the initial perp walk, “a second ‘perp walk’ was again staged so that the media could get a better view” of Matthew. These perp walks were staged “solely for the benefit of the media and for no legitimate police purpose.” Id. at ¶¶ 99-101.

As relevant to the instant motions, Matthew asserts § 1983 claims premised on the Thirteenth Amendment against the District Defendants (the first cause of action), the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against the District (the fourth cause of action) and the Fourth Amendment against the County (the twelfth cause of action), as well as state law claims against the District Defendants for malicious prosecution (the fifth and seventh causes of action), intentional infliction of emotional distress (the eighth cause of action) and negligent infliction of emotional distress (the ninth cause of action).

DISCUSSION

I. Motion to Dismiss Standard

■In deciding a motion to dismiss under Federal- Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a court should “draw all reasonable inferences in Plaintiffl’s] favor, assume all well-pleaded factual allegations to be true, and determine whether they plausibly give rise [308]*308to an entitlement to relief.” Faber v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 648 F.3d 98, 104 (2d Cir.2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). The plausibility standard is guided by two principles. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); accord Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 71-72 (2d Cir.2009).

First, the principle that a court must accept all allegations as true is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Thus, “threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Although “legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. A plaintiff must provide facts sufficient to allow each named defendant to have a fair understanding of what the plaintiff is complaining about and to know whether there is a legal basis for recovery. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

Second, only complaints that state a “plausible claim for relief’ can survive a motion to dismiss. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. ‘A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but asks for more than a sheer possibility that defendant acted unlawfully. Where a complaint pleads facts that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556-57, 127 S.Ct. 1955) (internal citations omitted); see In re Elevator Antitrust Litig., 502 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir.2007). Determining whether a complaint plausibly states a claim for relief is “a context specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937; accord Harris, 572 F.3d at 72.

II. The Thirteenth Amendment Claim Against the District Defendants

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185 F. Supp. 3d 303, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59873, 2016 WL 2599121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calicchio-v-sachem-central-school-district-nyed-2016.