Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton

374 F. Supp. 3d 227
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 15, 2019
Docket12-CV-3989(JS)(SIL)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 374 F. Supp. 3d 227 (Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton) 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
Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton, 374 F. Supp. 3d 227 (E.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

SEYBERT, District Judge:

*231In 2012, Plaintiffs, who own waterfront property in Montauk, New York, commenced this action against several parties, including Defendant the Town of East Hampton (the "Town" or "Defendant"). After motion practice, the Town became the sole defendant. The parties proceeded to trial and the jury found the Town liable for private nuisance and trespass. Before the Court is the Town's motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 or, in the alternative, a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59. Plaintiffs have not moved for any post-trial relief.

For the following reasons, Defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

The Court assumes familiarity with the background of the case and will only discuss the evidence at trial necessary to its analysis. Briefly, Plaintiffs own beachfront homes in Montauk, New York, next to two jetties. The jetties, which were originally built in 1926 to maintain the inlet near Plaintiffs' properties, have allegedly stopped the flow of sand to Plaintiffs' beaches and caused them to erode. Plaintiffs seek monetary and equitable relief.

Plaintiffs commenced this action in June 2012 against the United States of America (the "United States"); the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the "Army Corps"); Colonel John R. Boule, Commander of the New York District of the Army Corps, individually and in his official capacity ("Boule"); the Town; William J. Wilkinson, Supervisor of the Town, individually and in his official capacity ("Wilkinson"); the County of Suffolk (the "County"); the State of New York ("the State"); Joe Martens, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") ("Martens"); and Cesar A. Perales, Secretary of the New York State Department of State ("Perales"). (Compl., D.E. 1.) Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint in September 2012. (Am. Compl., D.E. 18.)

The Town and Wilkinson (collectively, the "Town Defendants) filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, (Town Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 13), the State, Martens, and Perales (collectively, "the State Defendants") separately moved to dismiss, (State Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 32).1 This Court granted the State Defendants' motion in its entirety, removing them from the case, and granted the Town Defendants' motion to the extent that it granted their request to dismiss several claims against them and dismissed the claims against Wilkinson. Cangemi v. United States, 939 F.Supp.2d 188 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) (Mar. 2013 Order, D.E. 43) (" Cangemi I").

The United States, the Army Corps, and Boule (collectively, the "Federal Defendants") moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. (Fed. Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 71.) The Court *232granted the motion in part and denied it in part. Cangemi v. United States, 2016 WL 915173 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 7, 2016) (Mar. 2016 Order, D.E. 95) (" Cangemi II"). Upon reconsideration, the Court granted the Federal Defendants' motion in its entirety and terminated all Defendants except the Town. Cangemi v. United States, 2017 WL 1274060 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2017) (Mar. 2017 Order, D.E. 134) (" Cangemi III"). Cangemi III also denied the Town's motion for summary judgment.

The parties presented the case to a jury from June 4 to June 29, 2018.2

The Town made Rule 50 arguments at the close of Plaintiffs' case and the close of its case, and the Court reserved decision. (Trial Tr. 2507, 2700.)

The jury found for the Plaintiffs on private nuisance and trespass and for the Town on public nuisance. It awarded $ 355,961.27 in compensatory damages to Plaintiffs. (Verdict Sheet, D.E. 201, at 1-11.) The Town now moves for judgment as a matter of law or, alternatively, a new trial.

DISCUSSION

I. Rule 50 Motion

A. Standard

If a party believes that "a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis" to find for its adversary on a particular issue, it may move for judgment as a matter of law during trial under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a) and renew the motion after trial under Rule 50(b). FED. R. CIV. P. 50(a)-(b). In an order determining a Rule 50(b) motion, the district court may: "(1) allow judgment on the verdict, if the jury returned a verdict; (2) order a new trial; or (3) direct the entry of judgment as a matter of law." FED. R. CIV. P. 50(b).

The district court may only grant a Rule 50(b) motion when " 'there exists such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or the evidence in favor of the movant is so overwhelming that reasonable and fair-minded [persons] could not arrive at a verdict against [it].' " Protostorm, LLC v. Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Krauss, LLP, No. 08-CV-0931, 2015 WL 3605143, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. June 5, 2015) (quoting Kinneary v. City of N.Y., 601 F.3d 151, 155 (2d Cir. 2010) ) (alterations in original). In other words, judgment as a matter of law is appropriate only when " 'a reasonable juror would have been compelled to accept the view of the moving party.' " Id. at *1 (quoting This is Me, Inc. v. Taylor, 157 F.3d 139, 142 (2d Cir. 1998) ). "When considering the evidence associated with a Rule 50(b) motion, the trial court may not weigh evidence, assess credibility, or substitute its opinion of the facts for that of the jury," Rosioreanu v. City of New York, 526 F. App'x 118, 119 (2d Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), and must view the evidence "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party," Houston v. Cotter, No. 07-CV-3256, 2016 WL 1253391, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2016) (internal quotation marks omitted).

B. Analysis

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Bluebook (online)
374 F. Supp. 3d 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cangemi-v-town-of-e-hampton-nyed-2019.