Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton

374 F. Supp. 3d 227
District Court, E.D. New York·Decided March 15, 2019·No. 12-CV-3989(JS)(SIL)·Published·Cited by 5 cases

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).

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

374 F. Supp. 3d 227 (Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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