Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools

814 F. Supp. 2d 209, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80810, 2011 WL 3022247
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJuly 23, 2011
DocketNo. 10-cv-652 (ADS)(WDW)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 814 F. Supp. 2d 209 (Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools) 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
Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools, 814 F. Supp. 2d 209, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80810, 2011 WL 3022247 (E.D.N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

The plaintiffs in this case seek a religious-based exemption from the New York State requirement that their child, CC, be immunized from certain communicable diseases before being admitted to public school. The Court previously rejected a request by the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction in this case, Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools, 701 F.Supp.2d 414 (E.D.N.Y.2010) (“Caviezel I”), and also dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ federal claims in this case. Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools, 739 F.Supp.2d 273 (E.D.N.Y.2010) (“Caviezel II”). The defendants now move for summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ remaining state law claim. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the defendants’ motion.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court has described the relevant facts of this case in detail in Caviezel I and Caviezel II, and familiarity with those facts is assumed. In short, the plaintiffs Martina Caviezel and Andreas Schenk Caviezel are the parents of minor CC, who is approximately five years old. The plaintiffs seek to enroll CC in public school without first complying with New York State’s inoculation requirements, on the ground that the plaintiffs have a genuine and sincere religious objection to the practice of immunization. Such an exception is available under New York State Public Health Law, Section 2164(9), and, according to the plaintiffs, also under the Federal Constitution.

The plaintiffs commenced this case on February 16, 2010, seeking that the defendant Great Neck Public Schools be directed to enroll CC in school without her being inoculated. At the time they commenced the ease, the plaintiffs also moved by order to show cause for a preliminary injunction for the same relief. On March 15, 2010, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction. On April 5, 2010, the Court issued an order denying this request for injunctive relief. Based primarily on extensive testimony by the plaintiffs at the hearing, the Court found that the plaintiffs’ objections to vaccination were not “‘religious’ in nature”, and that CC was therefore not entitled to an exemption from the inoculation requirement. Caviezel I, 701 F.Supp.2d at 429.

On September 24, 2010, following the denial of the preliminary injunction, the Court on motion dismissed all of the constitutional claims that the plaintiffs had asserted against the defendants. Caviezel II, 739 F.Supp.2d at 285. This meant that the plaintiffs’ only remaining claim was their cause of action pursuant to New York State Public Health Law, Section 2164(9). Further, it meant that there was no independent federal basis for the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction over that state law claim. In light of this, the defendants requested that the Court decline jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ state law claim. However, citing the importance of timely resolving whether CC could be enrolled in school without vaccination, the Court elected to exercise its pendant jurisdiction, and did not dismiss the plaintiffs’ state law cause of action. Id.

Now, the defendants move for summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ single remaining state law claim. In doing so, the defendants request that the Court either (1) decline jurisdiction over the remaining claim, based on the newly discovered fact that the plaintiffs have appealed the school district’s denial of an exemption to the [212]*212New York State Commissioner of Education, or (2) dismiss the plaintiffs’ claim on the merits. The plaintiffs oppose the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in its entirety.

II. DISCUSSION

A. As to the Defendants’ Request that the Court Decline Jurisdiction Over the Plaintiffs’ State Law Claim

In Caviezel II, the Court considered the defendants’ request that the Court decline pendant jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ state law claim. Resolving this issue, the Court stated that, “in view of the time sensitivity of this case, the Court elects to continue to exercise its pendant jurisdiction over the plaintiffs state law claim.” Caviezel II, 739 F.Supp.2d at 285. Now, the defendants renew their request that the Court decline pendant jurisdiction, on the ground that a new fact has emerged. Namely, the defendants point out that the plaintiffs have appealed the defendants’ denial of a vaccination exemption to the New York State Commissioner of Education. The defendants assert that this appeal constitutes a parallel state litigation of precisely the same state law issue before the Court, and that the Court should therefore decline jurisdiction to allow the state proceeding to go forward alone.

The Court has reviewed the defendants’ submissions in support of this argument, as well as the applicable law, and declines to modify its previous ruling. In light of the advanced state of this case and the important timeliness factor with regard to the child’s education, it is the Court’s view that it is most prudent that it maintain pendant jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ state law claim. The Court therefore denies the defendants’ request that the Court dismiss the plaintiffs’ claim on jurisdictional grounds.

B. As to the Defendants’ Request that the Court Grant Judgment Against the Plaintiffs on the Merit s

The defendants also move for summary judgment on the merits of the plaintiffs’ New York State Public Health Law, Section 2164(9) claim.

The Court’s analysis of the defendants’ summary judgment motion is somewhat unique given the procedural peculiarities of this case. As a general matter, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 provides that “[t]he court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Here, if the Court analyzed the defendants’ Rule 56 motion strictly under the ordinary method, the defendants would not be entitled to summary judgment. That is, taking the evidence in the best light for the plaintiff and making no credibility determinations, there would be obvious triable issues of fact as to whether the plaintiffs had a genuine and sincere religious objection to the inoculation of CC. See, e.g., Kaytor v. Electric Boat Corp., 609 F.3d 537, 545 (2d Cir.2010) (“In reviewing the evidence and the inferences that may reasonably be drawn [on a Rule 56 motion], the court may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence.” (internal quotations and emphasis omitted)).

However, two additional procedural considerations make the traditional application of Rule 56 inappropriate in this case. First, as the Court decided in Caviezel II, the trial on the merits in this case is non-jury. 739 F.Supp.2d at 277. Second, at that non-jury trial, the Court may consider the extended testimony that the plaintiffs gave at the preliminary injunction hearing. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2) (“evidence that is received on [a motion for preliminary in[213]*213junction] and that would be admissible at trial becomes part of the trial record and need not be repeated at trial.”).

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Related

Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools
297 F.R.D. 34 (E.D. New York, 2014)
Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools
500 F. App'x 16 (Second Circuit, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
814 F. Supp. 2d 209, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80810, 2011 WL 3022247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caviezel-v-great-neck-public-schools-nyed-2011.