Dames v. De Blasio

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 8, 2020
Docket1:20-cv-00226
StatusUnknown

This text of Dames v. De Blasio (Dames v. De Blasio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dames v. De Blasio, (S.D.N.Y. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ROSLYN ALMA DAMES, Plaintiff, -against- BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR, NEW YORK 20-CV-0226 (LLS) CITY; DEAN SANTA, DIRECTOR OF ASSET MANAGEMENT, UNITED STATES ORDER OF DISMISSAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE; TRINITY CHURCH WALL STREET; ST. PAUL’S CHURCH, Defendants. LOUIS L. STANTON, United States District Judge: Plaintiff, appearing pro se, brings this action under the Court’s federal question jurisdiction, alleging that Defendants violated her constitutional rights. By order dated February 12, 2020, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request to proceed without prepayment of fees, that is, in forma pauperis (IFP). For the reasons that follow, the Court dismisses the action, but grants Plaintiff 30 days’ leave to replead her claims. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Court must dismiss an IFP complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see Livingston v. Adirondack Beverage Co., 141 F.3d 434, 437 (2d Cir. 1998). The Court must also dismiss a complaint when the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). While the law mandates dismissal on any of these grounds, the Court is obliged to construe pro se pleadings liberally, Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009), and interpret them to raise the “strongest [claims] that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis in

original). But the “special solicitude” in pro se cases, id. at 475 (citation omitted), has its limits – to state a claim, pro se pleadings still must comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a complaint to make a short and plain statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. The Supreme Court has held that under Rule 8, a complaint must include enough facts to state a claim for relief “that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is facially plausible if the plaintiff pleads enough factual detail to allow the Court to draw the inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. In reviewing the complaint, the Court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009). But it does not have to accept as true “[t]hreadbare recitals

of the elements of a cause of action,” which are essentially just legal conclusions. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. After separating legal conclusions from well-pleaded factual allegations, the Court must determine whether those facts make it plausible – not merely possible – that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id. BACKGROUND Plaintiff brings this complaint because she alleges that Defendant St. Margaret’s House refused to reinstate her Section 8 voucher and refused to allow her to return to her apartment. Plaintiff alleges that, while residing at St. Margaret’s House, she witnessed the 9-11 attacks and, as a result, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and her apartment was contaminated. She moved out of her apartment in St. Margaret’s House in 2002.1 Plaintiff claims that “[a]s a result of [her] failure to treat [her] PTSD,” she signed vacancy papers under duress and lost her apartment, and that St. Margaret’s House denied her the right to return to the apartment she vacated due to their “intolerance of [her] PTSD.” (ECF No. 2 at 7).

Plaintiff attaches to her complaint letters she sent to the World Trade Health Program, Defendant Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Defendant Dean Santa. Additionally, she attaches letters from a doctor and licensed social worker stating that Plaintiff’s current shelter is insufficient and urging Plaintiff’s transfer to a more suitable living arrangement for her conditions. In a letter Plaintiff submitted to the Court on April 23, 2020 (ECF No. 5), it appears that Plaintiff sought to restore her tenancy at St. Margaret’s House in May 2019. In the letter, she mentions speaking with the building coordinator at St. Margaret’s House in July 2002, but Plaintiff claims the coordinator did not “offer steps through HUD to restore [her] tenancy despite [her] PTSD.” (Id. at 2). DISCUSSION Because Plaintiff asserts that her constitutional rights were violated, the Court construes

her allegations as asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege both that: (1) a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated, and (2) the right was violated by a person acting under the color of state law. West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988).

1 The timeline is unclear because, in her complaint, Plaintiff alleges that she lived at St. Margaret’s House from July 1996 to March 2002; however, in a subsequent letter sent to the Court, she claims to have lived there from 1994 to May 2002. A. Defendant Mayor Bill de Blasio To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege facts showing the defendants’ direct and personal involvement in the alleged constitutional deprivation. See Spavone v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Corr. Serv., 719 F.3d 127, 135 (2d Cir. 2013) (citing Colon v. Coughlin, 58 F.3d 865, 873 (2d Cir. 1995)). A defendant may not be held liable under § 1983

solely because that defendant employs or supervises a person who violated the plaintiff’s rights. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 676 (2009) (“Government officials may not be held liable for the unconstitutional conduct of their subordinates under a theory of respondeat superior.”). An individual defendant can be personally involved in a § 1983 violation if: (1) the defendant participated directly in the alleged constitutional violation, (2) the defendant, after being informed of the violation through a report or appeal, failed to remedy the wrong, (3) the defendant created a policy or custom under which unconstitutional practices occurred, or allowed the continuance of such a policy or custom, (4) the defendant was grossly negligent in supervising subordinates who committed the wrongful acts, or (5) the defendant exhibited deliberate indifference to the rights of [the plaintiff] by failing to act on information indicating that unconstitutional acts were occurring.

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Bluebook (online)
Dames v. De Blasio, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dames-v-de-blasio-nysd-2020.