Della Mura v. Thomas

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 19, 2019
Docket7:19-cv-08699-AEK
StatusUnknown

This text of Della Mura v. Thomas (Della Mura v. Thomas) 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
Della Mura v. Thomas, (S.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

WADK Fe □□ UNSEEN EAT ET DB □□□ TE ate BONA NE oom ome

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Case No. 7:19-CV-08699-NSR tion 1S den . Vorcar mo \S ANTHONY DELLA MURA, Delt Forcai s Plaintiff, us Hhevk preyvdice Se fai □□□□ +

versus Sec. 2A. i‘. Chowk of the st pled to fermmate □□□ LAWRENCE PORCARI; THE oe (ds ur). CITY OF MOUNT VERNON; me co Jove 209 RICHARD THOMAS; BENJAMIN pakd » Wovet □□ ot MARABLE; and THE MOUNT oe VERNON BOARD OF WATER SOORDERED: Defendants. Sage ON, NELSONS. ROMANS □ URTED STATES DISTRIGT JUDGE

MOTION OF DEFENDANT PORCARI TO DISMISS COMPLAINT; REQUEST FOR HEARING; REQUEST FOR FEES AND COSTS; INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW Defendant Lawrence Porcari, pursuant to Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, moves to dismiss the complaint (DE1), for

the reasons stated. I. INTRODUCTION. 1) The Complaint should be dismissed in its entirety as to

Lawrence Porcari, who was Mount Vernon Corporation Counsel at all

times associated with the allegations presented in the Complaint (Complaint 710). ELECTRONICALLY FILED | poc# . DATE FELEDL | ratzzal

Was F,Lag-CV-YOOIPINOIN LUUUTTIOTIE Sr TUT ETE DN SAN Oe MN ow

2) Plaintiff's claims for Disability Discrimination (Second and

Third Causes of Action) should be dismissed as to Porcari because

the plaintiff received adequate due process and Porcari was not the

City official responsible for plaintiff's employment status.

Additionally, the ADA does not allow for a cause of action against an

individual defendant. As a result, the Complaint fails to state a claim

for relief on Counts 2 and 3). Dismissal with prejudice should be

ordered. 3) Plaintiffs §1983 claim against defendant Porcari (Fourth Cause of Action) must be dismissed because Porcari is protected from

suit by the doctrine of qualified immunity and because plaintiff has

not alleged any municipal practice or custom upon which his claim

is predicated. Although it is not clear whether the §1983 claim is

asserted against Porcari in his individual or official capacity, it must

nevertheless be dismissed because the claim is redundant to the

claim against the City.

4) Plaintiffs Civil RICO claim (18 U.S.C. §1964) against defendant Porcari must be dismissed because Porcari is protected from suit by the doctrine of qualified immunity and because plaintiff

WADE FLIP UVTYOUDITINGTN LEAT A ete ate ETE ate I EE

has not alleged any municipal practice or custom upon which his

claim is predicated. Civil RICO is not allowed for damages arising from personal injuries. Although it is not clear whether the §1964 claim is asserted against Porcari in his individual or official capacity, it must nevertheless be dismissed because the claim is redundant to

the claim against the City. II. MEMORANDUM OF LAW. A. Standard of Review. 5) Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), a pleading must contain

a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is

entitled to relief.” Rule 12(b)(6) requires a court to “accept all

allegations in the complaint as true and draw all inferences in the

non-moving party's favor.” Miller v. Wolpoff & Abramson, L.L.P., 321

F.3d 292, 300 (2d Cir. 2003). A case should not be dismissed unless

the court is satisfied that the complaint cannot state any set of facts

that would entitle the plaintiff to relief. Id.; Patel v. Contemporary Classics of Beverly Hills, 259 F.3d 123, 126 (2d Cir. 2001). 6) The Supreme Court has held that although a complaint “does not need detailed factual allegations” to survive a motion to

dismiss, “a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his [or her] entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and

a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S. Ct. 1955 (2007) (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted). Rule 8 “demands

more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S. Ct. 1937

(2009). “Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders naked assertions

devoid of further factual enhancement.” Id. (alteration and internal

quotation marks omitted). Rather, a complaint's “Iflactual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.”

Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S. Ct. 1955. Although “once a claim

has been stated adequately, it may be supported by showing any set

of facts consistent with the allegations in the complaint,” id. at 563, 127 S. Ct. 1955, and a plaintiff must allege “only enough facts to

state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face,” id. at 570, 127 S.

Ct. 1955, if a plaintiff has not “nudged [her] claims across the line

from conceivable to plausible, the[ ] complaint must be dismissed,” id.; see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (“Determining

whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a

context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its

judicial experience and common sense. But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged—but it has not ‘show|n]’— “hat the pleader is entitled to relief.” (second alteration in original) (citation omitted) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2))); id. at 678-79, 129

S. Ct. 1937 (“Rule 8 marks a notable and generous departure from

the hypertechnical, code-pleading regime of a prior era, but it does

not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing

more than conclusions.”). 7) “[{W]hen ruling on a defendant’s motion to dismiss, a judge must accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the

complaint,” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S. Ct. 2197

(2007), and “draw| | all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff,” Daniel v. T & M Prot. Res., Inc., 992 F. Supp. 2d 302, 304 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (citing Koch v. Christie's Int’l PLC, 699 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir.

2012)). Additionally, “[iJn adjudicating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a

district court must confine its consideration to facts stated on the

No NNN I a IN A et EE NA ORD EO

face of the complaint, in documents appended to the complaint or

incorporated in the complaint by reference, and to matters of which

judicial notice may be taken.” Leonard F. v. Isr. Disc. Bank of N.Y., 199 F.3d 99, 107 (2d Cir. 1999) (internal quotation marks omitted);

see also Wang v. Palmisano, 157 F. Supp. 3d 306, 317 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (same). B. Defendant Porcari Is Entitled to Qualified Immunity from Suit. 1. Civil Rights Claim Pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

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