Denicolo v. Bd. of Educ. of N.Y.

328 F. Supp. 3d 204
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 14, 2018
Docket16 Civ. 7416 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 328 F. Supp. 3d 204 (Denicolo v. Bd. of Educ. of N.Y.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denicolo v. Bd. of Educ. of N.Y., 328 F. Supp. 3d 204 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

John G. Koeltl, United States District Judge

The plaintiff, Anna Denicolo, brings this action against the Board of Education of the City of New York ("BOE") and four individual BOE employees: Unal Karakas, Xiomara Fernandez, Jeffrey Eason, and Desiree LaFontainein their individual and official capacities (collectively, "defendants"). The plaintiff alleges retaliation in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("RA"), the New York State Human Rights Law ("NYSHRL"), the New York City Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL"), the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and Article 1 § 8 of the New York State Constitution.

The defendants move to dismiss all of the plaintiff's claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The defendants *209argue that the claims are barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel and that the allegations otherwise fail to state a claim. The defendants also move to dismiss the plaintiff's RA and ADA claims against the individual defendants. For the reasons explained below, the defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I.

In deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the plaintiff's favor. McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir. 2007). The Court's function on a motion to dismiss is "not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient." Goldman v. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067 (2d Cir. 1985). The Court should not dismiss the complaint if the plaintiff has stated "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). While courts should construe the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, "the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in the complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions." Id.

A court may also consider documents incorporated by reference in the complaint as well as documents the plaintiff either had in the plaintiff's possession or had knowledge of and upon which the plaintiff relied in bringing suit. See Cortec Indus., Inc. v. Sum Holding L.P., 949 F.2d 42, 48 (2d Cir. 1991). "A court may [also] take judicial notice of the records of state administrative procedures, as these are public records, without converting a motion to dismiss to one for summary judgment." Evans v. N.Y. Botanical Garden, No. 02cv3591, 2002 WL 31002814, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 4, 2002) ; see also Zapotocky v. CIT Bank, 587 B.R. 589, 593 (S.D.N.Y. 2018).

II.

The following facts are taken from the plaintiff's Complaint and are accepted as true for the purposes of this motion to dismiss.

The plaintiff was a tenured school teacher who was a BOE employee for over twenty-five years. (Compl. ¶¶ 1, 8.) She was fired on August 15, 2016. (Id. ¶ 1.) Two years before her termination, on September 24, 2014, the plaintiff filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights for the United States Department of Education ("OCR").1 (Id. ¶ 32.) In the complaint, the plaintiff alleged that P.S. 195 - the school where she worked - failed to provide adequate services for, or proper evaluation of, special-needs students.(Id. ¶¶ 33-35.) After several months, on April 6, 2015, OCR asked the plaintiff if she would agree to mediate her claim against the school. (Id. ¶ 37.) The plaintiff declined. (Id. ) OCR asked again on September 18, 2015. (Id. ¶ 40.) The plaintiff again refused to mediate and asked OCR to continue its investigation. (Id. )

*210Eleven days after the plaintiff's second refusal to mediate, on September 29, 2015, she began receiving letters of reprimand from her school. (Id. ¶ 42.) The letters alleged misconduct and unprofessional behavior for a variety of reasons, including neglect of her professional duties, unprofessional conduct, general misconduct, unsatisfactory lesson plans, and insubordination. (Id. ¶ 45.) Within a month of her decision not to mediate, she also received a negative performance evaluation. (Id. ¶ 45(d).) In her entire career, she had never before received a reprimand letter or a negative evaluation.2 The plaintiff received sixteen3 letters of reprimand and three negative evaluations over the following five months.(Id. ¶¶ 42, 44-45.)

Approximately five months after receiving her first letter of reprimand, on February 18, 2016, the plaintiff received a letter from the BOE informing her that she was being brought up on disciplinary charges under New York State Education Law § 3020-a. (Id. ¶ 45(s).) The letter informed her that she was banned from all BOE schools during the pendency of the action. (Id. ) This letter came only a few days before OCR was scheduled to visit P.S. 195 to investigate the plaintiff's complaint. (Id. ¶ 48.) Because she was barred from the school, she was not present during OCR's investigation. (Id. )

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328 F. Supp. 3d 204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denicolo-v-bd-of-educ-of-ny-ilsd-2018.