EDWARDS v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 4, 2023
Docket2:23-cv-00086
StatusUnknown

This text of EDWARDS v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (EDWARDS v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
EDWARDS v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, (W.D. Pa. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

KATELYN D. EDWARDS,

2:23-CV-00086-CCW Plaintiff,

v.

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, PENNSYLVANIA WESTERN UNIVERSITY, GERALDINE M. JONES, STUDENT ASSOCIATION, INC., GREYSTAR DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, LLC, GREYSTAR STUDENT LIVING MANAGEMENT SERVICES, LLC, JARED SHINER, GARY W. DUNN, KAREN HJERPE,

Defendants.

OPINION Jamain Allen Stephens was a scholarship football player at California University of Pennsylvania (now known as Pennsylvania Western University California or “PennWest California”). He died of COVID-19 shortly after returning to campus for the Fall 2020 semester. The administrator of Mr. Stephens’ estate, Katelyn D. Edwards, alleges that Defendants—the school, entities involved in its off-campus housing, and associated individuals—should have prevented Mr. Stephens’ death. Several of Ms. Edwards’ claims are predicated on alleged violations of Mr. Stephens’ federal substantive due process rights. The remainder are predicated on state law. In a prior opinion, the Court dismissed Ms. Edwards’ substantive due process claims with leave to amend, holding that she had failed to allege an essential element of those claims: conduct by Defendants that “shocks the conscience.” ECF No. 24 at 5, 12. The Court also deferred consideration of whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Ms. Edwards’ state law claims given the deficient allegations in the claims raising a federal question. Id. at 2 n.1. Ms. Edwards filed an Amended Complaint on April 28, 2023. ECF No. 26. Now before the Court are three Motions to Dismiss filed by: (1) PennWest California, Geraldine M. Jones,

Gary W. Dunn, and Karen Hjerpe (collectively, the “University Defendants”), ECF No. 29; (2) Student Association, Inc. (“SAI”), ECF No. 27; and (3) Greystar Student Living Management Services, LLC (“Greystar Student Living”), ECF No. 28. Because Ms. Edwards has again failed to plausibly allege conduct by Defendants that “shocks the conscience,” the Court will GRANT IN PART those motions and DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE Ms. Edwards’ substantive due process claims. The Court will again DEFER consideration of Ms. Edwards’ state law claims, pending resolution of the claims against the sole defendant yet to appear in this action—Jared Shiner. Therefore, the Court will DENY WITHOUT PREJUDICE the motions to the extent that they target Ms. Edwards’ state law claims. I. Background

A. Factual Allegations On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, prompting schools across the country to transition to remote learning for the Spring 2020 semester. ECF No. 26 ¶ 28. PennWest California, where Mr. Stephens had been enrolled since 2017 and had a scholarship to play on the football team, was one of those schools. Id. ¶¶ 21, 28, 31. PennWest California announced on June 15, 2020 that it planned to reopen for the Fall 2020 semester. Id. ¶ 31. The reopening plan included a “revised academic calendar,” hybrid- learning options, and protocols for masking, cleaning, and social distancing. Id. ¶ 32. About three weeks later, however, the school changed course, announcing that the school would, in Ms. Edwards’ words, “operate remotely during the Fall 2020 semester due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States.” Id. ¶ 33. Although dormitories would be closed for the Fall 2020 semester, students living in off-campus housing “were permitted to

return to campus.” Id. ¶ 35. Mr. Stephens returned to campus on August 17, 2020, to live in an off-campus residence called “Vulcan Village.” Id. ¶ 42. Vulcan Village is owned by Greystar Student Living and operated by PennWest California, which uses SAI for leasing services. Id. ¶¶ 36–37. When Mr. Stephens arrived, he retrieved his keys from a designated tent on campus. Id. ¶ 43. According to Ms. Edwards, “personnel at the tent were not wearing masks, taking temperatures of students, or testing students for COVID-19.” Id. ¶ 43. She further alleges that PennWest California “did nothing to determine whether the incoming students had been in contact with an individual who was COVID-19 positive or if the students were experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms.” Id. ¶ 44.

Before participating in football team activities, however, Mr. Stephens—like all student athletes—was required to complete a COVID-19 screen. Id. ¶ 57. At the time, “the football team was not formally practicing because of COVID-19 protocols” and was instead working out informally, “five to six people at a time.” Id. ¶ 55. In Vulcan Village, Mr. Stephens lived in a four-person suite with one other roommate. Id. ¶¶ 46, 50. Mr. Stephens developed COVID-19 symptoms the week of August 27, 2020, a day after his mother overheard his roommate coughing while she and Mr. Stephens were on the phone. Id. ¶¶ 58–59. Mr. Stephens’ symptoms did not improve, and his mother took him to an urgent care facility and then an emergency room, where he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Id. ¶¶ 60–63. His condition worsened over the following week, and he died of COVID-19 complications on September 8, 2020. Id. ¶¶ 65–74. On December 18, 2020, PennWest California announced that it would reopen for the Spring 2021 semester. Id. ¶ 77. Ms. Edwards alleges that the “Spring 2021 semester plans for

prevention and/or mitigation of COVID-19 were far more extensive than PennWest California’s Fall 2020 COVID-19 initiatives.” Id. ¶ 78. Those plans included protocols for masking, social- distancing, and daily health screening. Id. ¶¶ 79–84. B. Procedural History Ms. Edwards filed her original complaint in Pennsylvania state court. ECF No. 1-1. She asserted sixteen claims, generally alleging that Defendants could and should have prevented Mr. Stephens’ death. See generally id. In six of her claims, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Ms. Edwards alleged violations of Mr. Stephens’ substantive due process rights. See generally ECF No. 1-1. In the remaining claims, she alleged violations of state law under theories of wrongful death, survival, and willful misconduct. See generally id. Defendants removed the case to federal

court on January 18, 2023, ECF No. 1, and thereafter SAI, Greystar Student Living, and the University Defendants filed separate motions to dismiss, ECF Nos. 9, 11, 15. On April 14, 2023, the Court granted in part and denied in part those motions. ECF Nos. 24–25. First, the Court dismissed Ms. Edwards’ § 1983 claims against SAI and the University Defendants, holding that she had failed to plausibly allege conduct that “shocks the conscience,” as required to establish a substantive due process violation. ECF No. 24 at 5–11. The Court granted Ms. Edwards leave to amend. Id. at 12. Second, the Court dismissed several claims against Greystar Student Living, including the § 1983 claims against it, pursuant to an agreement between it and Ms. Edwards. Id. Third, the Court deferred consideration of whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Ms. Edwards’ remaining state law claims and therefore denied the motions to dismiss without prejudice insofar as they targeted the state claims. Id. at 2 n.1, 12. Ms. Edwards filed her seven-count Amended Complaint on April 28, 2023. ECF No. 26. Counts I, II, VI, and VII are state law claims for survival and wrongful death against all Defendants

in certain combinations. Id. ¶¶ 88–111, 148–60. Counts III, IV, and V are § 1983 claims against the University Defendants and/or SAI, predicated on alleged violations of Mr. Stephens’ substantive due process rights. Id. ¶¶ 112–47. The Amended Complaint prompted a new round of Motions to Dismiss by SAI, the University Defendants, and Greystar Student Living. ECF Nos. 27–29. Those motions are now ripe for adjudication.

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EDWARDS v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwards-v-california-university-of-pennsylvania-pawd-2023.