Fedele v. Harris

18 F. Supp. 3d 309, 2014 WL 1870840, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64515
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 9, 2014
DocketNo. 13-cv-6368 (ADS)(GRB)
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 18 F. Supp. 3d 309 (Fedele v. Harris) 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
Fedele v. Harris, 18 F. Supp. 3d 309, 2014 WL 1870840, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64515 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On November 18, 2013, the Plaintiffs Thomas Fedele, Matthew Anderson, Gregory Aurigemma, Arturo F. Ramirez-Calle and Alec Zef (collectively the “Plaintiffs”) commenced this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and certain tax secrecy statutes against the Defendants Marianne Harris, Kiaran Johnson-Lew, Mary Starr, Richard Ernst, Jamie Woodward, Honora “Nonie” Manion, Nancy Williams, Edward Chaszczewski, Richard Arnold, Argiroula “Argi” O’Leary, Victor Vasta, Jr., Todd Wynne, and David Savoie (collectively the “Defendants”). The Plaintiffs are, except for Anderson, members of the Criminal Investigations Division of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Office of Tax Enforcement (the “DTF” or the “Department”). Anderson is a former member of the Criminal Investigations Division. The Defendants are high-level officials within the Department.

In particular, the Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants, under color of state law, unlawfully initiated and conducted audits and tax investigations of the Plaintiffs as a pretext for terminating their civil service employment in retaliation for their exercise of certain constitutionally protected civil rights. The Plaintiffs further allege that the Defendants disclosed the Plaintiffs’ confidential federal and New York State tax returns in violation of federal and state tax secrecy laws.

On January 24, 2014, the Defendants moved for (i) an order pursuant to Rule [312]*31212(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ.P.”) and 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) granting their motion to dismiss or transfer this case for improper venue or, in the alternative, an order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) granting their motion to transfer this ease to the Northern District of New York; (ii) an order pursuant to Rules 50.1(d)(8) and 50.2(f)(2) of this district’s Guidelines for the Division of Business Among District Judges granting their motion to cancel the designation of this case as a Long Island case; (iii) an order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 12(b)(1) granting their motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because this case is not ripe and the Plaintiffs lack standing; (iv) an order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) granting their motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The Plaintiffs oppose the Defendants’ motion in its entirety.

For the following reasons, the motion is denied in part and granted in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Unless stated otherwise, the following facts are drawn from the complaint and construed in a light most favorable to the non-moving parties, the Plaintiffs.

A. The Parties

The Plaintiff Thomas Fedele is domiciled in Bronx County of New York State.

The Plaintiff Matthew Anderson is domiciled in Nassau County of New York State.

The Plaintiff Gregory Aurigemma is domiciled in Nassau County of New York State.

The Plaintiff Arturo F. Ramirez-Calle is domiciled in Queens County in New York State.

The Plaintiff, Alec Zef, is domiciled in Nassau County in New York State.

The Defendant Marianne Harris was, at all relevant times, the Deputy Inspector General and later the Director of Internal Affairs of the DTF.

The Defendant Kiaran-Johnson-Lew was, at all relevant times, the Director of Human Resources of the DTF.

The Defendant Mary Starr was, at all relevant times, the Director of Personnel for the DTF.

The Defendant Richard Ernst was, at all relevant times, the Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement of the DTF.

The Defendant Jamie Woodward was, at all relevant times, the Acting Commissioner and later Executive Deputy Commissioner of the DTF.

The Defendant Honora “Nonie” Manion was, at all relevant times, the Director and Head of Audit for the DTF.

The Defendant Nancy Williams was, at all relevant times, the Head of Income/Franchise Tax Desk Audit Bureau for the DTF.

The Defendant Richard Arnold was, at all relevant times, the Section Head of Desk Audit Group for the DTF.

The Defendant Argiroula “Argi” O’Leary was, at all relevant times, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Litigation Strategy for the DTF.

The Defendant Edward Chaszczewski was, at all relevant times, the Director of Income/Franchise Desk Tax Audit Bureau of the DTF.

The Defendant Victor Vasta, Jr., was, at all relevant times, an Internal Affairs Investigators for the DTF.

The Defendant Todd Wynne was, at all relevant times, the Director of Labor Relations for the DTF.

[313]*313The Defendant David Savoie was, at all relevant times, the Assistant Director of Labor Relations for the DTF.

B. The Underlying Events

On July 8, 2010, an article appeared in the New York Post revealing that funding for cigarette sting operations by the Criminal Investigations Division — the Plaintiffs’ unit — was substantially cut as a result of political pressure. The same day, Thomas Stanton, the then-Director of the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the DTF, was terminated. Shortly thereafter, Stanton’s second in command, Deputy Director Paul Rossi was also terminated. Neither Stanton nor Rossi were protected by the New York State Civil Service Law and, therefore, could be terminated without cause.

According to the Plaintiffs, they were closely associated with Stanton in their work at the Office of Tax Enforcement. However, under the civil service laws of New York, the Plaintiffs could not be terminated unless for cause.

In February 2011, Anderson resigned from the DTF.

On July 12, 2011, the Defendant Ernst e-mailed the Plaintiffs and others, threatening them with discipline arising from the leak of information to the New York Post.

On or about August 5, 2011, the Director of Investigations, Peter Persampieri, called Aurigemma, Ramirez-Calle, and Zef and directed them to call the Department of Internal Affairs and schedule interviews.

On or about August 16, 2011, the Plaintiffs Aurigemma, Ramirez-Calle, and Zef were interrogated by the Internal Affairs Investigators from the DTF with regard to the leaked story to the New York Post and asked about their associations with Stanton.

On or about August 25, 2011, the Plaintiffs received a notice of audit dated August 22, 2011, demanding production of records to substantiate the information on their 2010 tax returns.

According to the Plaintiffs, although the type of audit of the Plaintiffs’ tax returns is typically performed by low-level tax department employees, the audits of their returns were closely supervised by top officials within the audit division of the Department, including the Defendants.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 F. Supp. 3d 309, 2014 WL 1870840, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fedele-v-harris-nyed-2014.