Giardiello v. Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C.

261 F. Supp. 3d 86
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 18, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 16-12637-JCB
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 261 F. Supp. 3d 86 (Giardiello v. Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Giardiello v. Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C., 261 F. Supp. 3d 86 (D. Mass. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

[Docket Nos. 5, 7]

Boal, M.J.

In this action, Plaintiffs Bruno Giardiello (“Bruno Sr.”) and Bruno Schneider (“Bruno Jr”) allege, among other things, that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) and state law by failing to accommodate their request to keep a service dog in their condominium unit. Defendants have moved to dismiss the complaint. Docket Nos. 5, 7. The Court heard oral argument on August 17, 2017. For the following reasons, the Court1 denies the Board and the Trust’s motion to dismiss and grants Attorney Gaines and the Law Firm’s motion to dismiss.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Scope Of The Record

In considering the merits of a motion to dismiss, the Court may look only to the facts alleged in the pleadings, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint and matters of which judicial notice can be taken. Nollet v. Justices of the Trial Court of Mass., 83 F.Supp.2d 204, 208 (D. Mass. 2000), aff'd, 248 F.3d 1127 (1st Cir. 2000). Courts have made narrow exceptions for documents the authenticity of which are not disputed by the parties, for official public records, for documents central to plaintiffs’ claim or. for documents sufficiently referred to in the complaint. Watterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 1993). Consideration of other materials is generally forbidden unless the motion is properly converted into one for summary judgment. Id.

Here, the Defendants have attached or otherwise referred to documents and materials not attached to the complaint. First, the Defendants have attached to their motion copies of letters of correspondence from their attorney to the Plaintiffs. Docket Nos. 6-1 through 6-6; Docket Nos. 8-1 through 8-6. Because the Plaintiffs have referred to each of these documents in their complaint, see Complaint ¶¶ 51-52 (pages 10-11),2 53, 55, 61, 64, it is appropriate to consider them in connection with this motion.

The Defendants have also attached to their motion a copy of a January 18, 2017 amended complaint filed by them against the Plaintiffs to establish and enforce a lien for unpaid common expenses. Docket Nos. 6-7, 8-7. The Defendants proffer this document to attempt to disprove the Plaintiffs’ allegation that the Condominium Board assessed fines and legal fees against Bruno Sr. for the period of time in which he kept the dog without the Board’s permission. Docket No. 6 at 11. They explain that the Board filed a collection action in Middlesex District Court against Bruno Sr. to collect fines and legal fees but later amended its complaint to waive the fines, so that the Board is seeking only to recover late fees, costs and attorney’s fees in connection with matters unrelated to the dog. Docket No. 6 at 6. They argue that the Court may consider the amended complaint in the Middlesex District Court action as a matter of which judicial notice can be taken. Id. at 11. Though the Court may take judicial notice of court records and judicial proceedings [90]*90under some circumstances, such as to confirm the fact of filing, it may not do so in order to discern the truth of the facts asserted within that filing, See Lopes v. Riendeau, 177 F.Supp.3d 634, 666-667 (D. Mass. 2016). Here, the amended complaint alone does not show that the Defendants in fact waived any, fines and legal fees related to the dog. In order to discern that, the Court must consider the Defendant’s explanations regarding the amended complaint, which is not appropriate on a motion to dismiss, Therefore, even if it was proper to consider the amended complaint for that purpose, it does not actually support the Defendants’ assertions. Accordingly, the. Court will not .consider the amended complaint.

B. Facts3

Bruno Sr. is an individual residing at Waite Street, Unit # 33, Malden, Massachusetts (the "Unit”), which is located in a thirty-three unit complex known as the Candlelight Park Condominiums (“Candlelight Park”). Complaint 111. He purchased the Unit in 20.02, when he initially resided there with his son, Bruno Jr. Id.

Defendant Candlelight Park Condominium Trust (the “Trust”) is the entity empowered with decision making authority for the management of Candlelight Park. Id. at ¶ 3. The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees (the “Board”). Id. The Board is responsible for the establishment and enforcement of Candlelight Park’s rules and regulations. Id.

Defendant Jpseph Wamness is a resident of Candlelight Park and the President of the Board. Id. at ¶ 4. Defendants Matthew Yu, Cathy DiMaggeo, Alan Har-to, and Igor Demagelhaes are residents of Candlelight - Park and members of the Board. Id. at ¶¶ 5-8.'

Defendant Matthew Gaines is a lawyer at defendant Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C. (the “Law Firm”). Id. at ¶¶ 9-10. Gaines and the Law Firm represented the Trust and the Board in the underlying dispute. ⅛ at ¶ 10.

Bruno Jr, suffers .from post-traumatic stress syndrome (“PTSD”). |d. at ¶29, This condition subjects him to debilitating panic attacks, which come on suddenly and manifest- in spikes of his heart rate and blood pressure leaving him panicked and immobilized. Id. To alleviate the symptoms of his condition, his doctor prescribed an emotional support animal.:Id. at- ¶ 30.

On the advice of his doctor, Bruno adopted Kyla, a mixed-breed dog who was going to be euthanized. Id. Kyla instantly bonded with Bruno Jr. so that she recognizes the symptoms of his panic attacks. Id. Having been trained as a police dog, Kyla is able to calm Bruno Jr. and alleviate the debilitating effects of Bruno Jr.’s panic attacks. Id. Kyla is also trained not to bark. Id.

When Bruno Sr. first bought the Unit in 2002, Bruno Jr. resided, there for about four years, id. at ¶ 32, until he moved to Florida. Id. at ¶ 2, In or around October 2015, Bruno Jr. informed Bruno Sr. that he could no longer reside in Florida. Id. at ¶34. Bruno Sr. invited Bruno Jr. to live with him. Id.

The master deedfor Candlelight Park prohibits residents from having dogs in their units. Id. at ¶81. This prohibition frightened Bruno Jr. and made his fragile emotional state much more tenuous. Id. at ¶ 35. He needed a place to live immediately [91]*91but the prospect of abandoning Kyla was out of the question. Id. Consequently, he waited desperately in Florida to come to the Unit until his father could make the proper arrangements with the Board to accommodate Kyla. Id.

The Board never established any formal procedures for a disabled person residing at Candlelight Park to make a reasonable accommodation request. Id. at ¶ 18. In or around October 2015,4 Bruno Sr. approached Yu after a regularly scheduled condominium association meeting to inquire about the process for obtaining an accommodation so that Bruno Jr. could keep Kyla in the Unit. Id. at ¶ 36. Despite the “urgent request,” Bruno Sr. received no reply from Yu or any of the other members of the Board. Id. at ¶ 37.

Having received no reply, Bruno Sr. left several voice mail messages for Yu making repeated requests for an “interactive dialog,” but received no replies. Id. at ¶38. Given their neighborly relationship over the years, Bruno Sr. found Yu’s sudden and complete cessation of communication was highly out of character. Id.

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