Golian v. N.Y.C. Admin. for Children Servs.

282 F. Supp. 3d 718
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 16, 2017
Docket16–cv–9037 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 282 F. Supp. 3d 718 (Golian v. N.Y.C. Admin. for Children Servs.) 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
Golian v. N.Y.C. Admin. for Children Servs., 282 F. Supp. 3d 718 (S.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:

*723This case arises from a physical altercation between the plaintiff, Jessica Golian, a New York City public school teacher, and the mother of two of her students, Jennifer DeJesus. Golian reported to New York State child protection officials that DeJesus's children were possibly victims of child neglect after observing that the children had long-term difficulties at school. Although Golian requested that the child protection officials keep her identity confidential, DeJesus eventually learned that Golian was the person who filed the neglect report. DeJesus then allegedly assaulted Golian outside the school DeJesus's children attend.

In this action, Golian seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, municipal liability, and related state law claims against the New York City Administration for Children Services (the "ACS"), the City of New York, and ACS attorney Jeremey Harper (collectively, the "municipal defendants"). Golian argues that the municipal defendants violated her Fourteenth Amendment right to substantive due process by wrongfully disclosing her identity to DeJesus.

The municipal defendants have moved to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That motion is granted . Golian's federal claims are dismissed with prejudice , and Golian's state law claims against the municipal defendants are dismissed without prejudice .

Golian also brings state law claims against DeJesus for the alleged physical assault. DeJesus has not appeared in this action. Nevertheless, a default judgment will not issue against her because the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Golian's state law claims in light of the dismissal of her federal claims against the municipal defendants. Golian's claims against DeJesus are therefore dismissed without prejudice .

I.

In deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 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) ; Arista Records LLC v. Lime Grp. LLC, 532 F.Supp.2d 556, 566 (S.D.N.Y. 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 the Court 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 a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions." Id. See also Biswas v. City of New York, 973 F.Supp.2d 504, 511-12 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

*724II.

A.

The Court accepts the following allegations as true for purposes of this motion to dismiss.

Golian works as a special education teacher at the Lillian Weber School for the Arts ("P.S. 84"), a New York City public school. Compl. ¶¶ 9, 15-16 (ECF No. 6). DeJesus's two sons were Golian's students. Compl. ¶¶ 17, 20.

During the 2015 school year, Golian began to notice that DeJesus's sons had serious attendance and learning issues. Compl. ¶ 17. Other teachers at P.S. 84 noticed that DeJesus's sons smelled like marijuana or heavy perfume designed to mask the smell of drugs. Compl. ¶ 19. DeJesus's sons told Golian that they were late every day because DeJesus could not get out of bed. Compl. ¶ 20.

The staff at P.S. 84, including Golian, began to suspect that DeJesus's drug use caused her sons' lateness. Compl. ¶ 21. Golian discussed the attendance issues with DeJesus, but noticed no change in the children's attendance. Compl. ¶ 22. One of DeJesus's sons was required to repeat a grade because of poor performance, which teachers at P.S. 84 attributed to lateness and parental neglect. Compl. ¶ 23.

School administrators eventually decided that DeJesus must be reported to the New York State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (the "SCR"). Compl. ¶ 24.1 The administrators selected Golian to file the report against DeJesus because she taught both of DeJesus's sons as a special education teacher. Compl. ¶¶ 25-26.

Golian expressed concern to the school administrators about reporting DeJesus to the SCR. Compl. ¶ 27. Golian told the administrators that DeJesus knew where Golian lived because they were neighbors. Id. Golian also told the administrators that DeJesus had previously mentioned to her that DeJesus had engaged in physical altercations with other women. Id. 2

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282 F. Supp. 3d 718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/golian-v-nyc-admin-for-children-servs-ilsd-2017.