Guichard v. Town of Brookhaven

26 F. Supp. 3d 219, 2014 WL 2739202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82507
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJune 16, 2014
DocketNo. 13-CV-3052(JS)(ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 26 F. Supp. 3d 219 (Guichard v. Town of Brookhaven) 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
Guichard v. Town of Brookhaven, 26 F. Supp. 3d 219, 2014 WL 2739202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82507 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

SEYBERT, District Judge:

Plaintiff Donald Guichard (“Plaintiff”) commenced this action on May 24, 2013 against defendants the Town of Brookha-ven (the “Town”); the Town of Brookha-ven Waste Management Department (the “Waste Management Department”); Brookhaven’s Town Investigator, Brian Tohill (“Tohill”); and Brookhaven’s Senior Field Inspector, Robert Incagliato (“Inca-gliato,” and together with the Town, the [222]*222Waste Management Department, and To-hill, “Defendants”). The Complaint seeks relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 for constitutional violations in connection with the Town’s decision to conduct a cleanup of Plaintiffs property. The Complaint also asserts state law claims for trespass, conversion, and various forms of negligence. Defendants have moved to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND1

Plaintiff owns property located at 2 Old School House Road in Manorville, New York. (Compl. ¶ 15.) Plaintiff alleges that on February 28, 2012, employees of the Town and the Waste Management Department, including Tohill and Incagliato, entered Plaintiffs property illegally, “under the purported legal auspices of carrying out Brookhaven’s policy and resolution to stop a nuisance without a properly obtained and valid search warrant,” and removed the following items: (1) a tree stand; (2) two sheets of steel; (3) parts of Plaintiffs home and sidewalk; (4) five shade covers and 108 brackets for Plaintiffs greenhouse; (5) two thousand wire crop supports; (6) concrete; (7) two boat trailers; (8) one hammer; (9) six scaffolds; and (10) forty fence posts. (Compl. ¶¶ 16, 24.) Plaintiff further alleges that while on his property, Defendants “purposefully severed” his water lines and caused substantial damage when they drove over the property with a bulldozer and other vehicles, equipment, and machinery. (Compl. ¶¶ 16-17.)

Plaintiff also claims that Defendants retrieved garbage from the adjoining property, deposited it on Plaintiffs property, and then assessed Plaintiff a fine of $9,231.66 “for an erroneous clean up and removal of waste and garbage” from the property. (Compl. ¶¶ 17, 35.) Thus, according to Plaintiff, the Town’s actions “were all undertaken under the purported legal auspices of carrying out Brookhaven’s policy and resolution to stop a nuisance without a properly obtained and valid search warrant, when in fact this was not defendants [sic] intent....” (Compl. ¶ 24.)

Based on these allegations, the Complaint seeks relief against all Defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 for violations of the Fourth, Fifth, Eight, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and also asserts state law claims for, trespass, conversion, and various forms of negligence. The Complaint seeks such relief against Tohill and Incagliato in both their individual and official capacities. Defendants have moved to dismiss the Complaint on various grounds. (Docket Entry 5.) This motion is currently pending before the Court.

DISCUSSION

The Court will first set forth the legal standard on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss before turning to Defendants’ motion specifically.

I. Standard of Review

In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court applies a “plausibility, standard,” which is guided by “[t]wo working principles.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009); accord Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d [223]*22366, 71-72 (2d Cir.2009). First, although the Court must accept all allegations as true, this “tenet” is “inapplicable to legal conclusions;” thus, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937; accord Harris, 572 F.3d at 72. Second, only complaints that state a “plausible claim for relief’ can survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Determining whether a complaint does so is “a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id.; accord Harris, 572 F.3d at 72.

The Court is confined to “the allegations contained within the four corners of [the] complaint.” PaNi v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, 152 F.3d 67, 71 (2d Cir.1998). However, this has been interpreted broadly to include any document attached to the complaint, any statements or documents incorporated in the complaint by reference, any document on which the complaint heavily relies, and anything of which judicial notice may be taken. See Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 152-53 (2d Cir.2002) (citations omitted); Kramer v. Time Warner Inc., 937 F.2d 767, 773 (2d Cir.1991).

II. Section 1983 Claims

A. Municipal Liability

Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs § 1983 claim against the Town on the ground that Plaintiff has not alleged the existence of a municipal policy or custom sufficient to subject the Town to municipal liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). (Defs.’s Br., Docket Entry 5-1, at 5-6.) The Court disagrees.

Section 1983 states in relevant part:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured....

42 U.S.C. § 1983. Municipalities are considered “persons” subject to suit under § 1983. Monell, 436 U.S. at 690, 98 S.Ct. 2018. However, “a municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor — or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory.” Id. at 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018 (emphasis in original). Rather, to state a § 1983 claim against a municipality, a plaintiff must plead, inter alia, that the unconstitutional acts of its employees are attributable to a municipal policy or custom. See id. at 694, 98 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
26 F. Supp. 3d 219, 2014 WL 2739202, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guichard-v-town-of-brookhaven-nyed-2014.