Jean v. HRA

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 21, 2025
Docket1:24-cv-05401
StatusUnknown

This text of Jean v. HRA (Jean v. HRA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jean v. HRA, (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK HERBY JEAN, Plaintiff, -against- 24-CV-5401 (LLS) HRA, HELP MEYER’S ALL MEN SHELTER, CHRIS ANDERSON, 25TH PRECINCT, NYC ORDER OF DISMISSAL CIVIL COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARD WITH LEAVE TO REPLEAD (CCRB), 52ND PRECINCT, JEROME AVENUE ALL MEN SHELTER, BLAKE AVENUE ALL MEN SHELTER, Defendants. LOUIS L. STANTON, United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis (“IFP”), filed this complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which transferred it here. By order dated December 11, 2024, Chief Judge Swain directed Plaintiff to amend his complaint to address deficiencies in his original pleading. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on December 30, 2024, and on July 21, 2025, this action was reassigned to the docket of the undersigned. The Court has reviewed the amended complaint, in which Plaintiff asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The action is dismissed for the reasons set forth below, with 30 days’ leave to file a second amended complaint. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Court must dismiss an in forma pauperis complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see Livingston v. Adirondack Beverage Co., 141 F.3d 434, 437 (2d Cir. 1998). The Court must also dismiss a complaint when the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction of the claims raised. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). While the law mandates dismissal on any of these grounds, the Court is obliged to construe pro se pleadings liberally, Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009), and interpret

them to raise the “strongest [claims] that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis in original). But the “special solicitude” in pro se cases, id. at 475 (citation omitted), has its limits – to state a claim, pro se pleadings still must comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a complaint to make a short and plain statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Rule 8 requires a complaint to include enough facts to state a claim for relief “that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is facially plausible if the plaintiff pleads enough factual detail to allow the Court to draw the inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. In reviewing the complaint, the Court must

accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009). But it does not have to accept as true “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,” which are essentially just legal conclusions. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. After separating legal conclusions from well-pleaded factual allegations, the Court must determine whether those facts make it plausible – not merely possible – that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Herby Jean’s original complaint named as defendants New York City entities (the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) 25th and 52nd Precincts); attorney Chris Anderson; and three shelters for the unhoused (sued as “HELP Meyer’s All Men Shelter,” “Jerome Avenue All Men Shelter,” and “Blake Ave All Men Shelter”). By order dated December 11, 2024, the Court identified certain deficiencies in the original complaint, including that it: (1) named New York City agencies (CCRB, HRA, and NYPD precincts) as defendants, even though these entities cannot be sued in the names of the

agencies: (2) did not name the City of New York, or state a claim against the City of New York under Section 1983, because Plaintiff did not allege that a municipal policy, custom, or practice caused a violation of his rights; (3) included claims against private entities and individuals, such as men’s shelters and attorney Chris Anderson, who were not functioning as state actors; (4) failed to include allegations showing how defendants were personally involved in violating Plaintiff’s rights; and (4) improperly joined unrelated claims against different defendants arising from apparently unrelated events. Plaintiff’s amended complaint names the same defendants as his original complaint: CCRB, HRA, 25th and 52nd Precincts, attorney Chris Anderson, and three shelters (HELP Meyer’s All Men Shelter, Jerome Avenue All Men Shelter, and Blake Ave All Men Shelter).

The amended complaint again raises claims arising from three separate and apparently unrelated incidents arising in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Plaintiff’s first claim is that unidentified “John Doe” police officers from the NYPD’s 25th Precinct used excessive force against him at the Help Meyer shelter on Ward’s Island. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant 25th Precinct “assaulted plaintiff Herby Jean @ the Help Meyer’s All Men Shelter cuffed and assaulted plaintiff.” 1 (Id.) He further alleges that Defendant Help Meyer’s All Men Shelter “violated plaintiff 5th Amendment ‘due process’ housed and authorized all seen on Help

1 The Court quotes from the amended complaint verbatim. All spelling, grammar, and punctuation are as in the original unless noted otherwise. Meyer’s surveillance camera, NYPD to assault plaintiff Herby Jean while cuffed satisfying the U.S 5th custody and care ‘due process’ under U.S Constitution.” (ECF 12 at 1.) The CCRB failed to investigate, and Chris Anderson, an attorney who may have represented Plaintiff in unspecified proceedings, allegedly took “hus[h]” money from the NYPD and New York City

Comptroller. (Id.) A second claim is that, on an unspecified date, Defendant Blake Avenue All Men Shelter in Brooklyn, New York, “authorized another client to enter the establishment with a knife and cut plaintiff Herby Jean on his right side off his head.” (Id. at 2.) Plaintiff’s third claim is that, on an unspecified date, Defendant Jerome Avenue Men’s Shelter in Bronx County “authorized another client to enter the institution with a knife slashing plaintiff Herby Jean on left side of abdomen . . . satisfying the 5th Amendment “Custody and Care.” (Id.) Following this assault, Defendant 52nd Precinct “intentionally positioned plaintiff Herby Jean and client in the same holding cell.” (Id.) Plaintiff seeks $3 billion in damages.

DISCUSSION A. Proper Defendants Plaintiff’s amended complaint, which is brought against the same defendants named in his original complaint, suffers from most of the same defects identified in the December 30, 2024 Order to Amend.

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Jean v. HRA, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jean-v-hra-nysd-2025.