KENNEDY v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

ARDELL KENNEDY, Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION V. NO. 19-01076 CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, et al., Defendants.

ORDER AND NOW, this 15th day of June 2020, upon consideration of Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 38), Ardell Kennedy’s Response (ECF No. 40) and Defendants’ Reply (ECF No. 42) and following oral argument by counsel for the parties (ECF No. 44), it is ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.: Specifically: 1) The Motion is GRANTED and judgment ENTERED in Defendants’ favor on: a) All federal claims against Lieutenant Gregory Brown, Officer Ronald Jackson and the City of Philadelphia; b) All federal claims against Officer Hugo Lemos and Officer Joseph Koger in their official capacities;2

1 This Order applies only to the federal claims against the Defendants; the parties have agreed to stipulate to the disposition of all state-law claims. See (Hr’g Tr. 39:9-14, ECF No. 44). 2 A suit against a municipal employee in his official capacity “is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit against the [municipal] entity.” Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166 (1985). Because Kennedy concedes his claims against the City cannot survive summary judgment, his claims against the individual defendants in their official capacity likewise fail. See Barna v. Bd. of Sch. Dirs. of Panther Valley Sch. Dist., 877 F.3d 136, 150 n.11 (3d Cir. 2017) (vacating claims against individuals in their official capacities because “the analysis as to the [entity] applies” to the official-capacity claims).

c) The federal conspiracy claims against Lemos and Koger; d) The federal failure-to-intervene claim against Koger. 2) The Motion is DENIED as to the federal false-imprisonment and malicious- prosecution claims against Lemos. All other federal claims against Lemos— other than the false-arrest claim—are deemed WITHDRAWN.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Gerald J. Pappert GERALD J. PAPPERT, J.