Nikolao v. Lyon

238 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2017 WL 712991, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25244
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedFebruary 23, 2017
DocketCivil Case No. 16-12545
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 238 F. Supp. 3d 964 (Nikolao v. Lyon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nikolao v. Lyon, 238 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2017 WL 712991, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25244 (E.D. Mich. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS

LINDA V. PARKER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This lawsuit arises from Plaintiff Tara Nikolao’s interaction with employees at the Wayne County Health Department while procuring the forms necessary to exempt her children from the' State of Michigan’s vaccination requirement to attend public school. In a Complaint filed July 7, 2016, Plaintiff alleges the following claims against Defendants: (1) violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment; (2) violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; (3) violation of Article 1, Section 4 of the Michigan Constitution; and (4) violation of Michigan Compiled Laws Section 333.9215. Defendants are: Nick Lyon (“Director Lyon”), sued in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (“MDHHS"); the Wayne County Department of Health, Veterans, and Community Wellness (“DHVCW”); Dr. Mouhanad Hammami (“Dr. Hammami”), sued individually and in his official capacity as Director of DHVCW; Carol Auster-berry (“Ms. Austerberry”), sued individually and in her official capacity as Division Director and Deputy Health Officer of DHVCW; and Jane Does 1 and 2, sued individually and in their official- capacities as nurse and nurse manager, respectively, for DHVCW,

[969]*969Presently before the Court is Director Lyon’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (6), filed August 24, 2016. (ECF No, 11.) Also before the Court is a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) or, in the alternative, Rule 56, filed by DHVCW, Dr. Hammami, and Ms. Austerberry (collectively “Wayne County Defendants”). (ECF No. 10.) Plaintiff filed a brief responding to both motions on September 14, 2016. (ECF No. 12.) Director Lyon and the Wayne County Defendants filed reply briefs on September 28, 2016. (ECF Nos, 13, 14.) Finding the facts and legal arguments sufficiently presented in the parties’ .briefs, the Court is dispensing with oral argument pursuant to Eastern District of Michigan Local Rule 7.1(f).

I. Applicable Standards

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) challenges the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction. Fed. R. Civ. P, 12(b)(1). Where subject matter jurisdiction is challenged under this rule, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving jurisdiction. Moir v. Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth., 895 F.2d 266, 269 (6th Cir. 1990). Rule 12(b)(1) motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction fall into two general categories: facial attacks and factual attacks. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1); United States v. Ritchie, 15 F.3d 592, 598 (6th Cir. 1994).

A facial attack challenges the sufficiency of the pleading itself. In that instance, the court accepts the material allegations in the complaint as true and construes them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Ritchie, 15 F.3d at 598 (citing Scheuer v, Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 235-37, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). In contrast, a factual attack is “not a challenge to the sufficiency of the pleading’s allegation, but a challenge to the factual existence of subject matter jurisdiction.” Id. Where the motion presents a factual attack, the court does not afford a presumption of truthfulness to the allegations but weighs the evidence to. determine whether subject matter jurisdiction exists. On a factual attack, the court has broad discretion to consider extrinsic evidence, including affidavits and documents, and can conduct a limited evidentiary hearing if necessary. See DLX, Inc. v. Kentucky, 381 F.3d 511, 516 (6th Cir. 2004); Ohio Nat’l Life Ins. Co. v. United States, 922 F.2d 320, 326 (6th Cir. 1990).

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. RMI Titanium Co. v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 78 F.3d 1125, 1134 (6th Cir. 1996), Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a pleading must .contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations,” but it must contain more than “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.... ” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). A complaint does not “suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertions’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

As the Supreme Court provided in Iqbal and Tivombly, “[t]o survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “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.” Id. (cit [970]*970ing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). The plausibility standard “does not impose a probability requirement at the pleading stage; it simply calls for enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of illegal [conduct].” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

In deciding whether the plaintiff has set forth a “plausible” claim, the court must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). This presumption, however, is not applicable to legal conclusions. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 668, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Therefore, “[tjhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id: (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

Summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).

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238 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2017 WL 712991, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25244, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nikolao-v-lyon-mied-2017.