Perry v. Gold & Laine, P.C.

371 F. Supp. 2d 622, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10080, 2005 WL 1244750
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedMay 25, 2005
DocketCivil Action 04-6255 (FLW)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 371 F. Supp. 2d 622 (Perry v. Gold & Laine, P.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perry v. Gold & Laine, P.C., 371 F. Supp. 2d 622, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10080, 2005 WL 1244750 (D.N.J. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

WOLFSON, District Judge.

The Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff pro se Victoria Perry’s (“Plaintiff’ or “Ms. Perry”) complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a) and 12(b)(6), or in the alternative, for summary judgment, and to have Plaintiff declared a vexatious litigator. The Defendants are Gold & Laine, P.C., Carl D. Poplar, P.A., Jeffrey E. Gold, Esq., Evan E. Laine, Esq., Carl D. Poplar, Esq., Christy A. Cicalese, Michele Laine, Brandon Laine and Jessica Laine. Two issues are before the Court. First, whether Plaintiffs complaint can survive a motion to dismiss, and second, whether Plaintiff should be declared a vexatious litigator pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1367. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted, and while I decline to declare Plaintiff a vexatious litigator under § 1927, I am instead exercising my inherent power to enjoin her from filing further complaints unless certain conditions are met as set forth herein.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff has filed numerous lawsuits and complaints against Defendants in state and federal court, as well as with certain administrative agencies, see pp. 11-13, infra, all stemming from her interactions with her neighbor, Evan Laine, an attorney who once represented Ms. Perry’s mother in a legal matter, and Mr. Laine’s family. All of her previous actions have been dismissed and/or declared frivolous. Moreover, Plaintiff currently has another case pending before this Court, Case No. 04- *625 CV-6102 (FLW), in which she is suing four judges because of prior court rulings adverse to her in connection with certain of her allegations in this matter.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

Plaintiffs amended complaint contains nine counts, 1 all of which are without any legal basis or justification. Indeed, her complaint reflects a paranoia and obsession with her neighbors, the Laine family, and anyone associated them. This pleading is a paradigm of someone who sees a conspiracy behind every door. Disturbingly, as reflected in her amended complaint and the numerous exhibits and photos she has produced to this Court, Plaintiff has set up surveillance cameras to capture the moves of the Laines, and has even resorted to audiotaping court personnel who have had some ministerial involvement in prior pending matters. See Transcript of “Secretly Record Audiotape” (Aug. 13, 2004). Ms. Perry scurrilously alleges, without any foundation, that the various judicial officers who have dealt with her prior filings have all been biased and involved in “case fixing.” Compl. at 6-8. Plaintiffs allegations against the various lawyers, their staff, and the courts are based upon her misguided view that anyone dealing in an adverse fashion to her must be acting in a conspirational and illegal manner. To categorize Plaintiffs complaint as fantastical minimizes the bizarre character of this filing.

Despite the Court’s difficulty in discerning the bases for Plaintiffs claims, the Court has nonetheless attempted to categorize them into discrete causes of action. Plaintiff is asserting her claims in Count I pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1985. Compl. at 1. However, the Court is also construing Counts II, III, IV and VI as asserting claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1985. Count VI also asserts a common law fraud claim. The Court is construing Count V, which alleges that the Laines conspired to “knowingly creat[e] a dangerous environment for a repeat auto accident,” id. at 8, as a prima facie tort claim. In Count VII, Plaintiff is asserting a claim for harassment, id. at 11, which under the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice is a petty disorderly persons offense. N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4(c). Therefore, the Court is also construing Count VII, which contains, in essence, the same allegations as in Count V, as asserting a prima facie tort claim. Count VIII asserts a common law claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Compl. at 14. Count IX asserts claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981. .Id. at 15.

Defendants have framed their motion as a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), or, in the alternative, for summary judgment 'under Rule 56. In considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court accepts as true all allegations in the Plaintiffs Complaint and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom after construing them in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Jordan v. Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel, 20 F.3d 1250, 1261 (3d Cir.1994). A pleading may be dismissed for “failure to state a claim where it appears beyond doubt that no relief could be granted under any set of facts which could be proved consistent with the allegations.” Heden *626 burg v. Bando American, Inc., 1992 WL 443432, at *4 (D.N.J. March 3, 1992) (citing Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984)).

Courts are required when conducting the 12(b)(6) inquiry to accept all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. In re Rockefeller Ctr. Properties, Inc. Securities Litig., 311 F.3d 198, 215 (3d Cir.2002). Nevertheless, legal conclusions offered in the guise of factual allegations are given no presumption of truthfulness. Chugh v. Western Inventory Services, Inc., 333 F.Supp.2d 285, 289 (D.N.J.2004)(citing Papasen v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986)). Therefore, in ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, courts can and should reject “legal conclusions,” “unsupported conclusions,” “unwarranted references,” “unwarranted deductions,” “footless conclusions of law,” and “sweeping legal conclusions in the form of actual allegations.” Morse v. Lower Merion School Dist., 132 F.3d 902, 907, n. 8 (3d Cir.1997). On a motion to dismiss, the Court generally does not consider documents extraneous to the pleadings, but the Court may consider a “document integral or explicitly relied upon in the complaint ...

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371 F. Supp. 2d 622, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10080, 2005 WL 1244750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-gold-laine-pc-njd-2005.