Pollack v. Nash

58 F. Supp. 2d 294, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11663, 1999 WL 556992
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 30, 1999
Docket98 Civ. 6599(WCC)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 58 F. Supp. 2d 294 (Pollack v. Nash) 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
Pollack v. Nash, 58 F. Supp. 2d 294, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11663, 1999 WL 556992 (S.D.N.Y. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. CONNER, Senior District Judge.

This action is before the Court on defendants’ motion to dismiss. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For the reasons stated hereinafter, the motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Stuart Pollack is an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, and brings this action on behalf of himself pro se, as well as on behalf of his children, Sean Pollack, Kyle Pollack, Paul Pollack, and Rachel Pollack. Sean, Kyle, and Paul are all minors, whereas Rachel attained the age of eighteen in June of 1997. Thus, Stuart seeks to represent Sean, Kyle, and Paul as their guardian, while apparently representing Rachel simply as her attorney. This action revolves around plaintiffs’ allegation that various individuals, both state and private actors, conspired to ensure that Stuart would lose custody of his children in a March 1995 hearing in the Family Court of the State of New York. After this hearing, the presiding judge found that Stuart had been physically and verbally abusive to his wife and determined that the children were “neglected children as a result of .... Stuart Pollack’s behavior.” See Judge Warren’s April 6,1995 Decision.

As a consequence of this alleged conspiracy, plaintiffs here sue: (1) Noah Weinberg, the Commissioner of Social Services of the County of Rockland; (2) the County of Rockland in its municipal capacity; (3) Jacqueline Sands, who is employed by the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County, and was appointed by the Family Court as the law guardian of Sean, Kyle, Paul, and Rachel; (4) Alexander Bursztein, who is employed by the Legal Aid Society of Rock-land County, and was Sands’ supervising attorney during the relevant period; (5) Barbara Wilmit, an Assistant County Attorney for the County of Rockland who filed the child neglect petitions in Family Court against Stuart; (6) G. Nicholas Del Pizzo, an attorney for the County of Rock-land and Wilmit’s supervisor; (7) Joan Nash, a case worker with the Child Protective Services of the Department of Social Services for the County of Rockland; (8) Karen Pollack, Stuart’s wife and mother to plaintiffs Sean, Kyle, Paul, and Rachel; (9) The Honorable William P. Warren, Judge of the Family Court of the State of New York in the County of Rockland, who presided over the March 1995 hearing; (10) The Honorable Margaret Garvey, Judge of the Family Court of the State of New York in the County of Rockland, who, plaintiffs claim, following Judge Warren’s decision, issued an arrest warrant for Karen Pollack after she failed to appear for a *299 court appearance; (11) Phyllis Rosenblum, a private psychologist who administered therapy to Rachel, Stuart, and Karen Pollack, and who testified at the hearing before Judge Warren; and (12) Stanley Weiss, a private therapist who administered therapy to Stuart and who also testified at the hearing.

Plaintiffs brings this complaint, alleging: (1) a conspiracy between both state and non-state actors to deprive them of their right to due process, as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as against Nash, Rosenblum, Weiss, Wilmit, Sands, Del Pizzo, Bursztein, Weinberg, Karen Pollack, Judge Warren, Judge Garvey, and the County of Rock-land; (2) a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985 as against Sands, Wilmit, Nash Bursztein, Del Pizzo, Weinberg, Judge Warren, and the County of Rockland; (3) the commission of a federal constitutional tort under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971), as against Nash, Wilmit, Sands, Bursztein, Del Pizzo, Warren, and Weinberg; 1 (4) a pendent state law claim for a state constitutional tort in violation of Article I, sections 1, 11, and 12 of the New York State Constitution as against Nash, Wilmit, Sands, Bursztein, Del Pizzo, Warren, and Weinberg; (5) a pendent state common law claim for psychological malpractice as against Rosenblum; (6) a pendent state common law claim for breach of contract as against Rosenblum and Weiss; (7) a pendent state law claim for a breach of confidential communications in violation of N.Y.C.P.L.R. §§ 4507 and 4508 as against Rosenblum; (8) a pendent state common law claim for legal malpractice as against Sands; (9) a pendent state common law claim for breach of fiduciary duty as against Sands; and (10) a pendent state common law claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress as against Nash, Wil-mit, Sands, Bursztein, Del Pizzo, and Judge Warren.

DISCUSSION

I. Section 1983 Claim

A. General Requirements for Stating a Cognizable § 1983 Conspiracy Claim

A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim “ ‘unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.’ ” Padaran v. United States, 82 F.3d 23, 26 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 10, 101 S.Ct. 173, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980)). All well-pleaded factual allegations will be accepted as true and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in favor of the plaintiff. See Wright v. Ernst & Young LLP, 152 F.3d 169, 173 (2d Cir. 1998), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 119 S.Ct. 870, 142 L.Ed.2d 772 (1999). “ ‘The issue is not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims.’ ” Id. (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)).

However, it is well-established that in order to survive a motion to dismiss, a § 1983 complaint must contain “more than naked[,] improbable[,] unsubstantiated assertions without any specifics.” Neustein v. Orbach, 732 F.Supp. 333, 346 (E.D.N.Y.1990); see also Salahuddin v. Cuomo, 861 F.2d 40, 43 (2d Cir.1988); Alfaro Motors, Inc. v. Ward, 814 F.2d 883, 887 (2d Cir.1987); Ostrer v. Aronwald, 567 F.2d 551, 553 (2d Cir.1977) (per curiam); Koch v. Yunich, 533 F.2d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 1976). Moreover, a complaint alleging a conspiracy to violate civil rights is held to a heightened pleading standard. Julian v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth., 857 F.Supp. 242, 252 *300 (E.D.N.Y.1994) (interpreting § 1985). As the Second Circuit has explained,

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Bluebook (online)
58 F. Supp. 2d 294, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11663, 1999 WL 556992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pollack-v-nash-nysd-1999.