Romano v. SLS Residential Inc.

246 F.R.D. 432, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80390, 2007 WL 3145076
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 10, 2007
DocketNo. 07 Civ.2034(SCR)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 246 F.R.D. 432 (Romano v. SLS Residential Inc.) 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
Romano v. SLS Residential Inc., 246 F.R.D. 432, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80390, 2007 WL 3145076 (S.D.N.Y. 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

STEPHEN C. ROBINSON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Nicholas J. Romano and Deborah Morgan bring this suit alleging claims under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and various state law claims. Currently before this court are defendants’ motion to dismiss under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), defendants’ motion for a stay, and plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. For the reasons below, defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted in part, defendants’ motion for a stay is denied, and plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is granted.

I. Factual Background

Defendant SLS1 is a treatment facility providing services to persons with psychiatric disorders. Plaintiffs were patients at SLS. Defendants Joseph Santaro and Alfred Bergman are the owners of SLS. Defendant Shawn Prichard is a licensed psychologist and was SLS’s Chief Clinical Officer. The other individual defendants—Matt Sena, Robert Giordano Robert Deletis and John Doe—are employees of SLS.

The complaint alleges that defendants San-taro, Bergman, and Prichard fraudulently held themselves out as experts in the care of the mentally ill. The complaint also alleges that rather than maintaining a program with a focus on rehabilitation, defendants engaged in a pattern of behavior whereby they illegally assaulted, restrained, punished and isolated patients, including the named plaintiffs.

The complaint alleges that the New York State Office of Mental Health (“OMH”) has already found that defendants did not focus on rehabilitation and did not work to integrate plaintiffs and other class members into the community. Among other things, the complaint alleges that: 1) SLS policies and procedures did not have a rehabilitative and recovery focus, nor did they foster daily living skills and skills development; 2) patients were denied the right to make phone calls or have visitors, including the right to communicate with their own parents during their first two weeks at the facility and that phone calls by patients were routinely supervised and staff members routinely opened mail and packages sent to patients; 3) some patients were subjected to routine nightly searches of their bedrooms and bodies, and were prevented from leaving their bedroom at night; 4) SLS denied patients the right refuse treatment, to leave treatment, and refused patients the right to leave the facility; 5) SLS illegally employed manual restraints, and forcibly put patients in isolation rooms where they were physically assaulted and emotionally abused, including forcible medication; 6) patients were sometimes punished by being put in an “APD” group, in which they were denied access to phones, TV, and family and were forced to wear prison-like attire; 7) other patients where then told to treat these patients as though they were invisible; 8) family were required to give 24-48 hours notice to visit patients and needed prior approval; 9) patients were subject to constant video surveillance, except in the REC room where they were subject to physical and emotional abuse.

The complaint also alleges that psychiatrists at SLS were pressured to file false applications under Kendra’s law to force treatment on patients who wished to leave. [439]*439Finally, the complaint alleges numerous false statements in SLS’s advertising related their success rates and the goals of the program.

II. Motion to Dismiss

A. Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) Standards

In evaluating a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a court “must view all allegations raised in the complaint in the light most favorable to the non-moving party ... and ‘must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint.’” Newman & Schwartz v. Asplundh Tree Expert Co., Inc., 102 F.3d 660, 662 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993)) (citation omitted). In doing so, a court is “not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient.” Goldman v. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067 (2d Cir.1985). Because the complaint must allege facts which confer a cognizable right of action, “ ‘[t]he issue is not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims.’ ” York v. Ass’n of the Bar, 286 F.3d 122, 125 (2d Cir.2002) (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)).

Similarly, in deciding a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, this Court accepts all factual allegations as true. Lunney v. United States, 319 F.3d 550, 554 (2d Cir.2003). Plaintiff has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Id.

B. ADA Claim

“Title III of the ADA proscribes discrimination against the disabled in public accommodations.” Powell v. Nat’l Bd. of Med. Exam’rs, 364 F.3d 79, 85 (2d Cir.2004). “A private individual may only obtain injunctive relief for violations of a right -granted under Title III; he cannot recover damages.” Id. at 86. Defendants move to dismiss plaintiffs’ ADA claim, as well as their request for other injunctive relief, on the grounds that plaintiffs lack standing to seek injunctive relief. This Court agrees.

In order to establish standing, “first, the plaintiff must establish that he suffered an injury in fact, which is defined as an invasion of a legally-protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized, and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical. Second, there must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of. Finally, a plaintiff must show that it is likely that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (internal quotations and citations omitted); Schroedel v. New York Univ. Medical Ctr., 885 F.Supp. 594, 598 (S.D.N.Y.1995).

“In order to establish an injury in fact necessary to a claim for injunctive relief, the moving party must demonstrate that a defendant’s conduct is causing irreparable harm. This requirement cannot be met absent a showing of a real or immediate threat that the plaintiff will be wronged again.” Schroedel, 885 F.Supp. at 598. (citations omitted). “While past wrongs consist of evidence bearing on whether there is a real and immediate threat of repeated injury, past exposure to illegal conduct does not in itself show a present case or controversy regarding injunctive relief ...

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Bluebook (online)
246 F.R.D. 432, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80390, 2007 WL 3145076, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/romano-v-sls-residential-inc-nysd-2007.