Simpson v. Ferry

202 F. Supp. 3d 444, 2016 WL 4247546, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106069
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 10, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION No. 14-166
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 202 F. Supp. 3d 444 (Simpson v. Ferry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simpson v. Ferry, 202 F. Supp. 3d 444, 2016 WL 4247546, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106069 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Goldberg, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Eric Simpson, alleges that following a foot chase, his civil rights were violated when several officers from the Philadelphia Police Department (“PPD”) used excessive force. Plaintiff has filed various federal and state law claims against these officers, and further seeks to impose municipal liability upon the City of Philadelphia (the “City”) pursuant to Monell v. Department of Social Services of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Before me is the City’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Monell claim. For the reasons that follow, the City’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part such that the claims alleging an unlawful custom and a failure to train may both proceed.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are derived from the Second Amended Complaint and'the exhibits attached thereto, and will be viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. Schmidt v. Skolas, 770 F.3d 241, 249 (3d Cir.2014).

Plaintiff alleges that on the evening of July 17, 2012, Defendant Officers Chris X. Lai and John F. O’Connor observed him at 18th and Federal Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began walking toward him. Plaintiff claims to have experienced numerous encounters with Philadelphia police officers, and that “Defendant Lai, in particular, had a habit of stopping Plaintiff and slamming him against walls and aggressively grabbing him dating back to 2006.” In February 2011, Defendant Lai allegedly “hit Plaintiff in the head with a flashlight during a stop.” This history of being unjustly targeted and antagonized by the police has caused Plaintiff to flee from police for fear of being harassed. As such, Plaintiff fled from Officers Lai and O’Connor when they approached him on July 17, 2012. (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 16-21, 26-28.)

As Officers Lai and O’Connor began chasing Plaintiff, two other officers, Defendants Michael Ferry and John C. Landis, also gave pursuit. The officers eventually caught up to Plaintiff in an alleyway, and instructed him to place his hands behind his back. Plaintiff complied, but once Officer Lai had secured one of Plaintiffs hands, Lai allegedly slammed Plaintiff against a wall and “violently threw [him] to the ground.” Officer Ferry then allegedly restrained Plaintiff while the other officers “repeatedly kicked and punched him” in the head and stomach. Plaintiff claims to have momentarily lost consciousness during the beating, and states he was subsequently placed in a patrol car while bleeding from his head and torso, and “spitting blood.” An unnamed superior officer is alleged to have observed Plaintiffs condition, and directed Defendant Lai to immediately take Plaintiff to the hospital. Plaintiff claims that he suffered grievous, long-lasting injuries in addition to mental and emotional distress as a result of this incident. (Id. at ¶¶ 22-37.)

Plaintiff has brought claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth Amendment against the individual Defendant officers. He has also filed related state law claims for assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Id. at ¶¶ 55-64, 78-100.)

Additionally, Plaintiff has brought a claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City under the United States Supreme Court’s Monell decision. (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 65-77.) Plaintiff asserts that (1) the [448]*448PPD has a policy or custom of allowing and acquiescing in its officers’ use of excessive force, and (2) the PPD has failed to properly train, supervise, and discipline its officers with respect to excessive force. (Id. at ¶¶ 4, 42, 45-48, 51-52, 65-77.)

On June 10, 2015, I granted the City’s first motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Monell claim, but allowed Plaintiff leave to amend in order to “make reference to any policymaker, whether by name, title or otherwise, that was aware of the alleged excessive use of force and acquiesced to it.” (See Doc. No. 30, p. 5 ¶10.) This Order also instructed Plaintiff to include available factual support to further place the City on notice of the contours of his Monell claim. (Id. at 5 n.4.) Plaintiff complied with these instructions, naming former Mayor Michael Nutter (“Nutter”) and former Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey (“Ramsey”) as policymakers.1 (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 67-75.) Plaintiff also attached to his Second Amended Complaint multiple exhibits: a news article which cites statistics regarding the number of misconduct complaints filed against the Philadelphia Police Department; a Department of Justice report (“DOJ Report”)2 evaluating the PPD’s use of deadly force; and, other news articles written after the DOJ Report was issued in March 2015 summarizing the DOJ Report’s findings. (See 2d Am. Compl., Exs. A, B, C, D, E.)

The Defendant Officers have not challenged Plaintiffs ability to state claims for excessive force or his related state law claims. The City, however, has again separately moved to dismiss Plaintiffs Monell claim (Count II) for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

To survive a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a complaint must “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). The plausibility standard requires more than a “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. While it “does not impose a probability requirement at the pleading stage,” plausibility does require “enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of the necessary elements of a claim.” Phillips v. Cty. of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 234 (3d Cir.2008).

To determine the sufficiency of a complaint under Twombly and Iqbal, the Court must take the following three steps: (1) the Court must “tak[e] note of the elements a plaintiff must plead to state a claim;” (2) the court should identify the allegations that, “because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth;” and (3) “where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement for relief.” Burtch v. Milberg Factors, Inc., 662 F.3d 212, 221 (3d Cir.2011) (citations omitted).

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202 F. Supp. 3d 444, 2016 WL 4247546, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106069, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simpson-v-ferry-paed-2016.