Soos v. Niagara County

195 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86188, 2016 WL 3659139
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedJuly 1, 2016
Docket1:15-CV-00870 EAW
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 195 F. Supp. 3d 458 (Soos v. Niagara County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Soos v. Niagara County, 195 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86188, 2016 WL 3659139 (W.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

ELIZABETH A. WOLFORD, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Larry Soos (“Plaintiff’) attempts to bring a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against his former employer, the Niagara County Board of Elections (the “Board”); two former commissioners of the Board, Nancy Smith and Mary Ann Casamento; Niagara County; the Niagara County Democratic Committee (the “Committee”); and Nicholas Forester, the Committee’s current chair .(collectively “Defendants”) for violating his First Amendment right to free speech. Plaintiff has failed in a number of ways to effect proper service. The summonses served were not only untimely, but also were deficient in content. Additionally, one Defendant, Nancy Smith, has yet to be served at all, properly or improperly. Citing the above flaws, Defendants Niagara County, the Board, Nancy Smith and Mary Ann Casamento (“Moving -Defendants”) have moved to dismiss the action. The Court, in its discretion, denies the motion to dismiss and grants Plaintiff an additional thirty (30) days to effect proper service upon Defendants for the reasons set forth below.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On September 30, 2015, just .two days before the statute of limitations was set to expire, Plaintiff filed his complaint alleging a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, occurring on October 2, 2012, against Defendants. (Dkt. 1). -

Plaintiff did not file proof of service with the Court, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(i)(l) and Local Rule of Civil Procedure 4, until he filed his response to the instant motion, attaching the proof of service affidavits as exhibits. (Dkt. 11-2 through 11-6). Plaintiffs proof of service indicates that Defendants Niagara County and the Board were served on February 2, 2016. (Dkt. 11-5; Dkt. 11-6). Moving Defendants’ exhibits to their motion to dismiss corroborate that date. (Dkt. 3-1 at ¶ 7; Dkt. 3-2; Dkt. 3-3). Plaintiffs affidavits further represent that Mary Ann Casamento was also served on February 2, 2016 (Dkt. 11-3), though Defendants indicate that, upon information and belief, service on Casamento occurred on February 3, 2016. (Dkt. 3-1 at ¶8; Dkt. 3-4). Service on Niagara County and the Board, thus, occurred 125 days after Plaintiff filed his complaint, and service on Casamento occurred at most 126 days after Plaintiff filed his complaint. All three of the above summonses were served without the Clerk of the Court’s signature, and without the Court’s seal, as required by Federal Rule [462]*462of Civil Procedure 4(a)(l)(F)-(G). (Dkt. 3-2 through 3-4). The parties do not dispute that Nancy Smith has not yet been served. (Dkt. 3-1 at ¶ 9; Dkt. 3-5 at 3; Dkt. 11 at ¶ 6; Dkt. 11-1 at 5).

On February 23, 2016, Moving Defendants filed the instant motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, insufficient process, and insufficient service of process pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), 12(b)(4), and 12(b)(5). (Dkt. 3; Dkt. 3-5).

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

A. Rule 12(b)(2)—Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

“The requirement that a court have personal jurisdiction flows not from Art. Ill, but from the Due Process Clause. ... It represents a restriction on judicial power not as a matter of sovereignty, but as a matter of individual liberty.” Ins. Corp. of Ir., Ltd. v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 702, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982). “Before a federal court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant, the procedural requirement of service of summons must be satisfied. ‘[Sjervice of summons is the procedure by which a court having venue and jurisdiction of the subject matter of the suit asserts jurisdiction over the person of the party served,’” Omni Capital Int'l Ltd. v. Rudolf Wolff & Co., Ltd., 484 U.S. 97,104,108 S.Ct. 404, 98 L.Ed.2d 415 (quoting Miss. Publ’g Corp. v. Murphree, 326 U.S. 438, 444-45, 66 S.Ct. 242, 90 L.Ed. 185 (1946)), superseded by statute on other grounds, Futures Trading Practices Act of 1992 § 211, Pub. L. No. 102-546, 106 Stat. 3590 (1992). “On a Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the court has jurisdiction over the defendant.” In re Magnetic Audiotape Antitrust Lit, 334 F.3d 204, 206 (2d Cir.2003). “Prior to discovery, a plaintiff may survive a Rule 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss by pleading in good faith legally sufficient allegations of jurisdiction.” DiFillippo v. Special Metals Corp., 299 F.R.D. 348, 352 (N.D.N.Y.2014) (citing Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Robertson-Ceco Corp., 84 F.3d 560, 566 (2d Cir.1996)). “That is, where a court relies only upon the pleadings and supporting affidavits, a plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction over a defendant.” Id. (citing CutCo Indus., Inc. v. Naughton, 806 F.2d 361, 364 (2d Cir.1986)).

B. Rule 12(b)(4) & (5)—Insufficient Process and Insufficient Service of Process

“Objections to sufficiency of process under Fed, R. Civ. P. 12(b)(4) must identify substantive deficiencies in the summons, complaint or accompanying documentation.” DiFiilippo, 299 F.R.D. at 352-53 (citation omitted). “[A] Rule 12(b)(4) motion is proper only to challenge noncompliance with the provisions of Rule 4(b)1 or any applicable provision incorporated by Rule 4(b) that deals specifically with the content of the summons.” Jackson v. City of N.Y., No. 14-CV-5755 (GBD)(KNF), 2015 WL 4470004, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. June 26, 2015) (quoting 5B Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1353 (3d ed. 2004)).

[463]*463“A Rule 12(b)(5) motion is the proper vehicle for challenging the mode of delivery or lack of delivery of the summons and complaint.” Id. (quoting Wright & Miller, supra, § 1353). “[I]n considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to 12(b)(5) for insufficiency of process, a Court must look to matters outside the complaint to determine whether it has jurisdiction.” Darden v. DaimlerChrysler N. Am. Holding Corp., 191 F.Supp.2d 382, 387 (S.D.N.Y.2002). “When a defendant raises a Rule 12(b)(5) ‘challenge to the sufficiency of service of process, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving its adequacy.’” Mende v. Milestone Tech., Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
195 F. Supp. 3d 458, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86188, 2016 WL 3659139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/soos-v-niagara-county-nywd-2016.