Stewart v. Fleming

838 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2012 WL 826894, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33143
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedMarch 13, 2012
DocketNo. 2:11-CV-396-DBH
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 838 F. Supp. 2d 1 (Stewart v. Fleming) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart v. Fleming, 838 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2012 WL 826894, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33143 (D. Me. 2012).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS

D. BROCK HORNBY, District Judge.

Mary Stewart originally filed a complaint in the Maine Superior Court against the Maine State Police and Troopers Bureau and Mills. In it, she alleged that they violated her state and federal constitutional rights during a June 2009 arrest and detention. The defendants removed the case here. Stewart then amended her complaint to assert that Patrick J. Fleming, chief of the Maine State Police, also was liable for some of the 2009 violations of her rights.1 Chief Fleming moved to [2]*2dismiss the amended complaint against him on the basis that Stewart failed to state a claim for supervisory liability. Def. Fleming’s Mot. to Dismiss (Docket Item 17). I Grant Fleming’s motion to dismiss because the amended complaint does not provide any legal basis or factual claim for relief against him.

Legal Standard

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), I accept the allegations of the complaint as true, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. See Albright v. Oliver; 510 U.S. 266, 268, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994); Coyne v. City of Somerville, 972 F.2d 440, 443 (1st Cir.1992). But to survive dismissal for failure to state a claim, a claim must contain more than “naked assertions,” “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). That is, “[tjhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Furthermore, a claim upon which the court can grant relief must have facial plausibility. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.

Analysis

Stewart seeks to hold Chief Fleming liable solely in his capacity as a supervisor. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 37(e), 51 (Fleming “is liable in a supervisory capacity”). Her legal argument in its entirety is as follows:

SUPERVISORY LIABILITY:
Supervisory liability can be grounded on either the supervisor’s direct participation in the unconstitutional conduct, or through conduct that amounts to con-donation or tacit authorization. See Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez, 23 F.3d 576, 581 (1st Cir.1994). There must be an affirmative link between the action or inaction of the supervisor and the behavior of the subordinate. Maldonado, et al. v. Fontanes, 568 F.3d 263, 274 (1st Cir.2009).
Plaintiffs Amended Complaint adequately alleges Fleming’s Supervisory liability, arising from condonation or tacit authorization of specific acts of Bureau and Mills, which resulted in plaintiffs injuries. Both notice and grounds (as required by Twombly) are found in the paragraphs below:
27. Defendant Fleming had knowledge or, had he diligently exercised his duties to instruct, supervise, control, and discipline on a continuing basis, should have had knowledge that the wrongs conspired to be done, as heretofore alleged, were about to be committed [by] Defendants Bureau and Mills and had power to prevent or aid in preventing the commission of said wrongs, and could have done so by reasonable diligence, but knowingly, recklessly, or with gross negligence failed or refused to do so.
28. Defendant Fleming directly or indirectly, under color of law, approved or ratified the conduct of Bureau and Mills, which was unlawful, deliberate, malicious, reckless, and wanton as heretofore described.
[3]*3The specific factual context of Bureau and Mills’ activities are also provided in the Amended Complaint and tightly circumscribed by time, manner, and place, over the course of an approximate two week period with specific allegations as to the acts and omissions of Bureau and Mills and the resulting injury to Plaintiff. These allegations are neither vague nor are they mere threadbare recitals of the elements needed to state claims for relief. Moreover, the causal connection between Fleming’s condonation or tacit authorization of Bureau’s Mills’ acts, and plaintiffs harm is directly alleged, as is the appropriate level of intent. Plaintiff may not yet have set forth facts sufficient to prevail on her claims against Fleming, but because much of the evidence supporting the claims (and factual the allegations therein) was/is in Defendants’ possession to begin with, discovery, which is ongoing, is necessary to determine how strong the claims may be for trial purposes. Sufficiency of fact is different than the standard for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). To survive the motion, plaintiff must merely is cross the line from conceivable to plausible, as far as facts alleged are concerned. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570 [127 S.Ct. 1955]. Plaintiffs Amended Complaint does so.
Accordingly, this court should deny Defendant Fleming’s Motion to Dismiss.

Pl.’s Opp’n to Def. Fleming’s Mot. to Dismiss at 2-3 (footnotes omitted) (Docket Item 23). In a footnote Stewart adds: “Plaintiff agrees with Defendant that the factual allegation in paragraph 27 does not support any claim against Fleming for which Plaintiff can recover.” Id. at n. 3. Stewart also does not rely upon her Amended Complaint ¶ 29 alleging negligent training of Troopers Bureau and Mills by Chief Fleming.

Federal Constitutional Claims

“[Supervisory liability cannot be predicated on a respondeat superior theory. Supervisors may only be held liable under § 1983 on the basis of their own acts or omissions.” Whitfield v. Melendez-Rivera, 431 F.3d 1, 14 (1st Cir.2005) (internal citation omitted). Accordingly, as the First Circuit has explained:

[i]n the context of Section 1983 actions, supervisory liability typically arises in one of two ways: either the supervisor may be a “primary violator or direct participant in the rights-violating incident,” or liability may attach “if a responsible official supervises, trains, or hires a subordinate with deliberate indifference toward the possibility that deficient performance of the task eventually may contribute to a civil rights deprivation.”

Sanchez v. Pereira-Castillo, 590 F.3d 31, 49 (1st Cir.2009) (quoting Camilo-Robles v. Zapata,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
838 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2012 WL 826894, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-fleming-med-2012.