Teno v. Iwanski

382 F. Supp. 3d 803
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedMarch 29, 2019
DocketNo. 3:18-CV-159
StatusPublished

This text of 382 F. Supp. 3d 803 (Teno v. Iwanski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teno v. Iwanski, 382 F. Supp. 3d 803 (E.D. Tenn. 2019).

Opinion

CURTIS L. COLLIER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*806Before the Court are motions to dismiss by Defendants Steve Mead, Leslie Mead, and Steve Emert (Docs. 29, 39) and by Defendant Myron Iwanski (Doc. 37). Plaintiff, Doyle Thornton Teno, III, responded in opposition. (Doc. 45.) The Meads and Iwanski both filed replies. (Docs. 46, 47.) By leave of Court, Plaintiff filed a sur-reply to Iwanski's reply. (Doc. 51.)

I. BACKGROUND 1

Plaintiff and three of the four Defendants in this case hold positions with Anderson County, Tennessee. Plaintiff is the Delinquent Tax Attorney and Deputy Trustee for Anderson County. Iwanski is the Trustee of Anderson County, in which capacity he supervises Plaintiff's duties as Deputy Trustee. Iwanski is also the Chairman of the Anderson County Finance Committee, which is responsible for the office in which Plaintiff's Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Form W-2 is kept. Emert and Steve Mead are both members of the Anderson County Board of Commissioners. The fourth Defendant, Leslie Mead, holds no position with Anderson County but is married to Steve Mead.

Emert ran against incumbent Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank in the May 1, 2018, mayoral primary election. Iwanski and the Meads supported Emert's candidacy. (Doc. 27 ¶¶ 15, 16, 37.)

Sometime before April 5, 2018, Iwanski got a copy of Plaintiff's IRS Form W-2 from the Anderson County Finance Department and a copy of Plaintiff's IRS Form 1099 from the Anderson County Clerk and Master's Office. The people who gave him the documents said that Iwanski was the only person to have asked for and gotten these documents.

On April 8, 2018, the Meads were distributing campaign material supporting Emert at a campaign event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Included in those materials was an eleven-page, fifty-three-paragraph document titled "Things You Need to Know About [Mayor] Terry Frank" (the "Campaign Document"). Paragraph 25 of the Campaign Document discusses Plaintiff's IRS Form 1099, his IRS Form W-2, and his compensation:

New Delinquent Tax attorney [Plaintiff Teno] has used a full-time county job with county benefits and other full-time county employees to do this work that he gets paid for independently by the Clerk and Master. (see 1099s to Doyle Teno) Before Myron Iwanski was appointed Trustee, Mr. Teno was the highest paid county worker by the hour. Unfortunately, no one really knew how many hours he worked since he mostly worked at home and had the Trustee's staff do his work and mailings. 1099 for last year was $ 120,000 (from Clerk and Master) & also got W-2 for about $ 40-50,000 and received full county benefits. And now he is demanding 10% commission on collected late taxes instead of the commission-approved 1%. He also refuses to turn over any of the Title Reviews he has charged for ... and wants them automatically assessed *807and charged before they are ever done to everyone paying late taxes.

(Doc. 27 ¶ 26 (emphasis added; errors in original) (quoting Campaign Doc. ¶ 25).) Plaintiff alleges the foregoing paragraph implies that Plaintiff's Forms 1099 and W-2 were attached to the Campaign Document. (Id. ¶ 25.) Plaintiff alleges the Meads and Emert were "acting as agents of Defendant Iwanski" when they "obtained, inspected, disclosed and used Plaintiff's confidential Tax Return and Return Information," including his W-2 and 1099. (Id. ¶ 31.)

The Meads continued to distribute the Campaign Document after April 8. Emert used excerpts of the Campaign Document in his campaign materials.

Plaintiff filed this action against Defendants on April 23, 2018. (Doc. 1.) In his Second Amended Complaint (the "Complaint"), he asserts causes of action against Defendants for (1) inspecting and disclosing his confidential tax information in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 6103 and 7431, and (2) invasion of privacy and unreasonable intrusion into private affairs under Tennessee common law. (Doc. 27 ¶¶ 36-42.)

The Meads filed a motion to dismiss (Doc. 29) and a memorandum in support (Doc. 30). Emert sought and obtained leave of Court to join the Meads' motion. (Docs. 36, 39.) Iwanski filed a separate motion to dismiss relying on the grounds set out in the Meads' motion and memorandum. (Doc. 37). Plaintiff responded in opposition to both motions. (Doc. 45.) The Meads filed a reply. (Doc. 46.) Iwanski also filed a reply (Doc. 47), to which Plaintiff filed a sur-reply (Doc. 51) by leave of Court (Doc. 49).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party may move to dismiss a claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In ruling on such a motion, a court must accept all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Gunasekera v. Irwin , 551 F.3d 461, 466 (6th Cir. 2009) (quoting Hill v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mich. , 409 F.3d 710, 716 (6th Cir. 2005) ). The court is not, however, bound to accept as true bare assertions of legal conclusions. Papasan v. Allain , 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986).

In deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a court must determine whether the complaint contains "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Although a complaint need only contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief," Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662

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Bluebook (online)
382 F. Supp. 3d 803, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teno-v-iwanski-tned-2019.