Warner v. Boroff

921 F. Supp. 2d 513, 2013 WL 433105, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13922
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedFebruary 1, 2013
DocketCivil Action Nos. 1:10cv54, 1:10CV55
StatusPublished

This text of 921 F. Supp. 2d 513 (Warner v. Boroff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Warner v. Boroff, 921 F. Supp. 2d 513, 2013 WL 433105, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13922 (N.D.W. Va. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DKT NO. 105]

IRENE M. KEELEY, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is the defendants’ motion for summary judgment (dkt. [515]*515no. 105) as to the individual plaintiffs’ claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress (“outrage”) against the individual defendants. For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS the defendants’ motion and DISMISSES the plaintiffs’ claims WITH PREJUDICE.

I. Procedural Background

On March 3, 2010, the plaintiffs, Kristian, Benjamin, Andrew, and Monroe Warner (“the Warners”), McCoy 6 Apartments, LLC (“McCoy 6”), and Augusta, LLC (“Augusta”), filed an adversary complaint in bankruptcy proceedings involving the debtors, McCoy 6 and Augusta, alleging ten causes of action against the City of Morgantown (“the City”) and nine individual city officials. The Bankruptcy Court transferred the adversary complaint to this Court on April 5, 2010. Thereafter, on March 29, 2011, the defendants moved to dismiss all counts in the complaint. After due consideration of the issues raised in the defendants’ motion, the Court dismissed Counts One (substantive due process), Four (abuse of process), Five (procedural due process), Seven (negligence), and Nine (negligent misrepresentation) against all the defendants, and dismissed the claims of outrage of McCoy 6 and Augusta against the defendants in Count Eight. (Dkt. No. 39). However, it allowed the Warners’ claims of outrage in that count to survive as to the individual defendants. It also dismissed the Warners’ claims of equal protection and inverse condemnation in Counts Two and Six, but allowed the claims of Mcoy 6 in that regard to remain.

On September 24, 2012, the defendants moved for summary judgment as to these remaining claims. (Dkt. No. 105). On October 29, 2012, the Court orally dismissed the individual Warners’ claim of outrage against the City. (Dkt. No. 154). See W. Va.Code § 29-12A-4; Poe v. Town of Gilbert, No. 2:ll-CV-00645, 2012 WL 3853200, *8 (S.D.W.Va. Sept. 5, 2012) (“Political subdivisions are not, however, liable for intentional malfeasance on the part of their employees.”).1 On December 14, 2012, during oral argument on the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of the claims of McCoy 6 in Counts Two and Six. (Dkt. No. 164). Thus, the only surviving claim in this case is the Warners’ claim of outrage against each of the individual defendants, to which the Court now turns.

II. Factual Background

This action arises from a series of building and fire code enforcement actions taken by the City and certain of its employees against the Warners in their roles as member-managers of McCoy 6 and Augusta.

The Warners were the sole members of McCoy 6, which had been in the business of renting houses and apartments to students of West Virginia University (“WVU”) in Morgantown, West Virginia since 1979. Complaint at ¶25, 27. In 1994, McCoy 6 constructed Mountaineer Court, a 32-unit student-housing complex. In 2007, Augusta, which also was solely owned by the Warners, constructed The Augusta, a 158-unit student-housing complex. Complaint at ¶ 26, 27.

A.

The Warners contend that their problems with the City and the individual defendants arose during the construction of The Augusta. They maintain that City officials were unprepared to deal with a project of The Augusta’s size, and that their inexperience prolonged construction of the building by nearly two months, from [516]*516June until August, 2007. (Complaint at ¶ 30; Dkt. No. 112 at 4; Dkt. No. 105-2 at 7; Dkt. No. 114 at 5-6).

Further complicating matters, Chief Fire Marshal Max Humphries (“Humphries”), who had reviewed and approved plans for The Augusta (dkt. no. 114 at 7), retired in December 2006, just as construction on that project got underway. (Complaint at ¶ 31). The complaint alleges that Humphries’ replacement, defendant Chief Fire Marshal Kenneth Tennant (“Tennant”), together with defendant Fire Chief David Fetty (“Fetty”) and other city fire and building code enforcement officials, used Humphries’ retirement as an opportunity to launch a retaliatory campaign against the Warners, including a demand for last minute changes that delayed the opening of The Augusta past the first day of WVU’s fall semester. (Dkt. No. 114 at 6).

While. Andrew Warner described the delays as part of “some beef’ on the part of Fetty and defendant City Engineer Terry Hough (“Hough”), he identified no motivation for that animosity beyond a general practice by the City to “squeeze landlords.” (Dkt. No. 114 at 4, 6). Moreover, the Warners do not allege that any of the changes and additions required by City officials were illegal. In his deposition, William Graham (“Graham”), a former member of the City Fire Department, recalled Tennant’s statement to fire officials that The Augusta violated applicable fire codes, and should be vacated and demolished. (Dkt. No. 119 at 3). Despite Tennant’s opinion, The Augusta opened in time for the start of the 2007 fall semester at WVU. The Warners, however, incurred unforeseen costs due to the delayed opening and their obligation to provide alternative housing for tenants whose leases permitted them to move into The Augusta before the semester began. (Dkt. No. 112 at 5).

B.

The Warners allege that their timely completion of The Augusta angered and embarrassed the individual defendants, who then formed a plan to retaliate against the Warners individually, through their limited liability company, McCoy 6, and its holdings, particularly Mountaineer Court. (Complaint at ¶ 37). They allege the individual defendants abused their discretion in the enforcement of building and fire codes in a coordinated and concerted effort to deprive them of Mountaineer Court, and, ultimately, to drive them into bankruptcy. Id. According to the Warners, this plan of retaliation commenced in February and March of 2008, when Building Code Enforcement Officers, defendant Tye Poling (“Poling”) and Kathy Stiles (“Stiles”) (who is not a party to this suit) conducted a series of three inspections of Mountaineer Court that disclosed several building code violations. (Dkt. No. 105-2 at 21, 30-32).

Although the Warners corrected the violations cited in the February 28 and March 11, 2008 reports of Poling and Stiles, they did not correct the violations cited in the March 12, 2008 report.2 (Dkt. No. 105-2 at 21, 30-32). Furthermore, on June 17, 2008, another building code enforcement officer, Bonita Forbes (“Forbes”) (who is not a party to this litigation) inspected Mountaineer Court again and issued a citation for additional building code violations, including rotted wooden components of the building’s exterior walkways. (Dkt. No. 105-2 at 34). The citations issued by Poling, Stiles, and Forbes in February, [517]*517March, and June advised McCoy 6 that it had twenty (20) days to correct or appeal the violations. (Dkt. No. 105-2 at 30-32, 34). The Warners, however, never appealed any of the citations.

On December 8, 2008, while work was continuing on the walkway violations Forbes had cited in June, Building Code Enforcement Officers, defendant David Friend (“Friend”) and Richard Powell (“Powell”) (not a party to this litigation), issued a stop-work order for renovations to the walkways.

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Bluebook (online)
921 F. Supp. 2d 513, 2013 WL 433105, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13922, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warner-v-boroff-wvnd-2013.