Wilson v. City of Norwich

507 F. Supp. 2d 199, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65352, 2007 WL 2566258
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 5, 2007
DocketCivil Action 3:02-CV-1026(CFD)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 507 F. Supp. 2d 199 (Wilson v. City of Norwich) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. City of Norwich, 507 F. Supp. 2d 199, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65352, 2007 WL 2566258 (D. Conn. 2007).

Opinion

RULING ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY, District Judge.

In June 2002, Melanie Wilson commenced an action in the Connecticut Superior Court against defendants Louis T. Fusaro (the Chief of the Norwich Police Department), the City of Norwich (“Norwich”), and James F. Daigle, Jr., a former Norwich police officer. Norwich and Fu-saro subsequently filed a notice to remove the case to this court.

Wilson’s claims stem from two incidents: First, in September of 2000, Daigle allegedly took nude photographs of Wilson during an underage alcohol “sting” operation. In a second incident in December of 2000, Daigle allegedly took semi-nude photographs of Wilson for the supposed purpose of participating in a child pornography “sting”. Counts One through Fourteen, Thirty-Five and Thirty-Six are directed to the co-defendant, James F. Daigle. Those claims are not at issue here.

Counts Fifteen through Thirty-Four and Thirty-Seven are brought against Chief Louis T. Fusaro and the City of Norwich. In Counts Fifteen and Sixteen, Wilson alleges that the respective parties are liable for negligent supervision under Connecticut law, concerning Daigle’s conduct during the alcohol “sting” investigation. Counts Seventeen and Eighteen allege violations of Conn. Gen.Stat. § 46a-58. 1 Counts Nineteen and Twenty allege violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Finally, Counts Twenty-One through Thirty-Four and Thirty-Seven all allege that the City is responsible for indemnifying Wilson for Daigle’s acts. Chief Fusaro and the City of -Norwich have filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking to dismiss those counts. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

In September of 2000, Daigle was a Norwich police officer with the rank of sergeant. He was responsible for implementing Norwich’s underage alcohol sales program. This “sting” program used underage volunteer operatives who attempted to buy alcohol either while wearing concealed recording devices or accompanied by undercover Connecticut Department of Liquor Control officers. As part of the operation, the operatives were to be photographed as they appeared during the investigation, apparently to demonstrate that the Department had not selected underage operatives who appeared to be much older than their true ages. Over the course of 2000 and 2001, Daigle recruited three young women to serve as volunteer operatives. He convinced each of them that, in addition to clothed photographs, the program also required nude or partially nude photographs. These young women were Melanie Wilson, Kirsten Ejchorszt, and Theresa Earl. 2

*204 In September of 2000, Wilson, who was an acquaintance of James Daigle, volunteered to participate in the underage alcohol “sting” operation. Wilson was eighteen years old at that time. On September 15, 2000, the day of the first sting, Daigle came to Wilson’s home to pick her up. Daigle brought with him a department-issued digital camera. Daigle told Wilson that he needed to take photographs of her without any clothing on in order to show that she was not wearing a “wire” or tape recorder. Daigle assured Wilson that taking such photographs was standard police procedure. Wilson believed that the photographs were necessary and allowed Daigle to take fully nude photographs of her front and back.

After taking the photographs, Wilson accompanied Daigle to the police station. There, Daigle took additional clothed photographs of Wilson using the same camera. Then, Daigle took Wilson on the sting operation to local package stores and bars.

Around October of 2000, Daigle again approached Wilson about her potential participation in a police operation. This time Daigle asked if she would be willing to pose for nude pictures in order to aid a purported child pornography investigation. Wilson at first refused, but later decided that she would be willing to pose for topless photographs in order to aid the purported investigation.

In December of 2000, Daigle brought Wilson to his house, where he took pictures of Wilson naked from the waist up. Daigle took 17 photographs of Wilson in various positions. There was no child pornography investigation authorized by the Norwich Police Department.

On December 8, 2001, Ejchorszt filed a complaint about Daigle with Chief Fusaro. Deputy Chief Warren Mocek was assigned to investigate the complaint. Around this time, Daigle called Wilson and told her that he was not to have taken the nude or partially nude photographs of her, and that he had done so as the result of an honest error. Wilson agreed not to report the photographs.

During the investigation, Mocek contacted Wilson because of her role in the September 2000 sting operation. Mocek asked Wilson whether anything unusual had occurred and whether any pictures had been taken. Wilson denied that anything inappropriate had happened and that any pictures had been taken.

After reading news accounts of the incident involving Ejchorszt, Wilson again spoke to Daigle. According to Wilson, Daigle again indicated that the photographs “were not necessarily outside of protocol, but were ‘unneeded,’ because different situations were handled differently,” and claimed that he had never taken inappropriate photographs of Ejchorszt.

As a result of publicity about the investigation, Earl came forward with allegations that Daigle had taken similar nude and semi-nude photographs of her with the pretext that they were needed for legitimate police purposes. After learning about the incident involving Earl, Wilson decided to report the photographs that Daigle had taken of her to Deputy Chief Mocek.

Following Mocek’s six-month long investigation, Daigle was terminated from the Norwich Police Department for, among other things, conduct unbecoming an officer, violation of the department’s strip *205 search policy, failure to conform to the police code and canon of ethics, inappropriate use of his official position, neglect of duty, incompetence, and poor judgment.

In 1987 and 1998, Daigle had taken consensual nude and partially nude photographs of two female civilian employees of the Norwich Police Department and shared these photographs with other members of the Norwich Police Department. Sometime before the incidents in this case, Fusaro became aware of Daigle’s photographs of one of the employees during an investigation of another police officer, but he had never seen those photographs. 3

Daigle had received training on conducting strip searches of female prisoners, and had received sexual harassment training. Prior to September 2000, he had also received training on conducting alcohol sting operations, but received no particularized training on working with underage volunteers.

II. Summary Judgment Standard

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Bluebook (online)
507 F. Supp. 2d 199, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65352, 2007 WL 2566258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-city-of-norwich-ctd-2007.