Winfield v. Town of Andover

305 F. Supp. 3d 286
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedApril 4, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 17–11051–WGY
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 305 F. Supp. 3d 286 (Winfield v. Town of Andover) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winfield v. Town of Andover, 305 F. Supp. 3d 286 (D.D.C. 2018).

Opinion

YOUNG, D.J.

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Pro se plaintiffs Marie Winfield ("Ms. Winfield") and Robert Winfield ("Mr. Winfield") (collectively, the "Winfields") bring a civil rights suit against the Town of Andover ("Andover"), the executive assistant to the Andover Town Manager Wendy Adams ("Adams"), police officers Christopher Hughes ("Hughes"), Sobahn Namvar ("Namvar"), Steven Gerroir ("Gerroir"), Barry Dubois ("Dubois"), Derrek Deranian ("Deranian"), Chad Cooper ("Cooper"), and chief of police Patrick Keefe ("Keefe"); fire and rescue personnel Andrew Loonie ("Loonie"), Thomas Kennedy III ("Kennedy"), Brian Flanagan ("Flanagan"), and fire and rescue chief Michael Mansfield ("Mansfield") (collectively the "Town Officials" and with Andover, the "Andover Defendants"), and Richdale Convenience Store ("Richdale") for discriminatory treatment stemming from a number of incidents with the various defendants. Pls.' First Am. Compl. ("Am. Compl.") 1-5, ECF No. 16-1.

The Winfields initially filed their complaint on June 5, 2017. Compl., ECF No. 1. The Andover Defendants moved to dismiss the claims, Mot. Dismiss Pls.' Compl., ECF No. 7, and subsequently briefed the issues, Mem. Dismiss, ECF No. 8.

Upon hearing the motion to dismiss, the Court granted the motion. Order Mot. Dismiss Failure State Claim, ECF No. 13. Counts II, IV, X, and XI were dismissed with prejudice, and the other counts were dismissed without prejudice with leave for the Winfields to file a motion for leave to amend within 30 days. Id. The Winfields duly filed a motion for leave to file a proposed first amended complaint. Mot. Leave File First Am. Compl., ECF No. 16. The Andover Defendants opposed the motion, maintaining that the amended complaint failed to cure the deficiencies of the original complaint and was therefore futile. Defs.' Opp'n, ECF No. 18.

After denying the Winfields' request for notice of default against Richdale due to the lack of evidence of service upon Richdale, see ECF No. 24, the Court then reissued a summons as to Richdale, Summons, ECF No. 25, and the summons returned executed, Summons Ret., ECF No. 26. The Winfields again requested notice of *291default, and the Court entered default against Richdale on March 23, 2018. See ECF No. 27; ECF No. 31.

II. ANALYSIS

The Winfields' proposed first amended complaint includes twelve claims, most of which are asserted under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 : retaliation in violation of the First Amendment against the police officer defendants and Adams (count I), Am. Compl. ¶¶ 92-106; discrimination in public accommodations against Richdale (count III), id. ¶¶ 107-20; unreasonable seizure, unreasonable detention, false arrest and imprisonment of Ms. Winfield against the police officer defendants and the fire and rescue personnel defendants (counts V and VI), id. at ¶¶ 121-37; unlawful arrest and false imprisonment of Mr. Winfield by the police officer defendants (counts VII and VIII), id. at ¶¶ 138-48; civil conspiracy in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by police officers and fire and rescue personnel (count IX), id. at ¶¶ 149-60; supervisory liability, reckless or callous indifference, and gross negligence against Keefe and Mansfield (count XII), id. at ¶¶ 161-73; a claim alleging local government liability against Andover asserted under Monell v. Department of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) (count XIII), id. at ¶¶ 174-186; excessive use of force by Keefe and Cooper under both section 1983 and the Massachusetts Civil Right Act ("MCRA") (counts XIV and XV), id. at ¶¶ 187-201; and a free standing MCRA claim1 (count XIV), id. at 70-71.

The Andover Defendants contend that (i) the Winfelds' motion for leave to amend was untimely because it was filed after the expiration of the thirty day period set by this Court, and (ii) because the proposed amended complaint "contains the same deficiencies as Plaintiffs' original complaint ...their Motion for Leave to File an Amended Compliant should be denied [as futile]." Defs.' Opp'n 2. They contest all but Count III, which the Winfields asserted (and won default judgment) solely against Richdale. See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 107-120; ECF No. 31.

A. Standard of Review

Leave to amend should be "freely give[n] ...when justice so requires." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) ; see also Edlow v. RBW, LLC, 688 F.3d 26, 39 (1st Cir. 2012). Courts, however, have discretion to deny leave to amend under "appropriate circumstances," such as "undue delay, bad faith, futility, and the absence of due diligence on the movant's part." Palmer v. Champion Mortg., 465 F.3d 24, 30 (1st Cir. 2006).

The Winfields do not contest that they filed their motion for leave to amend more than thirty days after this Court's order, but they allege that their motion was delayed due to Ms. Winfield's injury by Keefe and Cooper's assault that resulted in hospitalization. Pls.' Reply ¶ 2, ECF No. 19. The Court, in its discretion, will not deny the motion to leave to amend due to this delay because the reason may be "valid" and the delay of approximately one month is not "considerable." See Pérez v. Hospital Damas, Inc., 769 F.3d 800, 802 (1st Cir. 2014) (quoting In re Lombardo, 755 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 2014) ).

The issue here is whether the Winfields' amended claims are futile. In assessing futility, courts apply the same standard as a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Adorno v. Crowley Towing & Transp. Co., 443 F.3d 122, 126 (1st Cir. 2006). "[I]f the *292proposed amendment would be futile because, as thus amended, the complaint still fails to state a claim, the district court acts within its discretion in denying the motion to amend." Abraham v. Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., 553 F.3d 114, 117 (1st Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
305 F. Supp. 3d 286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winfield-v-town-of-andover-dcd-2018.