Wurzelbacher v. Jones-Kelley

• Decision Date: 04 August 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:09-cv-00162
• Parties: Samuel Joseph WURZELBACHER, Plaintiff, v. Helen JONES-KELLEY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

728 F.Supp.2d 928

Samuel Joseph WURZELBACHER, Plaintiff,

v.Helen JONES-KELLEY, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 2:09-cv-00162.

United States District Court,

S.D. Ohio,

Eastern Division.

Aug. 4, 2010.

David R. Langdon, Langdon Law LLC, Cincinnati, OH, James F. Peterson, Paul J. Orfanedes, Judicial Watch, Inc., Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

William C. Greene, Ohio Attorney General's Office, Rebecca L. Thomas, Peggy W. Corn, Ohio Attorney General, Anne Berry Strait, Court of Claims Defense, Columbus, OH, James David Gilbert, Dublin, OH, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

ALGENON L. MARBLEY, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Defendants', Helen Jones-Kelley, Doug Thompson, and Fred Williams ("Defendants"), Joint Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. (Dkt. 24.) Plaintiff, Samuel JosephWurzelbacher ("Plaintiff"), brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Defendants assert that Plaintiff has not adequately pled his claims, and, in the alternative, that Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. For the reasons stated below, Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is GRANTED.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is an individual and resident of the State of Ohio. He was trained as a plumber by the United States Air Force, and, until recently, was employed by a small plumbing business near Toledo, Ohio. Defendant Helen Jones-Kelley was the Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services ("ODJFS"). Defendant Fred Williams was the Assistant Director of ODJFS. Defendant Doug Thompson was the Deputy Director of Child Support within ODJFS.

On October 12, 2008, President Barack Obama, then Senator and presidential candidate, appeared on Plaintiff's street while campaigning. Plaintiff joined the crowd and asked several questions of President Obama related to the impact that the President's tax plan would have on Plaintiff's ability to purchase a small business. The questions posed by Plaintiff were recorded by the media, and replayed later on stations across the country. After his exchange with President Obama, Plaintiff received and accepted numerous requests from the media to speak about his views of the President, and, in those appearances, criticized President Obama's policies. During the third presidential debate, Senator John McCain referred to Plaintiff's questions, and referred to Plaintiff as "Joe the Plumber." After the debate, Plaintiff continued to appear in the national media.

At all times relevant to Plaintiff's claims, Defendants were the three highest-ranking officials at ODJFS. The ODJFS administers state programs including child support enforcement, the Temporary Aid to Needy Families ("TANF") cash assistance program, and unemployment compensation. As part of these programs, ODJFS maintains confidential databases including: the Support Enforcement Tracking System ("SETS") for child support enforcement; the Client Registry Information System Enhanced ("CRIS-E") for records under the TANF program; and the Ohio Job Insurance ("OJI") database, which contains unemployment benefit records. The Ohio Revised Code sections 5101.26 through 5101.30, and the Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 5101, section 1-1-03, govern the confidentiality and disclosure rules of these databases. Plaintiff alleges that ODJFS personnel are only permitted to access the databases to carry out official agency business, and that prior to being permitted to access the databases, ODJFS employees are trained in areas related to confidentiality, safeguarding guidelines, and security procedures.

Plaintiff alleges that on October 16, 2008, four days after Plaintiff's interaction with President Obama, Defendants had a meeting at which they discussed "Joe the Plumber." Defendant Jones-Kelley then authorized searches related to Plaintiff on the SETS, CRIS-E, and OJI databases. After the meeting, Defendant Thompson directed an agency employee to conduct an inquiry regarding Plaintiff in the SETS database, and Defendant Williams directed an agency employee to conduct a search related to Plaintiff in the CRIS-E database. The agency employee who searched the CRIS-E database then contacted another employee to search the OJI database. The Complaint alleges that all three searches took place on October 16, 2008, that these searches were not related toany official agency business, and that Defendants authorized and directed the searches for the purpose of retrieving information on Plaintiff because of Plaintiff's interaction with President Obama and his subsequent media appearances.

Defendants were supporters of President Obama's campaign, and Defendant Jones-Kelley donated to the President's campaign, was a fundraiser, and volunteered to arrange a campaign event for First Lady Michelle Obama.

Plaintiff alleges that after the Defendants authorized and conducted searches in the databases, the Office of the Ohio Inspector General ("OIG") conducted an investigation and found "no legitimate agency function or purpose for checking on [Plaintiff's] name through SETS, CRIS-E, and OJI or for authorizing those searches." (Compl. at 30.) The OIG allegedly specifically found that: Defendant Jones-Kelley's authorization was not appropriate and that she committed a wrongful act by authorizing the searches; Defendant Thompson instructed an agency employee to send an email to another agency official telling that official that the search was for an agency purpose; and that the email was an attempt to deceive as there was no agency purpose. Separately from the inquiry as to the search of Plaintiff's name, the OIG allegedly found that Defendant Jones-Kelley used state resources to engage in political activity for President Obama's campaign, and that those political activities were an inappropriate use of state resources. After the OIG report was issue, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland suspended Defendants from their positions. Allegedly, Defendant Jones-Kelley resigned her position prior to the end of her suspension, Defendant Williams resigned effective January 31, 2009, and Defendant Thompson was terminated from his position prior to the end of his suspension.

Plaintiff filed his Complaint on March 5, 2009. Defendants moved for Judgment on the Pleadings on November 19, 2009.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made "[a]fter the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). A motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c) attacks the sufficiency of the pleadings and is reviewed under the same standard applicable to a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). Ziegler v. IBP Hog Mkt., 249 F.3d 509, 511-12 (6th Cir.2001). "A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is a test of the plaintiff's cause of action as stated in the complaint, not a challenge to the plaintiff's factual allegations." Golden v. City of Columbus, 404 F.3d 950, 958-59 (6th Cir.2005). Consequently, the Court must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, accept all factual allegations as true, and make reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Total Benefits Planning Agency, Inc. v. Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 552 F.3d 430, 434 (6th Cir.2008); Murphy v. Sofamor Danek Gp., Inc., 123 F.3d 394, 400 (6th Cir.1997). The Court is not required, however, to accept as true mere legal conclusions unsupported by factual allegations. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, --- U.S. ----, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ( citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

Although liberal, the Rule 12(b)(6) standard requires more than the bare assertion of legal conclusions to survive a motion to dismiss. Allard v. Weitzman, 991 F.2d 1236, 1240 (6th Cir.1993) (citation omitted). The complaint must " 'give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is, and the grounds upon which it rests.' "Nader v. Blackwell, 545 F.3d 459, 470 (6th Cir.2008) (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 2200, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007)). While a complaint need not contain "detailed factual allegations," its "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 544, 127 S.Ct. at 1964. A complaint that suggests "the mere possibility of misconduct" is insufficient; rather, the complaint must state "a plausible claim for relief." Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950 ( citing Twombly, 550 U.S at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). A Rule 12(c) motion is granted only if there is an absence of law to support a claim of the type made or of facts sufficient to make a valid claim, or if on the face of the complaint there is an insurmountable bar to relief indicating that the plaintiff does not have a claim. Cmty. Mental Health Serv. v. Mental Health & Recovery Bd., 395 F.Supp.2d 644, 649 (S.D.Ohio 2004). Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, "a copy of a written instrument that is an exhibit to a pleading is a part of the pleading for all purposes." Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(c); Sensations, Inc. v. City of Grand Rapids, 526 F.3d 291, 296 (6th Cir.2008).

IV. LAW AND ANALYSIS

In order to establish a prima facie case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the statute under which Mr. Wurzelbacher brings his claims, "a plaintiff must prove the following elements: (1) the defendant must be acting under color of state law, and (2) the offending conduct must deprive plaintiff of rights secured by federal law." Bloch v. Ribar, 156 F.3d 673, 677 (6th Cir.1998).

In this case, the Defendants were acting under the color of state law in their capacities as state government employees of the ODJFS; accordingly, the first element is met. As to the second element, Plaintiff alleges that his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when the Defendants conducted a search of his name in various databases under the...