Haas v. Burlington Cnty.

• Decision Date: 30 June 2013
• Docket Number: 10–009 (NLH/JS).,Civil Nos. 08–1102
• Citation: 955 F.Supp.2d 334
• Parties: Tammy Marie HAAS, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals, Plaintiff, v. BURLINGTON COUNTY, Defendant. Conrad Szczpaniak, Plaintiff, v. Burlington County, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

955 F.Supp.2d 334

Tammy Marie HAAS, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals, Plaintiff,

v.BURLINGTON COUNTY, Defendant.

Conrad Szczpaniak, Plaintiff,

v.Burlington County, et al., Defendants.

Civil Nos. 08–1102, 10–009 (NLH/JS).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

June 30, 2013.

Carl D. Poplar, Esq., Cherry Hill, NJ, Seth R. Lesser, Esq., Klafter Olsen & Lesser, LLP, Rye Brook, NY, William A. Riback, Esq., William Riback, LLC, Haddonfield, NY, for Plaintiffs Tammy Marie Haas and Conrad Szczpaniak.

Fran L. Rudich, Esq., Klafter Olsen & Lesser LLP, White Plains, NY, Lauren Plevinsky, Esq., William Riback, LLC, Haddonfield, NJ, for Plaintiff Conrad Szczpaniak.

Betsy G. Ramos, Esq., Michelle L. Corea, Esq., Laura Danks, Esq., Capehart & Scatchard, P.A., Mount Laurel, NJ, Evan H.C. Crook, Esq., Capehart & Scatchard, P.A., Trenton, NJ, for Defendant Burlington County and Ronald Cox.

HILLMAN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court by way of Defendants Burlington County and Ronald Cox's appeal [Doc. No. 74] of the November 13, 2012 Memorandum Opinion and Order issued by the Honorable Joel Schneider, United States Magistrate Judge, granting Plaintiffs' motion for leave to file an amended complaint in this action. The Court has considered the parties' submissions and decides this matter pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 78.

For the reasons expressed below, Defendants appeal will be denied and Judge Schneider's Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Plaintiffs' leave to file the amended complaint will be affirmed in part and reversed in part.

I. JURISDICTION

In this proposed class action suit, Plaintiffs assert claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of their constitutional rights. Accordingly, the Court has jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' federal claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

II. BACKGROUND

As the Court writes primarily for the parties who are familiar with the facts and procedural history of this case, the Court sets forth herein only those facts necessary to put Defendants' current appeal in context. In this proposed class action, Plaintiffs allege their constitutional rights were violated when they were strip searched at the Burlington County Jail in approximately 2006 and 2008, respectively. A similar class action was filed in this District in July of 2005 by Albert Florence, who also alleged a violation of his constitutional rights based, in part, upon his post-arrest strip search at the Burlington County Jail. After the class was certified in Mr. Florence's July 2005 action by the Honorable Joseph H. Rodriguez, Plaintiffs opted out of the class and instituted their own individual actions.¹ Plaintiffs' respective actions were administratively terminated without prejudice pending resolution of Mr. Florence's July 2005 action.

Judge Rodriguez granted summary judgment in favor of Mr. Florence in February of 2009, but this decision was reversed by a divided panel of the Third Circuit. The Third Circuit's decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012. See Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 1510, 182 L.Ed.2d 566 (2012). Subsequently, Plaintiffs respective cases were restored to the Court's active docket and consolidated. Plaintiffs then moved before Judge Schneider for leave to amend to avoid dismissal under the Supreme Court's holding in Florence. Defendants opposed Plaintiffs' motion on the basis that amendment was futile in light of Florence. By Memorandum Opinion and Order of November 13, 2012, 2012 WL 5497941, Judge Schneider granted Plaintiffs' motion to amend after conducting several oral arguments on the motion. Defendants now appeal Judge Schneider's ruling.

III. DISCUSSIONA. Standard of Review for Magistrate Appeals

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), a United States Magistrate Judge may “hear and determine any [non-dispositive] pretrial matter pending before the court[.]” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). A district court judge will only reverse a magistrate judge's order on pretrial matters if it is “clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); see alsoFed. R. Civ. P. 72(a) (recognizing that a district judge can “modify or set aside any part of the [magistrate judge's] order that is clearly erroneous or is contrary to law.”); L. Civ. R. 72.1(c)(1)(A) (noting that the district judge “shall consider the appeal ... and set aside any portion of the Magistrate Judge's order found to be clearly erroneous or contrary to law.”).

Under this standard, “ ‘[a] finding is clearly erroneous when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.’ ” Wyeth v. Abbott Labs., 692 F.Supp.2d 453, 455 (D.N.J.2010) (citing Marks v. Struble, 347 F.Supp.2d 136, 149 (D.N.J.2004)). “A district judge's simple disagreement with the magistrate judge's findings is insufficient to meet the clearly erroneous standard of review.” Andrews v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 191 F.R.D. 59, 68 (D.N.J.2000). Moreover, a ruling is “contrary to law if the magistrate judge has misinterpreted or misapplied applicable law.” Gunter v. Ridgewood Energy Corp., 32 F.Supp.2d 162, 164 (D.N.J.1998). The “burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that the magistrate judge's finding is clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” Exxon Corp. v. Halcon Shipping Co., 156 F.R.D. 589, 591 (D.N.J.1994).

Here, Judge Schneider's November 13, 2012 Memorandum Opinion and Order pertains to a motion to amend—a non-dispositive motion. Therefore, the Court will examines this appeal under the “clearly erroneous or contrary to law” standard. SeeExxon Corp., 156 F.R.D. at 590 (“The adjudication by a magistrate of a non-dispositive motion will be set aside only if the order is found to be clearly erroneous of contrary to law.”) (citing Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. 785 F.2d 1108, 1113 (3d Cir.1986)).

B. Amendment of Pleadings and Futility

In the November 13, 2012 Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Plaintiffs' motion for leave to file an amended complaint, Judge Schneider correctly identified and applied the relevant Rules of Civil Procedure—Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 15. Rule 15 governs Plaintiffs' motion to amend, while Rule 12(b)(6) provides the standard to address Defendants' opposition argument that amendment is futile.

Generally, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure encourage and provide for a liberal policy with regard to the amendment of pleadings. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2), “a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Rule 15(a)(2) further “requires that leave to amend the pleadings be granted freely ‘when justice so requires.’ ” Long v. Wilson, 393 F.3d 390, 400 (3d Cir.2004) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)) (“We have held that motions to amend pleadings should be liberally granted.”). In Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962), the Supreme Court articulated the policy of “freely” granting leave to amend. See also Shane v. Fauver, 213 F.3d 113, 115 (3d Cir.2000).

“[A]bsent undue or substantial prejudice, an amendment should be allowed under Rule 15(a) unless denial [can] be grounded in bad faith or dilatory motive, truly undue or unexplained delay, repeated failure to cure deficiency by amendments previously allowed or futility of amendment.” Long v. Wilson, 393 F.3d 390, 400 (3d Cir.2004) (internal quotations, citations, and emphasis omitted); see also Haynes v. Moore, 405 Fed.Appx. 562, 564 (3d Cir.2011) (noting that even though leave to amend under Rule 15 should be freely given, “a district court may exercise its discretion and deny leave to amend on the basis of undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, prejudice, or futility.”).

As noted supra, Defendants opposed Plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend before Judge Schneider on the basis that amendment would be futile in light of the Supreme Court's opinion in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 1510, 182 L.Ed.2d 566 (2012). “The standard for assessing futility [of amendment] is the ‘same standard of legal sufficiency as applies under [Federal] Rule [of Civil Procedure] 12(b)(6).’ ” Great W. Mining & Mineral Co. v. Fox Rothschild LLP, 615 F.3d 159, 175 (3d Cir.2010) (citing Shane v. Fauver, 213 F.3d 113, 115 (3d Cir.2000)); see also Alvin v. Suzuki, 227 F.3d 107, 121 (3d Cir.2000) (“An amendment is futile if the amended complaint would not survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.”).

In considering Defendants' futility argument pursuant to the Rule 12(b)(6) standard for a motion to dismiss, the court must accept all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true and view them in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. See Evancho v. Fisher, 423 F.3d 347, 350 (3d Cir.2005). It is well settled that a pleading is sufficient if it contains “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2).

In weighing a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a court asks “ ‘not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims[.]’ ” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 563 n. 8, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1953, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“Our decision in Twombly expounded the pleading standard for ‘all civil actions[.]’ ”) (citation omitted). First, under the Twombly/Iqbal standard, the court “must accept all of the complaint's...