Baldeo v. City of Paterson, Civ. No. 18-5359 (KM) (SCM)
| Decision Date | 18 January 2019 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 18-5359 (KM) (SCM) |
| Parties | SIRRANO KEITH BALDEO, and STACEY BALDEO, husband and wife, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF PATERSON, COUNCILMAN WILLIAM "BILL" MCKOY, COUNCILWOMAN RUBY N. COTTON, COUNCILWOMAN MARITZA DAVILA, COUNCILMAN MICHAEL "MIKE" JACKSON, COUNCILMAN DOMINGO "ALEX" MENDEZ, COUNCILMAN KENNETH M. MORRIS, JR., COUNCILMAN ANDRE SAYEGH, COUNCILMAN LUIS VELEZ, COUNCILMAN SHAHIN KHALIQUE, COUNCILMAN MOHAMMAED AKHTARUZZAMAN, COUNCILMAN JULIO TAVAREZ, ROMINA M. PASQUAL, ESQ. - CITY ATTORNEY, NELLI POU - BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR, and JOHN DOES A-Z, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
:
This matter comes before the Court on defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint. Plaintiff Sirrano Keith Baldeo is the founder of a newspaper, the New Jersey Pulse, which focuses on local issues in Paterson, New Jersey. Defendant City of Paterson is a municipality that legislates through a city council. The remaining defendants are members of the city council, the city attorney, and the city business administrator.
Mr. Baldeo, a vocal critic of the elected council members, publicly opposed their re-election. As a result, he claims, various council members retaliated against him and engaged in conduct that resulted in a deprivation of his First Amendment rights. He further alleges that some of the incidents were tortious.
For the reasons stated below, the Complaint's tort claims are dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice, because the plaintiffs have failed to file a notice of tort claim under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. The tort claims dismissed on these grounds are the third count (breach of fiduciary duty); fifth count (battery); sixth count (assault); seventh count (civil conspiracy); and eighth count (aiding and abetting).
The fourth count, plaintiffs' claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), is also dismissed. The Complaint does not sufficiently plead the existence of a conspiracy amongst the defendants that was motivated by a racial or class-based discriminatory animus. This dismissal is without prejudice.
As to plaintiff Stacey Baldeo's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act ("NJCRA"), the motion to dismiss is granted, without prejudice. Ms. Baldeo sues based on the constitutional deprivations allegedly suffered by her husband, plaintiff Sirrano Baldeo. The Complaint does not allege that she independently suffered any constitutional deprivation.
As to plaintiff Sirrano Baldeo's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the NJCRA, the defendants' motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. The motion to dismiss the first count (§ 1983) and second count (NJCRA) is granted insofar as those claims are asserted against defendants Romina M. Pasqual and Nelli Pou. As to all other defendants (i.e., the City and its council members), the motion is denied.
Plaintiff Sirrano Keith Baldeo is the founder of a newspaper called the New Jersey Pulse2 which focuses on issues of local concern to the City of Paterson, New Jersey. (Compl. ¶1). Plaintiff Stacy Baldeo is the spouse of Mr. Baldeo. (Id.).
Defendant City of Paterson operates under a Mayor-Council form of government pursuant to the Optional Municipal Charter Law, N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 40:69A-1 to -210, known more familiarly as the Faulkner Act. (Compl. ¶¶2-3); see also N.J. Stat. Ann. § 40:69A-32.3 Plaintiffs have sued a number of elected council members, including defendants William "Bill" McKoy, Ruby N. Cotton, Maritza Davita, Michael Jackson, Domingo "Alex" Mendez, Kenneth M. Morris, Jr., Andre Sageyh, Luis Velez, Shahin Khalique, Mohammed Akhtgaruzzaman, and Julio Tavarez. (Compl. ¶3).
Plaintiffs have also sued the City of Paterson's attorney, Romina M. Pascual, Esq., and its business administrator, Nelli Pou. (Id.).
Plaintiffs' Complaint arises from their encounters with various council members.4 On March 15, 2016, Mr. Baldeo attended a council meeting, and addressed "criminal accusations made by Council members" against Joey Torres, the City's former mayor. (Compl. ¶5). Mr. Baldeo accused the council members of having their own "demons." Subsequently, on his Facebook page, he published that the council was corrupt, incompetent, and unworthy of re-election. (Compl. ¶¶5-6). The Complaint does not identify the particular defendant council members who attended that meeting, or the particular ones at whom Mr. Baldeo directed his comments.
On March 22, 2016, Mr. Baldeo again went to Paterson City Hall. (Compl. ¶¶7-9). There, he claims, Jackson "harassed" and blocked him from entering his car. (Compl. ¶7). Jackson and Mr. Baldeo had another confrontation in the "public area" of the "Council chamber." (Compl. ¶8). Jackson had seen Mr. Baldeo's "documents," including one that stated that Jackson "took $140,000 from taxpayers" and "did not pay $38,000 in business taxes." (Id.). Jackson proclaimed that when he walked past Mr. Baldeo, Baldeo had "tried to hit him with [his] shoulders," and asked that officers remove Mr. Baldeo. (Compl. ¶9). As a result, Mr. Baldeo was "prevented from speaking and attending the meeting." (Id.). Mr. Baldeo claims that Jackson made that false accusation because he did not "want Mr. Baldeo [to speak] about Councilman Jackson at the meeting." (Id.).
On April 5, 2016, the Complaint alleges, the council prevented Mr. Baldeo from speaking at a meeting, although other members of the public were allowed to do so. (Compl. ¶¶10-14). Those allowed to speak were supporters of William McKoy, the council president, and Jackson. (Id.). Mr. Baldeo, in contrast, had posted on social media that McKoy should not be re-elected. (Compl. ¶10). Other defendant council members were present at this meeting,including Jackson, Cotton, Davita, Mendez, Morris, Sageyh, Akhtgaruzzaman, and Tavarez. (Compl. ¶15). Mr. Baldeo alleges that Pascual, the City's attorney, and Pou, the City's business administrator, failed to prevent the council "from censoring" him. (Id.).
On April 7, 2016, Mr. Baldeo attended another council meeting. Jackson told Mr. Baldeo to remove his newspaper from City Hall. When he failed to do so, McKoy "dumped all of the newspapers" in the restricted council area. (Compl. ¶¶16-18).
During the meeting, McKoy advised Mr. Baldeo that he would no longer be permitted to film the meetings by placing his camera on a "ledge," although in the past he had been permitted to do so. (Compl. ¶¶19-20). McKoy stated that there was a policy prohibiting recording from that location. The City clerk, however, told Mr. Baldeo that there was no ordinance, resolution, or policy that regulated the use of cameras in the council chamber. (Compl. ¶20).
During a break in the meeting, Mr. Baldeo was again advised that he needed to remove the camera from the "ledge" and that police would escort him from the building if he failed to do so. (Compl. ¶¶21-22). The police officer removed Mr. Baldeo from the meeting. (Compl. ¶22).
Before attending the next council meeting, Mr. Baldeo reached out to the Paterson police chief, the police director, and the Mayor's office to request police protection at the next council meeting. (Compl. ¶23). He was denied police protection, he says, because the police director supported McKoy "and others" for re-election. (Id.).
Sometime after April 12, 2016, Mr. Baldeo was stopped by "a man" outside of City Hall, who told him that Sayegh, McKoy, and Jackson "were all waiting to set up Mr. Baldeo by bumping into him, saying that he hit them, and then have him arrested, with all of these elected officials being witnesses for each other." (Compl. ¶24). The Complaint does not contain any further facts relating to this allegation.
Because of these incidents, and because he did not receive police protection, Mr. Baldeo did not attend the council meetings in April and May of 2016. He was thus prevented from doing his job as a journalist. (Compl. ¶25).
On July 1, 2016, Mr. Baldeo went to City Hall and learned that his newspapers had been removed from the table where local newspapers were permitted to be placed for the public. (Compl. ¶26). He learned from the Clerk that McKoy had ordered that the newspapers be removed. (Id.). Mr. Baldeo alleges that on July 12, 2016, the council voted to ban Mr. Baldeo from "the list of newspapers" that received information from the council. (Compl. ¶27). As a result, Mr. Baldeo would not receive advance notice of meetings or agendas. (Id.). Present at that July 12, 2016 meeting were defendant council members McKoy, Jackson, Cotton, Davita, Mendez, Morris, Sageyh, Velez, and Khalique. (Compl. ¶28). Mr. Baldeo asserts that Pascual and Pou failed to stop the council from censoring him. (Id.).
Almost one year later, Mr. Baldeo sent a letter to the council and city clerk, requesting that his newspaper be returned to "the list." (Compl. ¶29). During the July 1, 2017 council meeting, the council allegedly discussed how to keep Mr. Baldeo off the list, but "could not come up with any legal reason." Ultimately, they kept him off the list because they did not like the newspaper's content. (Compl. ¶30). Present at that July 1, 2017 meeting were defendant-council members McKoy, Cotton, Davita, Mendez, Morris, Velez, and Khalique. (Compl. ¶28). Mr. Baldeo claims that Pascual and Pou failed to stop the council from censoring him and "encouraged the Council's illegal retaliatory animus towards Mr. Baldeo." (Id.).
At some unspecified time, Mr. Baldeo filed criminal charges against unspecified members of the council. (Compl. ¶32). On August 9, 2017, after a hearing on the criminal charges, McKoy allegedly "slammed his body into Mr. Baldeo, which caused the already disabled Mr. Baldeo to go through at least four or five months of physical therapy." (Compl. ¶33).
Finally, Mr. Baldeo alleges that the council hired a private investigator to follow him and Ms. Baldeo. Ms. Baldeo "twice...
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