Bobbitt v. Detroit Edison Co.

• Decision Date: 19 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV. 01-40170.,CIV. 01-40170.
• Citation: 216 F.Supp.2d 669
• Parties: Mable F. BOBBITT, Plaintiff, v. THE DETROIT EDISON COMPANY, a Michigan corporation, City of Detroit, a municipal corporation, Police Officer David Krupinski and Police Officer Brandon Seed, Jointly and Severally, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

216 F.Supp.2d 669

Mable F. BOBBITT, Plaintiff, v. THE DETROIT EDISON COMPANY, a Michigan corporation, City of Detroit, a municipal corporation, Police Officer David Krupinski and Police Officer Brandon Seed, Jointly and Severally, Defendants.

No. CIV. 01-40170.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

August 19, 2002.

Jack H. Bindes, Bindes & Gilbert, Southfield, for Mable F. Bobbitt, plaintiff.

Michael D. Bryant, L. Graham Ward, Ward, Anderson, Bloomfield Hills, Krystal A. Crittendon, City of Detroit Law Department, Detroit, for Detroit Edison Company, Detroit, City of, David Krupinski, Police officer, Brandon Seed, Police officer, defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GADOLA, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant City of Detroit's motion for summary judgment [docket entry 20]. Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(e), the Court concludes that oral argument would not aid substantially in the disposition of this motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants the City of Detroit's motion.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 2, 2000, Plaintiff went to the a Detroit Edison Customer Service Office located at 21000 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Plaintiff intended to pay her Detroit Edison bill, but left after realizing that she had forgotten her check. Plaintiff returned to the Detroit Edison office later the same afternoon, but she did not arrive until after 4:30 p.m., when the office closed.

The parties dispute what occurred next. Although the office closed at 4:30 p.m., and the outside door was shut, there were still other customers waiting in line to enter the office. Plaintiff asked Solomon Jones, a security guard at the office's entrance, if she could enter the office to pay her bill. Plaintiff was either allowed to enter, or forced entry to the office. Although the parties do not agree as to the sequence of events, sometime after entering the office, Plaintiff approached Detroit Edison employees to pay her bill. At that point, the security guard, Solomon Jones, allegedly approached her, placed his hands on her, and asked her to leave. Soon after, someone, apparently a Detroit Edison employee, called the Detroit Police, a move apparently supported by Plaintiff. Sometime later, the manager of the office approached Plaintiff and accepted Plaintiff's check for her utility bill. The manager, however, refused Plaintiff's demand for a receipt. Consequently, Plaintiff refused to leave the office and waited for the Police to arrive.

Approximately thirty minutes later, Detroit Police Officers Brandon Seed and David Krupinski arrived at the Detroit Edison office. The officers arrested Plaintiff for violating the City of Detroit's misdemeanor ordinance proscribing "disorderly conduct" in a public place. Plaintiff alleges that during the arrest, Officer Krupinski "forcibly jerked the Plaintiff's hands behind her back," and then picked her up before throwing her to the floor, where he "put his knee in [her] lower back and forced her head into the floor," injuring her. (Resp. Br. at 4.) Plaintiff alleges that she was physically forced into the police vehicle that transported her to Detroit's Eighth Precinct.

At the Eighth Precinct, Plaintiff claims that she was forced to stand for the approximately five hours she was in custody because her cell in the Precinct's lockup contained only "a four inch concrete slab which she could not sit on [because] [i]t was too low and her back was hurting." (Resp. Br. at 4-5.) Plaintiff also claims that she made multiple requests to be taken to a hospital, but was denied by both the arresting officers and the Eighth Precinct staff. (Resp. Br. at 4-5.)

Plaintiff was charged with disorderly conduct. On October 26, 2000, following a bench trial before the 36th District Court, Plaintiff was acquitted of the charges. The City of Detroit appealed the acquittal to the Wayne County Circuit Court, but subsequently withdrew its appeal.

On or about June 4, 2001, Plaintiff filed a Complaint in Wayne County Circuit Court against Detroit Edison, the City of Detroit, and Police Officers David Krupinski and Brandon Seed. Plaintiff alleged nine different causes of action: (1) assault and battery; (2) negligence of the Detroit Edison Company; (3) violation of ministerial duties; (4) false arrest/false imprisonment; (5) intentional infliction of emotional distress; (6) malicious prosecution; (7) dangerous or defective public building; (8) violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the individual police officers; and (9) violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the City of Detroit.

On or about June 28, 2001, the City of Detroit filed a notice of removal in this Court, removing the case pursuant to this Court's original jurisdiction over Plaintiff's federal claims. The City of Detroit now brings a motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff's claims. This motion addresses only the alleged liability of the City of Detroit, and not the alleged liability of its police officers, Defendants Seed and Krupinski, or of Defendant Detroit Edison.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of an essential element of the nonmoving party's case on which the nonmoving party would bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Martin v. Ohio Tpk. Comm'n, 968 F.2d 606, 608 (6th Cir.1992).

In considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the facts and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. 60 Ivy Street Corp. v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir.1987). The Court is not required or permitted, however, to judge the evidence or make findings of fact. Id. at 1435-36. The moving party has the burden of showing conclusively that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. at 1435.

A fact is "material" for purposes of summary judgment where proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting an essential element of the cause of action or a defense advanced by the parties. Kendall v. Hoover Co., 751 F.2d 171, 174 (6th Cir.1984). A dispute over a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Accordingly, where a reasonable jury could not find that the nonmoving party is entitled to a verdict, there is no genuine issue for trial and summary judgment is appropriate. Id.; Feliciano v. City of Cleveland, 988 F.2d 649, 654 (6th Cir. 1993).

Once the moving party carries the initial burden of demonstrating that no genuine issues of material fact are in dispute, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to present specific facts to prove that there is a genuine issue for trial. To create a genuine issue of material fact, the nonmoving party must present more than just some evidence of a disputed issue. As the United States Supreme Court has stated, "[T]here is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the [nonmoving party's] evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted); see Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

Consequently, the nonmoving party must do more than raise some doubt as to the existence of a fact; the nonmoving party must produce evidence that would be sufficient to require submission of the issue to the jury. Lucas v. Leaseway Multi Transp. Serv., Inc., 738 F.Supp. 214, 217 (E.D.Mich.1990), aff'd, 929 F.2d 701 (6th Cir.1991). "The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505; see Cox v. Kentucky Dep't of Transp., 53 F.3d 146, 150 (6th Cir.1995).

III. ANALYSIS

A. Governmental Immunity

The City of Detroit maintains that summary judgment is appropriate on Counts I, III, IV, V, and VI of Plaintiff's Complaint (assault and battery, violation of ministerial duties, false arrest/false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and malicious prosecution), because Plaintiff cannot overcome the City's statutory immunity from tort liability. (Def. Br. at 12-13).

As a Michigan municipal corporation the City of Detroit has limited tort liability because it is protected by statutory governmental immunity under M.C.L. § 691.1407. See Walton v. City of Southfield, 995 F.2d 1331, 1343 (6th Cir.1993). The statute provides that a governmental agency is immune from tort liability if the governmental agency is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. M.C.L. § 691.1407(1). The statute defines a governmental function as:

an activity that is expressly or impliedly mandated or authorized by constitution, statute, local charter or ordinance, or other law. Governmental function includes an activity, as directed or assigned by his or her public employer for the purpose of public safety, performed on public or private property by a sworn law enforcement officer within the scope of the law enforcement officer's authority.

M.C.L. § 691.1401(f).

The City of Detroit will be...