Bradshaw v. Township of Middletown, Civil Action No. 02-5225 (MLC).
| Decision Date | 04 December 2003 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 02-5225 (MLC). |
| Citation | 296 F.Supp.2d 526 |
| Parties | Wayne BRADSHAW, et al., Plaintiffs, v. TOWNSHIP OF MIDDLETOWN, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Nancy S. Martin, Law Offices of Linda B. Kenney, Red Bank, N.J., for Plaintiffs.
Bernard M. Riley, Dowd & Reilly, Red Bank, NJ, for Defendants Township of Middletown, Township of Middletown Police Department, Robert Czech, John Pollinger and Joseph Braun.
Charles J. Uliano, Chamlin, Rosen, Uliano & Witherington, West Long Branch, NJ, for Defendant Robert Morrell.
This matter comes before the Court on defendants' separate motions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 12(b)(6) to dismiss plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint ("Amended Complaint"). Plaintiffs Wayne Bradshaw ("Bradshaw"), Steven Dollinger ("Dollinger"), Michael Rubino ("Rubino"), Gerald Weimer ("Weimer"), Christine Weimer and Nina Rubino filed the Amended Complaint asserting various causes of action against the defendants. Defendants Township of Middletown ("Township"), Township of Middletown Police Department ("Police Department"), Robert Czech ("Czech"), John Pollinger ("Pollinger") and Joseph Braun ("Braun") now move to dismiss the Amended Complaint insofar as it asserts claims against them. Defendant Robert Morrell ("Morrell") now separately moves to dismiss the Amended Complaint insofar as it asserts claims against him. The motion of defendants Township, Police Department, Czech, Pollinger and Braun will be granted in part and denied in part. The motion of defendant Morrell will be granted.
Plaintiffs filed a complaint on October 29, 2002. (Docket entry no. 1.) This gargantuan submission contains a 46-page "COMPLAINT & JURY DEMAND" followed by 52 exhibits that are appended without certification. All told, the complaint is two inches thick. The Court sua sponte ordered plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in compliance with local rules. (11-8-02 Order.) Plaintiffs then filed the Amended Complaint on December 2, 2002. (Docket entry no. 4.)
Rule 8(a) requires plaintiffs to submit to the Court "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and ... a demand for judgment for the relief the pleader seeks." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). While the Amended Complaint is but a pale shadow of the original voluminous pleading, plaintiffs still took no chances. Thus, they submitted a 41-page Amended Complaint describing in intricate detail their various claims. The "Facts" section of the Amended Complaint is itself 30 pages long, and sets out a confusing, nonchronological litany of seemingly-unconnected events reminiscent of a James Joyce novel. The effect of this presentation would be soporific but for the Court's puzzlement at how these factual allegations somehow legally relate to one another.
Section V of the Amended Complaint, however, is another matter altogether. Entitled "Causes of Action," this section conclusorily demands judgment against defendants on six Counts. Little if any reference is made to the preceding 30 pages of factual allegations, which the Court can only assume form the basis for the causes of action asserted. The unfortunate combination of detailed factual allegations and conclusory demands for judgment leaves the Court unable to determine which factual allegations pertain to which plaintiffs' causes of action against which defendants. The effect on defendants, whom the Rules call upon to respond to such an Amended Complaint, must be equally bewildering: They know they are being sued, yet cannot tell from the pleadings for what offenses, exactly, they are being haled into court.
Defendants separately moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint on September 5 and September 12, 2003. (Docket entry nos. 12 & 13.) Apparently emboldened by plaintiffs' overlong Amended Complaint, defendants Township, Police Department, Czech, Pollinger and Braun accompanied their motion with a 55-page supporting brief, in violation of local rules. See L.Civ.R. 7.2(b) (). They also submitted an 11-page document entitled "Statement of Material Facts as to Which There Exists No Genuine Dispute," which is inappropriate on a motion to dismiss, where the Court must accept as true all facts alleged in the Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs opposed the separate motions to dismiss, and also violated Local Rule 7.2 with their 42-page brief.
The Court held oral argument on the separate motions in October 2003. Unlike the typical oral argument, this proceeding was less an adversarial contest of legal argument than a cooperative effort in which the parties and the Court attempted to determine what, exactly, the Amended Complaint alleged. Ultimately, this endeavor proved too much for those present, and the Court ordered further briefing. Specifically, plaintiffs were ordered to submit a chart reconstituting the Amended Complaint into a fashion the Court and defendants could understand. The Court ordered plaintiffs to explain which factual allegations pertained to (1) which plaintiffs; (2) which defendants; and (3) which causes of action. Plaintiffs provided this Rosetta Stone to enable the Court to decipher the Amended Complaint by letter of October 28, 2003 ("Plaintiffs' Letter").1
The end result of this tangled procedural history is as follows. The Amended Complaint asserts six causes of action against defendants. Count 1 of the Amended Complaint alleges that all defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by unlawfully retaliating against plaintiffs Bradshaw, Dollinger, Rubino and Weimer for engaging in constitutionally protected speech. Count 2 of the Amended Complaint alleges that all defendants violated § 1983 by unlawfully retaliating against plaintiffs Bradshaw, Dollinger, Rubino and Weimer for engaging in constitutionally protected union activities. Count 3 of the Amended Complaint alleges that all defendants violated § 1983 by unlawfully retaliating against plaintiffs Bradshaw, Dollinger, Rubino and Weimer for engaging in constitutionally protected petitioning for redress. Count 4 of the Amended Complaint alternatively alleges that the Township violated § 1983 by failing to train its officials, thus making the Township responsible for the constitutional violations alleged in Counts 1-3. Count 5, which alleged "Constitutional Tort," has been voluntarily withdrawn by plaintiffs. (10-28-03 Pl. Letter at 1.) Count 6, which alleged "New Jersey Constitutional Tort," has also been voluntarily withdrawn by plaintiffs. (Id.) As Count 6 was the only Count alleging a cause of action for plaintiffs Christine Weimer and Nina Rubino (the spouses of plaintiffs Gerald Weimer and Michael Rubino, respectively), the Amended Complaint will be dismissed insofar as it alleges causes of action on their behalf.
On a motion to dismiss we must accept as true all of plaintiffs' factual allegations. Because of the bizarre nature of this case, and the confusing pleading and briefing history, we will first describe the event that apparently precipitated this action, and then proceed to detail each individual plaintiff's allegations.
The remaining plaintiffs are all police officers in the Township. Bradshaw, Dollinger and Weimer are all officers, and Rubino is a Lieutenant. (Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 3-6.) Defendant Morrell is also a Lieutenant in the Police Department. (Id. at ¶14.) The Amended Complaint alleges that all four plaintiffs were sent identical packages by Morrell in April 2002. (Id. at ¶ 37.) Each package allegedly contained "a huge pile of horse manure," and a threatening letter from Morrell. (Id. at ¶¶ 33, 37.) Plaintiffs do not allege that Morrell sent these packages as part of his job as a police officer.
Plaintiffs allege they were extremely disturbed by these packages and the accompanying letters because they believed Morrell to be emotionally and mentally unstable, and they knew he had access to many weapons. (Id. at ¶¶ 58-59.) They were further anxious because they allege that in early 2002, police officers in two neighboring towns had gone on "shooting sprees." (Id. at ¶ 31.)
Plaintiffs spent the next few months endeavoring to convince the Township and the Police Department to take action against Morrell on their behalf. They entreated defendant Pollinger, the Chief of Police, to conduct an Internal Affairs investigation. (Id. at ¶ 51.) The union to which Bradshaw, Dollinger and Weimer belong, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association ("PBA"), sent letters to the Township asking that immediate action be taken. (Id. at ¶ 53.) Plaintiffs consistently requested that they be updated on the status of the investigation of the manure incident. (Id. at ¶¶ 63, 80, 82, 88.)
Plaintiffs allege that instead of responding to their pleas, defendants began a pattern of retaliation against them. Plaintiffs also assert that the Township's "failure to take immediate action demonstrates that the Township is permitting or otherwise sanctioning or condoning, if not, aiding and abetting: all of the actions of Lt. Morrell." (Id. at ¶ 87.)
This was the saga of the manure, which forms part (but by no means all) of the background for plaintiffs' myriad claims. The specific bases for plaintiffs' causes of action, as explained to the Court by Plaintiffs' Letter, are set out below.
Bradshaw first alleges an instance of protected conduct that occurred prior to the manure incident and for which he suffered retaliation. Plaintiffs allege there was a dispute in the Police Department as to whether officers should be sent to New York City to help in the days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (Id. at ¶ 96(B)(1)-(23).) Pollinger did not think Middletown police officers were needed in New York...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Mfs Inc. v. Dilazaro
...words from colleagues would not deter a person of ordinary firmness from exercising First Amendment right); Bradshaw v. Twp. of Middletown, 296 F.Supp.2d 526, 542 (D.N.J.2003) (holding that public disagreement in the press with plaintiff not sufficient to deter a person of ordinary firmness......
-
Adams v. Luzerne Cnty.
...but rather it relates to private grievances and activities not of interest to the public at large. See Bradshaw v. Township of Middletown, 296 F.Supp.2d 526, 538 (D.N.J.2003). Adams alleges that this was a matter of public concern because it involved a public position, namely, the Luzerne C......
-
Whitfield v. Chartiers Valley Sch. Dist.
...to pursue legal recourse and a newspaper article indicated the claimant's intent to pursue legal recourse); Bradshaw v. Township of Middletown, 296 F.Supp.2d 526, 546 (D.N.J.2003) (protection afforded by the First Amendment's Petition Clause attached when employee informed employer of inten......
-
Schneck v. Saucon Valley School Dist.
...from colleagues would not deter a person of ordinary firmness from exercising First Amendment rights); Bradshaw v. Township of Middletown, 296 F.Supp.2d 526, 542 (D.N.J. Dec. 4, 2003) (public disagreement in the press with plaintiff not sufficient to deter a person of ordinary firmness from......