Chiles v. Crooks

• Decision Date: 01 February 1989
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 3:88-1586-15.
• Citation: 708 F. Supp. 127
• Parties: Ronald A. CHILES and Patrick R. Hollis, Plaintiffs, v. Louis CROOKS, Individually and in his Capacity as a Wells Fargo Security Officer; and Security Group, Inc., d/b/a Wells Fargo Guard Services, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina

708 F. Supp. 127

Ronald A. CHILES and Patrick R. Hollis, Plaintiffs, v. Louis CROOKS, Individually and in his Capacity as a Wells Fargo Security Officer; and Security Group, Inc., d/b/a Wells Fargo Guard Services, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 3:88-1586-15.

United States District Court, D. South Carolina, Columbia Division.

February 1, 1989.

Cameron M. Currie, Columbia, S.C., for plaintiffs.

George C. Beighley, Leslie A. Cotter, Jr., Richardson, Plowden, Grier & Howser, Columbia, S.C., for defendants.

HAMILTON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, Ronald A. Chiles and Patrick R. Hollis, instituted this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 alleging that defendant Louis Crooks deprived them of their federal constitutional and statutory rights. Plaintiffs' complaint also raises the pendent state law claims of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Crooks and Crooks' employer, Security Group, Inc., d/b/a Wells Fargo Guard Services (hereinafter "Security Group"). Defendant Crooks has moved to dismiss the federal claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Rule 12(b)(1), Fed.R.Civ.Proc., and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.Proc. Both defendants have moved to dismiss the pendent state law claims for resolution in state court. Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 108 S.Ct. 614, 618-19, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988).

BACKGROUND FACTS

On November 5, 1987, plaintiffs drove to Colonial Life and Accident Insurance Company's Columbia office, where Chiles' wife was employed. Plaintiffs allege that they entered the parking lot so that Chiles could pick up his wife's car. According to plaintiffs, Mrs. Chiles' car was not in its assigned spot so they left the lot without getting out of Hollis' car.

When plaintiffs left the parking lot, Crooks, then working as a security guard at Colonial Life and employed by Security Group, followed them and recorded their license plate number. Crooks then returned to Colonial Life and reported a suspected criminal act to the Columbia Police Department. Crooks told the police that, while in Colonial Life's parking lot, Chiles had gotten out of Hollis' car and had tampered with a car belonging to another Colonial Life employee. Crooks also called the victim and informed her that her car had been tampered with.

As a result of Crooks' alleged false report, Chiles was arrested for auto tampering under S.C.Code Ann. § 16-21-90 (Law. Co-op.1985). Hollis was later interviewed by Columbia police regarding the incident. After Hollis told the interviewing officer that neither he nor Chiles got out of his car in the Colonial Life parking lot, Hollis was arrested and charged with giving false information to a police officer under S.C.Ann. § 16-17-725 (Law.Co-op.Supp.1988). The charges against both plaintiffs were dropped after they agreed to sign covenants not to sue the City of Columbia or its employees.

Plaintiffs' first cause of action seeks damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Crooks for allegedly causing the Columbia City Police Department to arrest them illegally, in violation of their rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs' second cause of action against Crooks is for a denial of equal rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 for allegedly accusing plaintiff Chiles of committing a crime simply because he is black. Plaintiffs' third cause of action for malicious prosecution and their fourth cause of action for intentional affliction of emotional distress are pendent state claims which apply to both defendants. Defendants have moved to dismiss all claims.

ANALYSIS

Crooks has moved to dismiss plaintiffs' federal claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Rule 12(b)(1), Fed.R.Civ. Proc., and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.Proc. Where, as here, a defendant's challenge to the court's jurisdiction is also a challenge to the existence of a federal cause of action, the proper procedure for the district court is to find that jurisdiction exists and to determine the merits of the claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) or Rule 56. See Daniel v. Ferguson, 839 F.2d 1124, 1127 (5th Cir.1988); Daigle v. Opelousas Health Care, Inc., 774 F.2d 1344, 1346-47 (5th Cir.1985); see generally 2 J. Moore, W. Taggart 7 J. Wicker, Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 12.07 2.-1 at 12-50 (1982).

In ruling on defendants' 12(b)(6) motion, this court must follow the accepted rule that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The complaint must be construed liberally and all doubts must be resolved in favor of the nonmoving party. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

Even after accepting plaintiffs' allegations as true, their complaint fails to state a federal cause of action. Consequently, the court must dismiss plaintiffs' federal claims under Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.Proc. The court dismisses without prejudice plaintiffs' pendent state law claims for resolution in state court. Cohill, 108 S.Ct. at 618-19.

SECTION 1983 CLAIM

In order to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,¹ plaintiffs must show: (1) that Crooks caused them to be deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States; and (2) that in doing so he acted under color of state law. Where, as here, plaintiffs attempt to state a claim under § 1983 for violation of constitutional rights guaranteed them by the Fourteenth Amendment, they must show sufficient "state action" to make out a constitutional violation.²

The Court in Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982) announced a two-part test for determining the existence of state action:

First, the deprivation must be caused by the exercise of some right or privilege created by the State or by a rule of conduct imposed by the State or by a person for whom the State is responsible ... Second, the party charged with the deprivation must be a person who may fairly be said to be a state actor.

457 U.S. at 937, 102 S.Ct. at 2753 (emphasis added). The first prong is satisfied here because officers of the Columbia police force—"persons for whom the state is responsible" — made the alleged unconstitutional arrests. Cruz v. Donnelly, 727 F.2d 79, 81 (3rd Cir.1984). But plaintiffs cannot satisfy the second prong of the Lugar test because they failed to allege sufficient facts to show that Crooks, the party they have charged in this lawsuit with their constitutional deprivations, "may fairly be said to be a state actor." Id. at 81-82.

Courts have set forth a number of tests for determining when the circumstances of a case convert a private individual into a state actor. See, e.g., Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461, 73 S.Ct. 809, 97 L.Ed. 1152 (1953); Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501, 66 S.Ct. 276, 90 L.Ed. 265 (1946) ("public function" test); Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 350-51, 95 S.Ct. 449, 453-54, 42 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974); Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S.Ct. 856, 6 L.Ed.2d 45 (1961) ("nexus" test); Lugar, 457 U.S. at 941, 102 S.Ct. at 2755; Daniel v. Ferguson, 839 F.2d 1124, 1130-31 (5th Cir.1988) ("joint action" test). In this case, plaintiffs, proceeding under the "joint action" test, contend that Crooks is a state actor because "he was a willful participant in joint action with officers of the Columbia Police Department, agents of the State of South Carolina." Complaint at ¶ 8; see also plaintiffs' brief at 7-8. Notably, if plaintiffs could prove that Crooks willfully participated in a joint action with police, they would not only meet the Fourteenth Amendment's state-action requirement, but the "under color of state law" requirement of § 1983 as well. 457 U.S. at 931, 102 S.Ct. at 2750; see also Daniel, 839 F.2d at 1130-31. Plaintiffs' complaint, however, is devoid of any factual allegations from which a jury could reasonably infer that Crooks acted jointly with officers of the Columbia Police Department.

Plaintiff's allegations, if proven, would only establish that Crooks recorded Hollis' license plate number, alerted the victim that Chiles had tampered with her car, reported the crime to the police, and gave a written statement, upon which the police took action. Complaint at ¶¶ 9-13. As the authorities discussed below make clear, plaintiffs' failure to allege a conspiracy, a prearranged plan, or a meeting of the minds between Crooks and the police is fatal to their "joint action" theory.

The Court in Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970) found that state agents and Kress employees acted jointly because their conduct constituted a conspiracy or meeting of the minds. Likewise, the Court in United States v. Price, 383 U.S. 787, 86 S.Ct. 1152, 16 L.Ed.2d 267 (1966) found joint action because the government agent and the private party laying in wait for the victims carried out a previously agreed upon plan. See also Dennis v. Sparks, 449 U.S. 24, 30, 101 S.Ct. 183, 187, 66 L.Ed.2d 185 (1980) (private parties who corruptly conspired with the judge were acting under color of law within the meaning of § 1983). But in cases, such as this, where a plaintiff relies upon the "joint action" theory without alleging a conspiracy, a prearranged plan, or a meeting of the minds, courts have dismissed at the pretrial stage those claim(s) requiring state action. See, e.g., Daniel, 839 F.2d at 1130-31 (plaintiff's allegation that private defendants willfully participated in joint action with a state official properly dismissed on 12(b)(6) motion because record lacked evidence of conspiracy between private defend...