Deluca v. City of Jr.
Decision Date | 04 June 2019 |
Docket Number | NO. 3:15-CV-02475,3:15-CV-02475 |
Citation | 396 F.Supp.3d 392 |
Parties | Cynthia DELUCA, DeLuca's Auto Repair and Towing, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF HAZLETON, Hazleton Police Department, Frank V. DeAndrea, Jr., and Joseph Yannuzzi, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
Kimberly D. Borland, David Paul Tomaszewski, Borland and Borland, L.L.P., Wilkes-Barre, PA, for Plaintiffs.
Elizabeth Kramer, Frank J. Lavery, Jr., Joshua M. Autry, Lavery Law, Harrisburg, PA, for Defendants City of Hazleton, Hazleton Police Department, Joseph Yannuzzi.
Presently before me is a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 59) filed by Defendants the City of Hazleton (the "City") and Joseph Yannuzzi ("Yannuzzi") (collectively, "Defendants"). In June 2015, Plaintiff DeLuca's Auto Repair & Towing, Inc. ("DeLuca's Auto Repair"), owned by Plaintiff Cynthia DeLuca ("DeLuca"), was removed from the City's towing rotation. Plaintiffs contend that this occurred because of their political involvement in the City mayoral primary which took place in May 2015. Plaintiffs also assert that Defendants disseminated false and stigmatizing statements in connection with their removal from the towing rotation in violation of their liberty interest in reputation. Defendants dispute that Plaintiffs were retaliated against in violation of the First Amendment and/or that Plaintiffs were deprived of their liberty interest in reputation without due process of law. Summary judgment will be granted in favor of Defendants on the stigma-plus claims because Plaintiffs were not deprived of a liberty interest in reputation without due process of law. However, because a reasonable jury could find that Plaintiffs' removal from the towing rotation was politically motivated, Defendants' motion for summary judgment with respect to the First Amendment retaliation claim will be denied.
The facts are derived from Defendants' statement of facts, (see Doc. 59-3, generally ), Plaintiffs' opposition statement, (see Doc. 70, generally ), and the documents and testimony of record.
DeLuca is the president and owner of DeLuca's Auto Repair. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 1; Doc. 70, ¶ 1). Yannuzzi is the former City Mayor, and Frank V. DeAndrea, Jr. ("DeAndrea") is the former City Police Chief. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 40; Doc. 70, ¶ 40).1
In 2013, Plaintiffs applied to perform towing services for the City. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 15; Doc. 70, ¶ 15). In order to perform such services, Plaintiffs agreed to follow the Hazleton Police Department's Towing Service Requirements. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 16; Doc. 70, ¶ 16). Plaintiffs were first placed on the City's towing rotation in or around June 2013, and, at that time, there were three (3) other towing companies that provided towing services to the City. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶¶ 18-19; Doc. 70, ¶¶ 18-19). Pursuant to the City's towing rotation, one company would perform towing services for the City for a two (2) week period and then the City would rotate to the next company on the list. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 20; Doc. 70, ¶ 20).
In 2015, Yannuzzi, the City Mayor at the time, was challenged in the Republican mayoral primary by Jeff Cusat. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 27; Doc. 70, ¶ 27). In the Democratic mayoral primary, Grace Cuozzo ran against Jack Mundie. (See Doc. 59-3; ¶ 30; Doc. 70, ¶ 30; see also Doc. 59, Ex. "11"). DeLuca supported Cuozzo in her campaign, which was run out of DeLuca's Auto Repair. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶¶ 22-23; Doc. 70, ¶¶ 22-23). Ultimately, both Cuozzo and Yannuzzi lost their respective primaries in May 2015. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶¶ 28, 31; Doc. 70, ¶¶ 28, 31).
Around this time, DeLuca had several Facebook accounts/pages. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 32; Doc. 70, ¶ 32). While DeLuca testified that she did not access these pages from her business computer, her passwords for these accounts were stored on her laptop that she kept at DeLuca's Auto Repair. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶¶ 34-35; Doc. 70, ¶¶ 34-35).
Around early June 2015, a Facebook group titled "Hazleton's Corrupts" was created under one of DeLuca's accounts. (See Doc. 59, Ex. "13"). That Facebook page included posts alleging corruption by, inter alia , Yannuzzi and DeAndrea, and also claimed that another towing company in the City was bribing state and local officials. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶¶ 40-42; Doc. 70, ¶¶ 40-42).
DeLuca testified that she learned about the "Hazleton's Corrupts" Facebook group from Sandra DeAndrea, DeAndrea's wife. (See DeLuca Dep., 36:10-15, 40:23-41:1). DeLuca denied creating that group to Mrs. DeAndrea and stated that her Facebook account must have been hacked. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 51; Doc. 70, ¶ 51).
After learning about the "Hazleton's Corrupts" page from his wife, DeAndrea went to DeLuca's Auto Repair to speak with DeLuca, who stated that her account had been hacked. (See DeAndrea Dep., 12:1-15:2). DeLuca's theory is that the posts were created by either Dave Sirkot or Dave Basala. (See DeLuca Dep., 94:4-9)
At some point thereafter, DeAndrea and Yannuzzi spoke about their response to the Facebook posts. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 76; Doc. 70, ¶ 76). While DeAndrea testified that he told Yannuzzi that DeLuca claimed her Facebook account was hacked, Yannuzzi testified that he was not so informed. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 81). Rather, Yannuzzi indicated that he did not know of the purported hacking until he read about it in the newspaper. (See Yannuzzi Dep., 112:18-23). Yannuzzi ultimately concluded that the Towing Service Requirements had been violated. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 84; see also Yannuzzi Dep., 29:6-11).
Following his conversation with Yannuzzi, DeAndrea sent Yannuzzi an email stating:
(Doc. 57, Ex. "G"). The suspension letter reads as follows:
(Doc. 59, Ex. "17"). The suspension letter, dated June 9, 2015, was signed by DeAndrea. (See id. ). Pursuant to the cited section of the Towing Service Requirements, towing services can be suspended for (Doc. 59, Ex. "9", § 1.06(C)(6)). The suspension letter was delivered by DeAndrea to DeLuca's husband Richard on June 9, 2015. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 90; Doc. 70, ¶ 90).
The following day, June 10, 2015, two local newspapers reported on the suspension of DeLuca's Auto Repair. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 93; Doc. 70, ¶ 93). An article appearing in the Times Leader stated that "Mayor Joe Yannuzzi did acknowledge that tower Cynthia DeLuca had supported a woman he considered his opponent in May's primary election, and criticized her for that support." (Doc. 59, Ex. "11"). The article goes on:
(Id. ). Yannuzzi, however, testified that it was incorrectly reported that he criticized DeLuca for supporting Cuozzo. (See Yannuzzi Dep., 64:5-14). But he did testify that DeLuca's employees did her campaigning for Cuozzo by driving her trucks around and that was "over the top." (Id. at 65:8-66:7). Yannuzzi though denies that DeLuca's support for Cuozzo factored into the suspension decision. (See id. at 71:3-6).
On June 12, 2015, Plaintiffs, by letter through counsel, responded to the suspension letter. (See Doc. 59-3, ¶ 107; Doc. 70, ¶ 107). Therein, Plaintiffs requested a hearing on the suspension and that the letter be "treated as an appeal from the suspension." (Doc. 59, Ex. "19").
After receiving Plaintiffs' June 12, 2015 letter, Yannuzzi and DeAndrea communicated with...
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