Dobson v. Central Carolina Bank and Trust Co., 1:02CV488.

• Decision Date: 22 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1:02CV488.,1:02CV488.
• Citation: 240 F.Supp.2d 516
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Matthew DOBSON, Plaintiff, v. CENTRAL CAROLINA BANK AND TRUST COMPANY and Jeannette Fox, Defendants.

240 F.Supp.2d 516

Matthew DOBSON, Plaintiff, v. CENTRAL CAROLINA BANK AND TRUST COMPANY and Jeannette Fox, Defendants.

No. 1:02CV488.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina.

January 22, 2003.

Stephen Ashley Boyce, Winston-Salem, NC, for plaintiff.

Allan R. Gitter, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Winston-Salem, NC, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BEATY, District Judge.

This matter is currently before the Court on Defendant Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company and Defendant Jeannette Fox's ("Defendants") joint Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [Document # 4], Also before the Court is Defendants' joint Motion for Allowance to File an Audiotape with the Clerk [Document # 6]. For the reasons set forth below the Motion for Allowance to File an Audiotape with the Clerk is DENIED, However, Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Relating the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, it appears that Plaintiff, an African-American male, entered the Rural Hall branch of Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company late on a Friday afternoon for the purpose of paying off his check protection line of credit and to make a deposit in a checking account. (Complaint, ¶ 8) In processing Plaintiffs transactions, the bank teller informed him that the line of credit payoff amount would be slightly higher than what was shown on his statement. (Complaint, ¶ 9) She explained this was because the bank's policy was to post transactions performed after 2:00 p.m. to the next business day and, therefore, the payoff would need to account for interest that would accrue until the transaction was posted on Monday. (Id.) Plaintiff then paid the balance due on his credit line and deposited $400.00 into a checking account. (Complaint, ¶ 10) Subsequently, Plaintiff asked to speak with the manager and was directed to Jeannette Fox. (Complaint, ¶ 9) Plaintiff wished to speak with the manager because he either did not understand or did not agree with the bank's policies regarding the determination of a payoff of his account based upon a posting of transactions performed after 2:00 p.m.

Plaintiff did speak with Defendant Fox and he asserts that, at the time of his discussion with her, she was aware of the two transactions he had just completed in the teller line. (Complaint, ¶ 10) The substance of Plaintiffs discussion with Defendant Fox is not entirely clear, but at some point Defendant Fox provided Plaintiff with the bank's customer service number so that he could address any concerns that he had with the policy relating to the determination of the payoff of his account. (Complaint, ¶ 12; Answer, ¶ 12) The discussion ended when Plaintiff left Defendant Fox's office to call the customer service number on a phone inside the bank. (Complaint ¶ 12)

Plaintiff makes no reference to how long he was on the phone, but Defendants assert it was approximately 15 minutes. (Answer, ¶ 12) At some point while Plaintiff was on the phone, Defendant Fox became suspicious of his continuing presence in the bank and called the Forsyth County Sheriffs Department to report that a "suspicious black male" was inside the bank "pretending to use the phone." (Complaint, ¶ 13) Defendant Fox then requested that an officer respond immediately. (Id.) Defendant Fox gave the dispatcher a description of Plaintiff and his car, including its license plate number. (Id.) In the meantime, Plaintiff ended his phone call, got in his car, and left the bank without incident. (Complaint, ¶ 12, 13, 14) A short distance from the bank Plaintiff was stopped by two Sheriffs deputies who ordered him out of his car with guns drawn and searched him. (Complaint, ¶ 14) Plaintiff was subsequently released after the officers discovered his bank receipts and determined that no laws had been broken. (Id.) Based upon the facts of this case, Plaintiff filed claims against Defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1982 seeking actual and punitive damages for racial discrimination. Plaintiff has also asserted a state law claim of slander per se against Defendants. Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [Document # 4] pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) is before the Court for consideration.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Defendants bring their Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) which provides, "[a]fter the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). The rule also states that "[i]f ... matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56 ...." Id. In a judgment on the pleadings setting, a court is strictly constrained to base its decision solely on information obtained from the pleadings. See Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner and Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir.1989) ("Judgment on the pleadings is improper when the district court goes beyond the pleadings to resolve an issue ...."); accord, Institute For Scientific Information, Inc. v. Gordon and Breach, Science Publishers, Inc., 931 F.2d 1002, 1008 (3d Cir.1991).

At the stage of the proceedings when this matter was initially presented, the Court was and is still not prepared to treat Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as a Motion for Summary Judgment. Therefore, the Court will consider only the pleadings filed by the parties in determination of Defendants' motion. For this reason, the Court will deny Defendants' additional Motion for Allowance to File an Audiotape of Defendant Jeanette Fox's call to the Forsyth County Sheriffs Department, which she made while Plaintiff was still in the bank.

As to Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, the standard used for a motion made pursuant to Rule 12(c) is the same standard used for motions to dismiss made under Rule 12(b)(6). Burbach Broad. Co. of Del. v. Elkins Radio Corp., 278 F.3d 401, 405-06 (4th Cir.2002). Consequently, the Court must "assume the facts alleged in the complaint are true" and draw all reasonable factual inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. at 406. In other words, "dismissal is inappropriate unless it appears beyond doubt that the nonmoving party can prove no facts sufficient to support [his position]." United States v. Matthews, 1997 WL 716443, at *1 (4th Cir. Nov. 18, 1997), cert, denied, 523 U.S. 1075, 118 S.Ct. 1518, 140 L.Ed.2d 670 (1998) (unpublished opinion).

III. DISCUSSION

The Court will first summarize Defendants' arguments with respect to Plaintiffs claims, and will then address each claim in turn. Defendants argue for Judgment on the Pleadings because they believe Plaintiff has not shown purposeful discrimination or any explicit violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and § 1982. Plaintiff disagrees with Defendants' interpretation of the statutes. With regard to section 1981, in order to support his claim, Plaintiff relies upon the analysis found in Callwood v. Dave & Buster's Inc., 98 F.Supp.2d 694, 707 (D.Md., 2000), wherein the requirements for establishing a prima facie case of discrimination were expanded to allow plaintiffs to establish a claim if they can show that "they received services in a markedly hostile manner and in a manner which a reasonable person would find objectively unreasonable." Furthermore, with respect to his § 1982 claim, Plaintiff contends that Defendant Fox acted on her assumption that he was either a criminal or engaging in some criminal activity which led her to summon the police based solely upon his race, thereby violating § 1982 by "wrongfully interfering] with his right to hold ... and convey ... his personal property." (Plaintiffs Brief in Opposition to Defendants' Motion For Judgment on the Pleadings, p. 14)

Defendants, pursuant to their Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, also request dismissal of Plaintiffs state law claim of slander per se, contending that none of Defendant Fox's statements fit within North Carolina's three-part definition of slander per se. Defendants further contend that even if Defendant Fox's statements constitute slander per se, Defendant Fox is entitled to qualified immunity because she made the statements to a member of law enforcement. Plaintiffs view is that Defendant Fox effectively "accused the Plaintiff of criminal activity" in that her statements indicate she "had obviously decided that the Plaintiff intended to rob the bank," and therefore the statements were slanderous per se. (Id., p. 15) In response to Defendants' assertion of qualified immunity, Plaintiff argues that Defendant Fox's statements were not made in good faith "because they were made with a reckless disregard for the truth and with a high degreee [sic] of awareness that they were probably false," and are therefore not shielded by qualified immunity. (Id., p. 16)

A. The 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Claim

Section 1981 prohibits intentional race discrimination in the making and enforcing of contracts with both public and private actors. 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The statute's protection extends to "the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship." 42 U.S.C. § 1981(b). Since Plaintiff does not point to any direct evidence of discrimination, the question becomes whether he has proffered sufficient circumstantial evidence to satisfy the burden-shifting framework for Title VII cases established by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) and refined in Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). Murrell v. Ocean Mecca Motel, Inc., 262 F.3d 253, 257 (4th Cir.2001). Under the McDonnell Douglas proof scheme, a plaintiff must...