Fuller v. Carilion Clinic

• Decision Date: 21 May 2019
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 7:17CV564
• Citation: 382 F.Supp.3d 475
• Parties: Roger S. FULLER, Jr., Plaintiff, v. CARILION CLINIC, Carilion Chief of Police Steve Lugar, and Carilion Police Capt. Ron Donelson, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia

382 F.Supp.3d 475

Roger S. FULLER, Jr., Plaintiff,

v.CARILION CLINIC, Carilion Chief of Police Steve Lugar, and Carilion Police Capt. Ron Donelson, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 7:17CV564

United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, Roanoke Division.

Signed May 21, 2019

John Michael Loeschen, Loeschen Law Firm, PLLC, Salem, VA, for Plaintiff.

Paul C. Kuhnel, LeClair Ryan, P.C., Roanoke, VA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

FREDERICK P. STAMP, JR., UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. Background

This civil action arises out of an alleged seizure of an employee by his employer's private police department. The plaintiff, Roger S. Fuller, Jr. ("Fuller"), filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, on December 20, 2017. ECF No. 1. The complaint alleged claims arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and pendent state claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. ECF No. 1. The defendant, Carilion Clinic, filed a motion to dismiss the complaint (ECF No. 3), and the plaintiff then filed an amended complaint. ECF No. 10.

In his second amended complaint, plaintiff Fuller asserted that he was employed by Carilion Clinic as a janitor and that he was at work when he found three burned, wooden stick matches and a signed piece of paper near the Carilion Clinic dentistry lab. ECF No. 38 at 4. Further, plaintiff Fuller indicated that he then notified the receptionist of the wooden stick matches and the signed piece of paper, and that Carilion Clinic police then arrived to investigate the incident. Id. Carilion Clinic Police and Security Services Department is a private police department maintained by Carilion Clinic and authorized by the Virginia General Assembly. Id. at 3.

In his second amended complaint, plaintiff Fuller alleged that Carilion Clinic police came to plaintiff's residence the following morning and staged a "surround and call out," a swat-style arrest tactic, before entering the plaintiff's home and taking him to the Carilion Clinic police station for questioning. Id. at 5-6. Next, plaintiff Fuller asserted that Carilion Clinic police coerced the plaintiff into confessing to lighting the matches. Id. at 6-7. Lastly, plaintiff Fuller alleged that the plaintiff was terminated from his employment at Carilion Clinic after he refused to meet with Carilion Clinic police without counsel present. Id. at 8. Counts I and II of the amended complaint are claims based on the alleged unreasonable seizure of the plaintiff's person by Carilion Clinic police. Id. at 8-11. Count III is a claim for false imprisonment. Id. at 14-17. Count IV is a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Id. at 18-21.

Defendant Carilion Clinic then filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim. ECF No. 12. The plaintiff filed a response in opposition to the defendant's motion to dismiss the amended complaint (ECF No. 16), and the defendant then filed a reply to the plaintiff's response in opposition (ECF No. 17). This Court then entered a memorandum opinion and order finding that: (1) any actions by Carilion Clinic police outside of the real property owned, leased, or controlled by Carilion Clinic were not authorized by Virginia Code § 9.1-101, and does not constitute as state action; and (2) assuming without deciding that Carilion Clinic police is a state actor, the plaintiff presented enough evidence that Carilion Clinic may be liable under § 1983. ECF No. 23 at 8-17.

The plaintiff then filed a motion to join additional defendants, Carilion Chief of Police Steve Lugar ("Chief Lugar") and Carilion Police Captain Ron Donelson ("Captain Donelson"). ECF No. 33. This Court granted that motion. ECF No. 37.

After completion of discovery, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. ECF No. 49. In their memorandum in support of summary judgment (ECF No. 50), defendants contended that "there is no evidence that the Chief of Carilion's police department ‘made a decision to arrest, interrogate, and imprison the plaintiff and that such a decision amounted to a constitutional deprivation’." Id. at 8. Defendants asserted that summary judgment is appropriate under the Pembaur "single decision" exception to respondeat superior liability. Id. Defendants further stated that plaintiff Fuller was never placed under arrest and the tactics used during the interview were not coercive, referencing their retained law enforcement expert, Carl Wyche. Id. at 9. Defendants indicated that without a custodial arrest or circumstances involving coercive interrogation, defendants did not perform a "public function" giving rise to liability under § 1983. Id. Similarly, defendants contended that since no arrest was made and since plaintiff was never falsely imprisoned, plaintiff's state law claims should be dismissed as a matter of law. Id.

Plaintiff Fuller filed a response in opposition to the defendants' motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 51. Plaintiff Fuller stated that Captain Donelson was acting in performance of his official duties, outside of Carilion Clinic's jurisdiction, when going to plaintiff Fuller's home at the direction of Chief Lugar. ECF No. 52 at 7. In response to defendants' argument that Carilion Clinic police did not perform a "public function," plaintiff Fuller stated that the public function test is not specific as to what duties or jobs the individual officers performed, but whether they are exclusively authorized to act in the first place. Id. at 10. According to plaintiff Fuller, Captain Donelson was dispatched by Chief Lugar to plaintiff's home in furtherance of an investigation, which was consistent with the officer's authority granted by the Virginia General Assembly to deter and prevent crime, and to safeguard life and property. Id. at 11. Moreover, plaintiff Fuller explained that plaintiff believed that he was under arrest and did not feel free to refuse to accompany the Carilion Clinic officers to the police station, reciting facts regarding the time, place, and purpose of the encounter by Carilion Clinic police, words used, general tone and demeanor, the presence of multiple officers, and display of a firearm. Id. at 11-15. Lastly, plaintiff Fuller asserted that the following decisions, and omissions, by Chief Lugar, or his alleged delegee, Captain Donelson, as policymakers imputed § 1983 liability to Carilion Clinic: (1) authorization of plaintiff Fuller's arrest and transport outside of Carilion Clinic's jurisdiction; (2) failure to supervise the police interrogation of plaintiff Fuller, resulting in a deprivation of plaintiff's civil rights; and (3) a policy of regulating perceived employee misconduct under the guise of police investigation of potential or possible criminal activity.¹ Id. at 15-25.

Defendants filed a reply to plaintiff Fuller's response in opposition to their motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 54. The defendants first stated that the Court should decline plaintiff Fuller's attempt to revisit this Court's prior ruling that as a private police force, Carilion Clinic police cannot be acting under color of state law off premises. Id. at 1-2. Second, defendants contended that plaintiff Fuller cannot establish a policy on the part of Chief Lugar, or Captain Donelson, to treat plaintiff in an unconstitutional manner, eliminating respondeat superior liability on behalf of Carilion Clinic. Id. at 2-3. Third, defendants contended that Carilion Clinic police were not performing a public function when at plaintiff Fuller's home, because this Court has ruled that § 1983 liability cannot apply to Carilion Clinic's off campus activities. Id. at 3. Defendants explained that plaintiff Fuller was told that he was not under arrest and they contended that a reasonable person would not have believed that the setting was custodial. Id. at 3-4. Lastly, defendants stated that there is no policy at Carilion Clinic to use law enforcement in employment matters. Id. at 4-5.

II. Applicable Law

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, this Court must grant a party's motion for summary judgment if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A fact is "material" if it might affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute of material fact is "genuine" if the evidence "is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party." Id. If the nonmoving party "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial," summary judgment must be granted against the plaintiff. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In reviewing the supported underlying facts, all inferences must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issues of material fact. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548. "The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to come forward with facts sufficient to create a triable issue of fact." Temkin v. Frederick County Comm'rs, 945 F.2d 716, 718 (4th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1095, 112 S.Ct. 1172, 117 L.Ed.2d 417 (1992). However, "a party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

III. Di...