Gerhart v. Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.
| Decision Date | 30 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:17-cv-01726,1:17-cv-01726 |
| Parties | ELLEN GERHART, et al., Plaintiffs v. ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS, L.P., et al., Defendants |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
(Judge Kane)
Before the Court are motions to dismiss Plaintiffs' second amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) filed by: (1) Defendant TigerSwan LLC ("Defendant TigerSwan"); (2) Defendants Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., Sunoco Logistics, L.P., and Sunoco Pipeline, L.P. (the "Sunoco Defendants"); (3) Defendant Nick Johnson ("Defendant Johnson"); and (4) Defendants William Benson, Trooper Dunsmore, and Michael Ehgartner (the "PSP Defendants"). (Doc. Nos. 61-64.) For the reasons stated herein, the Court will grant in part and deny in part the motions.
Plaintiffs Ellen Gerhart, Elise Gerhart, Alex Lotorto ("Plaintiff Lotorto"), and Elizabeth Glunt ("Plaintiff Glunt") (collectively referred to herein as "Plaintiffs") initiated the above-captioned action by filing a complaint in this Court on September 25, 2017. (Doc. No. 1.) That eight-count complaint asserts claims of malicious prosecution, false arrest, abuse of civil process, nuisance, invasion of privacy, trespass, and violations of First Amendment and Equal Protection rights against numerous defendants. (Id. at 29-35.) On March 22, 2018, Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion to amend/correct their complaint. (Doc. No. 49.) The Court granted that motion on March 26, 2018, and Plaintiffs' amended complaint was deemed filed as of March 22, 2018. (Doc. No. 51.) Like the original complaint, Plaintiffs' eight-count amended complaint (Doc. No. 49-1) asserts claims of malicious prosecution, false arrest, abuse of civil process, nuisance, invasion of privacy, trespass, and violations of First Amendment and Equal Protection rights against numerous defendants. (Id. at 30-36.) On December 14, 2018, the Court granted the motions to dismiss Plaintiffs' first amended complaint asserted by various defendants and dismissed Plaintiffs' first amended complaint without prejudice to their filing of a second amended complaint that corrected the pleading deficiencies identified by the Court. (Doc. Nos. 57, 58.) On January 14, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the operative eight-count second amended complaint. (Doc. No. 60.) On January 28, 2019, Defendant TigerSwan, the Sunoco Defendants, Defendant Johnson, and the PSP Defendants filed motions to dismiss the second amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Doc. Nos. 61-64.) Those defendants filed briefs in support of their motions to dismiss on February 11, 2019 (Doc. Nos. 65-68), and Plaintiffs filed a brief in opposition to all four motions to dismiss on March 4, 2019 (Doc. No. 71). On March 18, 2019, the PSP Defendants, the Sunoco Defendants, and Defendant TigerSwan filed reply briefs in further support of their motions to dismiss. (Doc. Nos. 72-74.) In June of 2019, the Sunoco Defendants filed two notices of supplemental authority. (Doc. Nos. 75, 77.) Several of the parties filed additional briefing in January and February of 2020. (Doc. Nos. 83-1, 87-89.)1 Because the period for further briefing has ended, the motions are ripe for disposition.
The allegations in the second amended complaint stem from several incidents involving demonstrations in opposition to the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline on an easement over property owned by Plaintiff Ellen Gerhart in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.3 (Doc. No. 60.) These demonstrations occurred on March 29, March 30, and April 7, 2016, when tree-cutters began to clear trees on the easement. (Id. ¶¶ 21, 60-61, 101, 123-24.) In addition, Plaintiffs' allegations relate to an alleged surveillance and media campaign conducted by several defendants against two of the plaintiffs and their supporters based on their opposition to the pipeline construction. (Id. ¶¶ 143-49, 158-61, 164-69, 171-73.) Before turning to the events that prompted the instant action, the Court will describe the numerous parties to this action.
Plaintiff Ellen Gerhart resides at 15357 Trough Creek Valley Pike in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (the "Property"), which she owns with her husband, Stephen Gerhart. (Id. ¶¶ 3, 12.) On March 30, 2016, she was arrested on the Property during the demonstration in opposition to the pipeline construction and was charged with indirect criminal contempt and disorderly conduct. (Id. ¶¶ 101-02, 108.) The next week, on April 7, 2016, she was arrested again on the Property and charged with indirect criminal contempt and disorderly conduct after a separate confrontation with police and a tree-cutting crew. (Id. ¶¶ 110-14.)
Plaintiff Elise Gerhart also resides at the Property with Ellen and Stephen Gerhart. (Id. ¶¶ 3, 12.) She was present during the demonstrations on the Property on March 29 and April 7, 2016. (Id. ¶¶ 120, 123-24.) On both March 29 and April 7, she engaged in tree-sitting, which entails occupying a tree as a form of protest so that the tree cannot be cut down without seriously injuring or harming the occupant. (Id.) On April 7, 2016, while Plaintiff Elise Gerhart was tree-sitting, an unidentified law enforcement officer informed her that she would be charged with a crime. (Id. ¶ 129.) Subsequently, she was charged with summary and misdemeanor disorderly conduct. (Id. ¶ 130.)
Plaintiffs Alex Lotorto ("Plaintiff Lotorto") and Elizabeth Glunt ("Plaintiff Glunt") are supporters of the Gerharts who, with the Gerharts' permission, were on the Property on March 29, 2016 during the demonstration in opposition to the pipeline construction. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 5, 60, 61, 81.) Both Plaintiffs Lotorto and Glunt were arrested during the demonstration on March 29, 2016 and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal contempt. (Id. ¶¶ 68-70, 91-93.)
Defendants Lieutenant William Benson ("Defendant Benson"), Trooper Michael Ehgartner ("Defendant Ehgartner"), and Trooper Dunsmore ("Defendant Dunsmore") (collectively referred to herein as the "PSP Defendants") are officers of the Pennsylvania State Police. (Id. ¶ 7.) Plaintiffs allege that the PSP Defendants, along with several members of the Huntingdon County Sheriff's Office,4 were present on the Property during the demonstrations atthe Property on March 29, March 30, and April 7, 2016 and participated in the decisions to arrest and charge Plaintiffs, as well as their subsequent arrests, on those dates. (Id. ¶¶ 27, 60, 63, 65-70, 91-94, 105, 109, 114-16, 125, 129-33.)
Defendants Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. ("Energy Transfer Partners"), Sunoco Pipeline, L.P. ("Sunoco Pipeline"), and Sunoco Logistics, L.P. ("Sunoco Logistics") (all of which are collectively referred to herein the "Sunoco Defendants") are entities that are involved in the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. (Id. ¶¶ 13, 138.) Sunoco Logistics was a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, and Sunoco Logistics owned and operated Sunoco Pipeline, prior to April 28, 2017, when Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics merged.5 (Id. ¶¶ 6-6B.)
Defendant TigerSwan, LLC ("TigerSwan") is a private security company located in North Carolina that had previously been hired by Energy Transfer Partners to provide surveillance and other "military-style counterterrorism measures" during the 2016 Standing Rock demonstrations in the Midwestern United States. (Id. ¶¶ 10, 136.) Plaintiffs allege that Energy Transfer Partners hired TigerSwan to provide their services, including surveillance, social media engagement, and counterintelligence, in relation to the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline project in Pennsylvania. (Id. ¶ 138.)
Defendant Nick Johnson ("Defendant Johnson") is a social media consultant from North Carolina. (Id. ¶ 11.) Plaintiffs allege that Energy Transfer Partners hired Johnson to produce and disseminate content in opposition to the Gerharts and their supporters through social media and other online platforms. (Id. ¶¶ 150-52, 158-68, 172-73.)
As previously noted, Plaintiff Ellen Gerhart and her husband own and reside at 15357 Trough Creek Valley Pike in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (the "Property"). (Id. ¶ 12.) The Gerharts purchased the 27-acre parcel of land in 1983 and have since constructed their home on it. (Id.) The Property is substantially wooded and includes a stream, a small pond, and a wetlands area. (Id.)
On July 21, 2015, Sunoco Logistics, acting through Sunoco Pipeline, filed a Declaration of Taking in the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas pertaining to a section of the Property in order to facilitate the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. (Id. ¶ 13.) As a result of that filing, the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas granted Sunoco Logistics an easement over the Property (the "Easement").6 (Id.)
Over nine months later, on March 28, 2016, the day before the Sunoco Defendants began clearing trees on the Easement (id. ¶ 24), the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas issued an order (the "Court of Common Pleas Order"), stating, in pertinent part, as follows:7
Stephen Gerhart and Ellen Gerhart and any and all parties or persons acting in concert with them as well as any and all persons on property owned by Stephen and Ellen Gerhart or in the vicinity thereof are hereby restrained and enjoined pending further Order of Court from barring, preventing or otherwise interfering in any way with Sunoco Pipeline's access to the easement on the Gerharts' property. . . . Stephen and Ellen Gerhart and all persons acting in concert with them as well as all...
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