House of Providence v. Meyers
Decision Date | 05 May 2020 |
Docket Number | Civil Action No. 19-CV-13424 |
Citation | 458 F.Supp.3d 621 |
Parties | HOUSE OF PROVIDENCE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Bruce MEYERS, et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Nina M. Paolini-Lotarski, Joseph N. Ejbeh, Aloia & Associates, P.C., Mt. Clemens, MI, for Plaintiffs.
Kerry Lynn Rhoads, Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Novi, MI, for Defendant Bruce Meyers.
Kerry Lynn Rhoads, Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Novi, MI, Thomas J. McGraw, McGraw Morris P.C., Troy, MI, for Defendant Kallie Roesner-Meyers.
Anissa C. Hudy, Anissa C. Hudy, J.D., PLLC, New Baltimore, MI, for Defendants James Unis, Donna Unis, Cynthia Unis.
Paul M. Kittinger, R. Carl Lanfear, Cardelli, Lanfear and Buikema, P.C., Royal Oak, MI, for Defendants Barbara Blanock, Ginny Benson.
Lisa H. Litton, Michael J. Nolan, Denis J. McCarthy, Kohl, Harris, Nolan, McCarthy, Turkelson & Ogden, P.C., Metamora, MI, for Defendants Paul Warfield, Kathy Warfield.
Jennifer C. Hill, Robert B. Holt, Jr., Secrest, Wardle, Troy, MI, for Defendant Larry Roesner.
This matter is presently before the Court on (1) defendant Ginny Benson's motion to dismiss [docket entry 44], (2) defendant Barbara Blanock's motion to dismiss [docket entry 46], (3) the motion of defendants Bruce Meyers and Kallie Roesner-Meyers to dismiss and to strike [docket entry 50], (4) defendant Larry Roesner's motion to dismiss [docket entry 51], and (5) the motion of defendants Paul Warfield and Kathy Warfield to dismiss and to strike [docket entry 61]. Plaintiffs have responded to each of these motions and defendants have replied. Pursuant to E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(f)(2), the Court shall decide these motions without a hearing.
Plaintiffs Jason and Maggie Dunn are the owners and operators of plaintiff House of Providence ("HOP"), "a Michigan licensed Child Care Institution (a ‘CCI’ or ‘foster care home’) that houses, cares for, educates and provides mental and emotional therapy for foster care children, serving primarily African American children who are wards of the State of Michigan." Am. Compl. ¶ 7 (footnote omitted). Plaintiffs CD, GD, DD, LD, and MD are the Dunns’ adopted African-American children, and plaintiff ST is a disabled African-American adult for whom the Dunns are the general guardian. Id. ¶¶ 12-17. Plaintiffs allege that in 2016 HOP purchased a 118-acre parcel of land in Oxford Township, Michigan, in an area known locally as "Horse Country" or "Hunt Country," with the purpose of "split[ting] the Property into 4 parcels, building and/or renovating a residential house on each parcel: one for the Dunns, one for an all-girls foster care home, one for an all-boys foster care home and one for [a] disabled children[’s] foster care home." Id. ¶ 49. The all-girls home, which plaintiffs anticipated opening in January 2018, id. ¶ 50, was opened "nearly two years" later, id. ¶ 361, while "[t]he all-boys and disabled children[’s] homes are planned for the future." Id. ¶ 49 n.5.
The defendants, Bruce Meyers and Kallie Roesner-Meyers, James and Donna Unis, Cynthia Unis, Barbara Blanock, Ginny Benson, Larry Roesner, and Paul and Kathy Warfield, are Oxford Township residents. Id. ¶¶ 18-25. Plaintiffs allege that defendants, individually and collectively, have engaged in a campaign to prevent plaintiffs from using their property to construct and operate a CCI because defendants object to the presence of the Dunns’ African-American children and HOP's African-American foster children. Plaintiffs allege:
Id. ¶¶ 1, 3-6, 57, 59, 61, 67, 90-92, 102, 106, 113, 117-18 (footnotes omitted).
Defendants allegedly have interfered with plaintiffs’ efforts to split their property, see id. ¶¶ 127-70; gone to extreme lengths to prevent plaintiffs from operating a CCI on the property, see id. ¶¶ 172-87; insisted that state and local agencies strictly enforce environmental rules as to plaintiffs’ property, but not as to adjacent property owned by a Caucasian resident, see id. ¶¶ 189-220; falsely reported to state and local officials that plaintiffs’ property is contaminated with toxic waste (lead), see id. ¶¶ 227-71; opposed plaintiffs’ efforts to obtain a Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to pay for cleaning up the lead waste that defendants contend...
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