Kraft v. City of New York, 07 Civ. 02978(DC).

• Decision Date: 21 April 2010
• Docket Number: No. 07 Civ. 02978(DC).,07 Civ. 02978(DC).
• Citation: 696 F. Supp.2d 403
• Parties: Timothy KRAFT, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

696 F. Supp.2d 403

Timothy KRAFT, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Defendants.

No. 07 Civ. 02978(DC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 18, 2010.

Opinion Denying Reconsideration April 21, 2010.

Rose M. Weber, Esq., New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Michael A. Cardozo, Esq., Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, by Elizabeth A. Wells, Esq., Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York, NY, for City of New York Defendants.

Hoey, King, Toker & Epstein, by Glen H. Parker, Esq., Danielle M. Dandrige, Esq., New York, NY, Attorneys for Common Ground Community Defendants.

Lester, Schwab, Katz & Dwyer LLP, by Thomas A. Catalano, Esq., New York, NY, Attorneys for Center for the Urban Community Services Defendants.

OPINION

CHIN, District Judge.

On May 18, 2006, plaintiff Timothy Kraft was transported by members of the New York City Police Department (the "NYPD") and the New York City Fire Department (the "FDNY") to Bellevue Hospital following two different incidents with a tenant and staff at his apartment building. Doctors at Bellevue Hospital kept plaintiff overnight for observation and later admitted him over his objection to the psychiatric ward, where he remained until his discharge on May 23, 2006.

In this case, Kraft sues the City of New York (the "City"); Police Officers Brett Bara and Jose Bueno (the "police defendants"); the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation ("HHC"); Dr. Eli Greenberg, Dr. Fadi Haddad, and Dr. Alyson Maloy (the "doctor defendants"); Amy Cohen; an unnamed emergency medical services ("EMS") supervisor; Common Ground Community H.D.F.C., Inc. ("CGC"), Oretha Franklin, Michael Giordano, Rosanne Haggerty, and Nancy Porcaro (collectively the "CGC defendants"); and the Center for Urban Community Services ("CUCS"), Stacy Neri, and Dawn Bradford (collectively the "CUCS defendants") for damages arising out of his purportedly wrongful transport and admission to Bellevue Hospital. He asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law.

Defendants move for summary judgment dismissing all claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons that follow, defendants' motions are granted, and the complaint is dismissed.

BACKGROUND

A. The Facts

On a motion for summary judgment, the Court construes the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. The following facts are drawn from the exhibits, declarations, and deposition transcripts submitted by the parties. Conflicts in the evidence have been resolved in plaintiff's favor.

Plaintiff resided at the Prince George, a CGC-operated residential building in Manhattan. (Pl. Dep. 5:1-5; Haggerty Dep. 23:10-18). CGC is a non-profit entity that owns and manages several residential properties for use in assisting the homeless. (Dandrige Decl. Ex. B at 1). CUCS is a non-profit social services organization that assists chronically homeless individuals, and it provides such assistance to residents at the Prince George. (Id.).

On May 18, 2006, plaintiff was involved in an incident with another tenant, Thomas Hansen, a wheelchair-bound individual who plaintiff saw get out of his wheelchair on many prior occasions. (Pl. Dep. 10-11). Plaintiff was walking out of the Prince George when Hansen (in his wheelchair) approached him and made insulting and threatening remarks. (Id. at 10:23-25, 14:1-12). Plaintiff "told him to go to hell" and continued walking up the block. (Id. at 15:7-8). Hansen pulled up along side plaintiff, stood up from his wheelchair, and hit plaintiff in the face. (Id. at 15:14-18). After plaintiff attempted to punch Hansen several times, he turned around and walked away. (Id. at 17:19-23). Oretha Franklin, a member of the security staff at the Prince George, witnessed plaintiff attempting to punch Hansen (id. at 94:7-95:7; Franklin Dep. 9-10, 31:13-32:19) and notified her supervisor, Michael Giordano, CGC's assistant director of building operations including security (Giordano Dep. 7:11-15, 8:23-9:3, 76; Weber Decl. Ex. M at NYC 0005).

Later that day, between 4:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., plaintiff exited the building, and Hansen, who was outside, started to threaten him again. (Pl. Dep. 89:9-14). Plaintiff approached Hansen, but Giordano stepped between the two men, telling plaintiff he could not hit Hansen. (Id. at 89:13-16, 104:1-3). Plaintiff tried to explain that Hansen had punched him in the face earlier. (Id. at 104:3-4). At that point, Giordano pushed plaintiff. (Id.).¹ Plaintiff again tried to explain the earlier incident, and Giordano said he did not care and pushed plaintiff again. (Id. at 104:4-5). Giordano proceeded to push plaintiff a third time, at which point, plaintiff pushed him back. (Id. at 90:1-7). Plaintiff then kicked Hansen's wheelchair and told him to get out of the chair, calling him a "phoney bastard." (Id. at 102:21-22). He then walked back into the building. (Id. at 102:23-25).

At that point, Dawn Bradford, a CUCS employee who had witnessed the incident, directed Franklin to call 911. (Bradford-Watt Dep. 4, 86-87). Giordano, Bradford, and Franklin informed Stacey Neri, a CUCS social worker, about the incidents involving plaintiff. (Neri Decl. ¶¶ 5, 10-13). After conferring with Bradford, Neri concluded that plaintiff should be evaluated at Bellevue's Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program ("CPEP") and called 911 again to follow-up. (Id. at ¶¶ 15-16).

Police Officers Brett Bara and Jose Bueno of the NYPD arrived at the Prince George and gathered information from Neri, Giordano, Hansen, and plaintiff. (Pl. Dep. 137-40; Bara Dep. 29-30). Plaintiff overheard Neri tell the officers that plaintiff had beat up a man in a wheelchair unprovoked. (Pl. Dep. 125:14-22). Neri further informed them that plaintiff "had become verbally abusive to her" and "was not in the right state of mind at that point." (Bueno Dep. 27:25-28:7). The officers took formal complaints from both Hansen and plaintiff. (Wells Decl. Ex. M at NYC 0266-73). When the officers asked plaintiff to describe what happened, plaintiff raised his voice and spoke loudly, prompting the officers to tell him to calm down. (Pl. Dep. 140:10-12, 141:10-11, 142:9-10). Officer Bueno explained to plaintiff that EMS had been called and that he would have to wait for EMS to arrive and evaluate him. (Bueno Dep. 30:9-19). Plaintiff maintains that the officers told him to "go to the corner and stay there and don't move." (Pl. Dep. 127:19-20). Plaintiff did so. (Id. at 147:11-18; 148:23-49:4).

EMS arrived at approximately 5:14 p.m. (Dandrige Decl. Ex. O at NYC 0060). Two EMS workers spoke with the officers, Neri, and plaintiff. (Pl. Dep. 155-57). Neri showed plaintiff's file to the EMS workers. (Id. at 156:21-23). After some discussion, the EMS workers radioed for their supervisor to come to the Prince George. (Id. at 164:24-65:22). The supervisor arrived approximately ten to fifteen minutes later and spoke with the EMS workers, Neri, and the officers. (Id. at 165:23-25, 166:19-67:5). He then pointed east and said "let them over there decide." (Id. at 167:7-14). Plaintiff then walked to the ambulance on his own. (Id. at 168:10-69:4; Bara Dep. 44:20-22). The ambulance transported plaintiff to Bellevue Hospital where EMS escorted plaintiff inside to the admission desk. (Pl. Dep. 170:6-10, 175:1-11). Officers Bara and Bueno followed the ambulance to Bellevue, but did not enter the hospital. (Id. at 170:9-10, 176:8-9).

Dr. Greenberg was the attending psychiatrist in the psychiatric emergency room at Bellevue Hospital on the evening of May 18, 2006, and spoke with the EMS workers who transported plaintiff. (Greenberg Decl. ¶¶ 5-6). An unidentified medical student first interviewed plaintiff. (Maloy Dep. 59:22-60:3). The medical student spoke with Neri who informed her that plaintiff had punched a man in a wheelchair unprovoked and that plaintiff had been paranoid and irritable and was following staff members around the building. (Maloy Decl. ¶ 8; Wells Decl. Ex. N at NYC 0051). The medical student also spoke with plaintiffs neighbor, Cleo Capers, who stated that plaintiff had been more agitated over the past two years and had expressed having trouble with the staff in the building. (Wells Decl. Ex. N at NYC 0051). The neighbor, however, had never witnessed plaintiff start any trouble. (Id.).

Dr. Maloy then interviewed plaintiff together with the medical student. (Maloy Decl. ¶ 7). The interview lasted between fifteen and forty-five minutes. (Maloy Dep. 55:2-6). According to Dr. Maloy, plaintiff became very angry while describing what had happened that day. (Maloy Decl. ¶ 10). Dr. Maloy requested more references from plaintiff, explaining that because he only interacted with his neighbor occasionally, she felt more references were needed. (Pl. Dep. 186:25-88:4). Plaintiff refused to provide her with anymore references. (Id. at 187:16-20).

After interviewing plaintiff, Dr. Maloy determined the global assessment of plaintiff's functioning to be at a "thirty-five" out of "one-hundred."² (Maloy Decl. ¶ 11). She also found his affect to be "grandiose." (Maloy Dep. 55:16-18). She determined that plaintiff demonstrated poor judgment in the incidents involving Hansen and Giordano and that this judgment combined with his grandiosity could be a sign of hypomania or mania, a potentially dangerous condition if untreated. (Maloy Decl. ¶ 12). She concluded that plaintiff's symptoms interfered with his ability to engage in the community in a safe way. (Id. at ¶ 11). Dr. Maloy then presented plaintiff's case to Dr. Greenberg. (Id. at ¶ 11). At the time, Dr. Maloy was "leaning towards" recommending that plaintiff be kept for further observation. (Id. at ¶ 12).

Dr. Greenberg then interviewed plaintiff. (Greenberg Decl. ¶ 7). Based on his direct observations of plaintiff, Dr. Maloy's presentation, his own review of plaintiff's medical chart, the information from collateral sources, and his conversation with the EMS...