Lewis v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 December 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 95-535 MMS.
• Citation: 948 F.Supp. 367
• Parties: Roni LEWIS, Plaintiff, v. J.C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC., a Corporation of the State of Delaware, Milton L. Draper, and Robert James Lyall, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

948 F.Supp. 367

Roni LEWIS, Plaintiff, v. J.C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC., a Corporation of the State of Delaware, Milton L. Draper, and Robert James Lyall, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 95-535 MMS.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

Argued November 20, 1996.

Decided December 6, 1996.

Rory Colton Godowsky, Green, Green, Godowsky & McFadden, Wilmington, DE, for plaintiff.

Stephen P. Casarino, and Diane M. Willette, Casarino, Christman & Shalk, Wilmington, DE, for defendants.

OPINION

MURRAY M. SCHWARTZ, Senior District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Roni Lewis ("Lewis") filed a complaint against J.C. Penney Corporation and two of its security guards, Milton Draper and Robert Lyall, alleging race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, violation of her Fourth Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and state law causes of action including defamation, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343 and 1367. Lewis' claims stem from her being falsely accused of shoplifting while at J.C. Penney. Before the Court is defendants' motion for summary judgment as to all claims. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant defendants' motion in its entirety.

FACTS

On November 30, 1994, Lewis and her friend Linda Sebell ("Sebell") went shopping at a J.C. Penney store located in the Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware. A6, 60; B2.¹ Lewis and Sebell are co-workers at the U.S. Post Office. A4, 58-59. Lewis is black and Sebell is white. A47. They were accompanied by three children: Lewis' daughter JaVee O'Neal ("JaVee"), age 6, Lewis' son Kenneth Brown, age 15, and Kenneth's best friend Richard McDonough, age 14. A4-5; B3-4. The boys went off by themselves soon after arriving at the mall, while JaVee remained with Lewis and Sebell. A7, 64; B4.

The two women made a number of purchases at J.C. Penney. A8, 65-66; B5-6. Each woman eventually consolidated her purchases, each into respective large bags. A66-67. Lewis and JaVee separated from Sebell for part of the shopping trip. A17-18. The two women shopped until the store closed. A71. Pursuant to a pre-arranged plan, Kenneth and Richard were waiting outside the exit door of J.C. Penney when Lewis, JaVee and Sebell were let out of the locked door by a J.C. Penney staff member who was closing the store. A24, 71.

During Lewis' and Sebell's visit to the store, a store employee had become suspicious of the two women and alerted security. A126. There was no mention of the race of either woman in the original verbal report; however, race was mentioned in the report filed by defendant Draper after the incident. A126, B35-36. Defendant Draper began surveillance of the two women and, when Lewis and Sebell began to shop separately, he followed Lewis. A129. At that point, defendant Lyall followed Sebell. A103. Lewis and Sebell were followed because, in the guards' opinions, they displayed nervous behavior, avoided sales help and were shopping in darkened, deserted areas of the store. A103, 114, 134-135, 146. In his report filed after the fact, Draper commented that he noticed several black males waiting outside the exit door, apparently referring to Kenneth and Richard, B32-33.

Draper and Lyall approached Lewis, Sebell and the children after they left the store, as the group was approaching Lewis' car. A26, 71; B13. The two women were asked to return to the store for the guards to inspect their bags. A33; B13. The children were not permitted to follow and remained locked outside the door. B14. The guards conducted the search near the entrance in full view of anyone walking in or out of the store instead of in the loss prevention office; the latter is the designated spot under company policy for a search of suspected shoplifters. B38.

At this point the parties' accounts begin to differ. Defendants assert Sebell cooperated with the guards, while Lewis did not. A33-34. Sebell allowed the guards to inspect her purchases while Lewis indicated she would not show the guards her purchases until they called the police and arrested her. A34. Finally, Lewis turned her bag upside down and dropped its contents on the floor. A39. The guard was able to recover receipts for all the items purchased by Lewis. A39-40. Yet, after ascertaining that Lewis' bags contained no stolen merchandise, the guard requested identification from her and questioned her about a discrepancy between the name on her charge card and the name on her work identification card.² A40-41. Lewis declined to answer the guard, stating "Why does it matter," and "It's none of your business." A42. After the guards indicated the women were free to leave, Lewis asked for and received some gift boxes, as had Sebell while waiting for Lewis. A43. One of the guards apologized to the women. A44. The incident lasted between ten and twenty minutes. A45, 83.

In plaintiff's opinion, on the other hand, the search of Lewis' packages was completely different from that of Sebell's. "The officer simply looked at Ms. Sebell's bag without asking that the bag be emptied and he glanced at the receipt." D.I. 29, at 6 (citing B21-22). Sebell asserted in her deposition that the guards more or less ignored her until Lewis pointed that out, and asked "Are you checking both of us?" A76. At that point, one agent made a cursory search of Sebell's bags, despite the fact that Sebell had accumulated far more merchandise than Lewis, and was therefore the more likely shoplifting suspect. A85-86; B20. Sebell felt she was searched only because she was with Lewis. B20. Lewis further stated that the guards were very hard on her and made her feel intimidated. A37. Her children were upset after watching the scene. A50.

After the incident, while both women spoke with the store's loss prevention manager, Mr. Ruiz, B26, 40-41, only Sebell received a gift certificate and an apology in the mail. B27. Mr. Ruiz admits he knew Lewis never received an apology. B42. Defendants explain Sebell actually came to the store to speak with Mr. Ruiz, demanded a written apology, and left her name and address with him. C7. On the other hand, when Lewis spoke with Mr. Ruiz by telephone about the incident, she disputed his statement of events and told him not to call her again. C5-6. She declined to give Mr. Ruiz her address. C6. Thus, even though the store manager wished to send both women a letter and apology, Mr. Ruiz did not know where to reach Lewis, and felt she had made it clear she did not wish any further contact with the store. C8. Lewis disputes Ruiz's account and notes J.C. Penney could readily obtain her address by looking up the records on her J.C. Penney charge card.

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment as to all counts of Lewis' complaint. In response to Lewis' claim of race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, defendants assert she has not put forth evidence to demonstrate that defendants intentionally discriminated against her because of her race, and she has not stated a claim that is covered by section 1981. In response to Lewis' claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, defendants urge Lewis has not adduced evidence to support the required element of state action necessary to bring a claim under section 1983. Defendants finally argue Lewis' state claims should be dismissed because supplemental subject matter jurisdiction should not be exercised upon the Court's award of summary judgment on Lewis' federal claims.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, and will be granted when, on the record before the Court, "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "In order to defeat `a properly supported summary judgment motion, the party opposing it must present sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find in its favor.'" Hampton v. Borough of Tinton Falls Police Dep't, 98 F.3d 107, 112 (3d Cir. 1996) (citation omitted).

In essence, the non-moving party must demonstrate a dispute over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit.... Moreover, in reviewing the record, we must give the non-moving party the benefit of all reasonable inferences.

Id.

Additionally, summary judgment is appropriate if, after discovery is taken, a party can not put forth any facts establishing a required element of its cause of action. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In such a case, "there can be `no genuine issue as to any material fact' since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.

II. 42 U.S.C. § 1981

The text of section 1981 states in pertinent part:

(a) Statement of equal rights: All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.

(b) "Make and enforce contracts" defined: For purposes of this section, the term "make and enforce contracts" includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship.

(c) Protection against impairment: The rights protected by this section are protected against impairment by nongovernmental discrimination and impairment under color of state law.

Subsections (b) and (c) of the statute are recent amendments pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Subsection (b) is in part a response to the Supreme Court's...