Lloyd v. Cannon
| Decision Date | 05 October 2022 |
| Docket Number | 4:21-cv-1476 |
| Parties | SUSAN LLOYD, Plaintiff, v. TIMOTHY CANNON, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Plaintiff Susan Lloyd filed pro se this action alleging a violation of the First Amendment, discrimination against a ‘class of one' in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, conspiracy to interfere with civil rights defamation, and infliction of emotional distress against all Defendants.
Before the Court are motions to dismiss filed by the following Defendants: Brouse McDowell and Lisa Whitacre (Doc. No. 32) Committee to Elect Becky Doherty and Judge Rebecca Doherty (Doc. No. 33); Judges Timothy Cannon, Cynthia Wescott Rice and Mary Jane Trapp (Doc. No. 34); Akron Legal News and Tracey Blair (Doc. No. 36); Jason Whitacre (Doc. No. 37); and Judge Rice for Justice (Doc. No. 66). Plaintiff filed motions to strike or, in the alternative, for leave to file a second amended complaint, as well as briefs in opposition to Defendants' motions to dismiss. (Doc. Nos. 38, 39, 40, 42, 50, & 67.) Also before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment against Akron Legal News and Tracey Blair (Doc. No. 41) and Plaintiff's motion for default judgment against Judge Rice for Justice (Doc. No. 59).
For the reasons that follow, this Court GRANTS all Defendants' motions to dismiss, DENIES Plaintiff's requests for leave to file a second amended complaint, and DENIES Plaintiff's remaining motions for summary judgment, default judgment, and to strike Judge Rice for Justice's motion to dismiss as moot.
Plaintiff's 54-page Amended Complaint centers on accusations of foul play stemming from a dispute with her former neighbor. That dispute was litigated previously in the Portage County Court of Common Pleas. (See Doc. No. 32-2 (docket from Lloyd v. Thornsbery, Case No. 2016CV00230).)[1]
Many of the allegations in the Amended Complaint are not relevant to the causes of action pled against the Defendants in this federal action. What follows, therefore, is a high-level overview of the Amended Complaint with a more detailed description of allegations that relate to this action. The allegations are assumed to be true solely for purposes of ruling on the motions to dismiss. The Court makes no findings on whether all of these events transpired as alleged. See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56 (2007) ().
In early 2016, Plaintiff purchased a house in Streetsboro, Ohio. (Doc. No. 31 at PageID# 317.) Her next-door neighbor was Joshua Thornsbery. (Id.) Thornsbery and Plaintiff did not get along. (Id.) Thornsbery and his friends damaged her property, threatened violence, and engaged in cyber-harassment. (Id.) Plaintiff is disabled, and Defendants and Thornsbery were aware of her underlying health condition. (Id. at PageID# 320.) Plaintiff sued Thornsbery and his friends in the Portage County Court of Common Pleas in March 2016 (the “Thornsbery Litigation”). (Id. at PageID# 317.)
Jason Whitacre is an attorney who represented some defendants in the Thornsbery Litigation. (Doc. No. 32-2 at PageID# 383.)[2] Judge Rebecca Doherty was initially assigned to that case but recused herself on November 29, 2018. (Doc. No. 31 at PageID# 317.) That case was reassigned to Judge Thomas Pokorny. (Id.) During that contentious litigation, Jason Whitacre sought to have Plaintiff banned from using her social media accounts while the case was pending. (Id. at PageID# 324.)
The Thornsbery Litigation went to trial in June 2019. (Id. at PageID# 317.) The jury found against Plaintiff on all counts. (Doc. No. 32-3 at PageID# 426.) Judge Pokorny sanctioned Plaintiff in the amount of $100,000 for frivolous conduct. (Doc. No. 31 at PageID# 318; Doc. No. 32-3 at PageID# 429.)[3]
Plaintiff had been represented at trial by attorney Bradley Hull. (Doc. No. 32-3 at PageID# 426; see also Doc. No. 31 at PageID# 329.) Judge Pokorny permitted Hull to withdraw after the trial but before the court journalized the verdict. (Doc. No. 32-3 at PageID# 426.) Sanctions were not awarded against Hull. (Id. at PageID# 427.)
Plaintiff appealed the verdict and related orders, including the denial of her post-trial motions, the granting of certain defendants' motions, and the sanctions award (collectively, the “Thornsbery Appeal”). (Id. at PageID# 317-18; see also Doc. No. 32-3.) Judges Timothy Cannon, Cynthia Rice, and Mary Jane Trapp of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District (together, the “Eleventh District Judges”) presided over the Thornsbery Appeal. (Id.) At some point, Plaintiff posted comments on what she terms the “official government” Facebook pages of Eleventh District Judges and Judge Doherty. (Id. at PageID# 322-24.) Those comments were removed, and Plaintiff was blocked from those Facebook pages. (Id.) Committee to Elect Becky Doherty and Judge Rice for Justice (the “Candidate Committees”) also removed Plaintiff's comments and blocked her from their respective Facebook pages around the same time. (Id.)
On January 29, 2021, the Eleventh District Judges affirmed the trial court judgment. See Lloyd v. Thornsbery, 11th Dist. Portage No. 2019-P-0108, 2021-Ohio-240. Plaintiff alleges that the Thornsbery Appeal opinion mirrors many of the arguments raised by Jason Whitacre in his appellate brief. (Doc. No. 31 at PageID# 317.) Thus, she asserts, the Eleventh District Judges failed to properly review the record, made factual inaccuracies, and lied about Plaintiff throughout the opinion. (Id. at PageID# 318-20, 330-55.) Jason Whitacre is also accused of making inaccurate statements about Plaintiff in Thornsbery Appeal filings. (Id. at PageID# 355.)
On March 3, 2021, Akron Legal News published an article written by Tracey Blair entitled “Portage Cty. Woman's conduct was ‘frivolous' in neighbor dispute” (the “Akron Legal News Article”). (Id. at PageID# 320.) The Akron Legal News Article reported on the Thornsbery Appeal opinion. (Doc. No. 32-4.)[4] In doing so, Plaintiff alleges that the Akron Legal News Article was inaccurate, harmful, and evidence of a broader scheme against her. (Id. at PageID# 320-21.) She also alleges that the law firm of Brouse McDowell served as the statutory agent for Akron Legal News. (Id. at PageID# 355.) Lisa Whitacre was an attorney at Brouse McDowell and married to Jason Whitacre. (Id.) Per the Amended Complaint, Akron Legal News, Tracey Blair, Brouse McDowell, Lisa Whitacre, and Jason Whitacre were obligated to - but did not - conduct an independent factual investigation before publishing any statements about the Thornsbery Appeal. (Id. at PageID# 357.) Jason Whitacre also allegedly published “information online that was not true,” which was republished by other news outlets. (Id.)
Generally, Defendants all are alleged to have harmed Plaintiff in numerous ways, including forcing her to leave the state of Ohio. (Id. at PageID# 327-28.) They also caused Plaintiff to represent herself pro se in the Thornsbery Appeal and in this federal lawsuit. (Id. at PageID# 330.)
Plaintiff requests: (a) restoration of her First Amendment rights by inclusion on official government web pages; (b) a public apology from all Defendants and their publication of the “true” facts regarding Plaintiff's litigation; (c) monetary damages in excess of $1 million; (d) training for all Defendants under the Americans with Disabilities Act; (e) an injunction against Defendants prohibiting future civil rights violations against Plaintiff; (f) a fine imposed on all Defendants for violating Plaintiff's civil rights; (g) disbarment of all those Defendants who are attorneys; (h) prosecution “of the above named individuals for their crimes against Lloyd”; (i) removal of all defamatory content; and (j) any other relief the Court sees fit, including declaratory relief. (Id. at PageID# 363-64.)
On July 29, 2021, Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit. (Doc. No. 1.) After several parties filed motions to dismiss Plaintiff's initial complaint, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to file the Amended Complaint on October 22, 2021. (Doc. No. 30.) Plaintiff filed her Amended Complaint on October 25, 2021. (Doc. No. 31.)
In November 2021: Brouse McDowell and Lisa Whitacre jointly moved to dismiss (Doc. No. 32); Committee to Elect Becky Doherty and Judge Doherty jointly moved to dismiss (Doc. No. 33); the Eleventh District Judges jointly moved to dismiss (Doc. No. 34); Akron Legal News and Tracey Blair jointly moved to dismiss (Doc. No. 36); and Jason Whitacre moved to dismiss (Doc. No. 37).
In late November 2021, Plaintiff filed several motions to strike and opposition briefs. (Doc. Nos. 38, 39, 40, 41, & 42.) She also sought leave to file a second amended complaint in the alternative. (Id.) Plaintiff also moved for summary judgment against Akron Legal News and Tracey Blair. (Doc. Nos. 41.)
On December 6, 2021, Committee to Elect Becky Doherty and Judge Rebecca Doherty filed their opposition to Plaintiff's motion to strike and reply in support of their motion to dismiss. (Doc. No. 46.) On December 16, 2021, Akron Legal News and Tracy Blair filed an opposition to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 47.) On December 20 2021, Brouse McDowell and Lisa Whitacre filed their opposition to Plaintiff's motion to strike and reply in support of their motion to dismiss. (Doc. No. 48.) On January 6, 2022, Plaintiff filed a motion to accept a...
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