Mitchell v. Home
| Decision Date | 12 July 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04 Civ.9189 CM LMS.,04 Civ.9189 CM LMS. |
| Parties | Renee MITCHELL, Plaintiff, v. Victoria HOME, Nelly Ramirez, Individually and as an Employee of Victoria Home, Frank Bluszcz, Individually and as a Special Investigator of the Attorney General of the State of New York, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
George William Echevarria, Ossining, NY, for Plaintiff.
MEMORANDUM ORDER AND DECISION GRANTING DEFENDANT VICTORIA HOME'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT, GRANTING DEFENDANT FRANK BLUSZCZ MOTION TO DISMISS CERTAIN CLAIMS, AND DISMISSING SUA SPONTE THE CLAIMS AGAINST DEFENDANT NELLY RAMIREZ
The Amended Complaint filed by Plaintiff Renee Mitchell asserts federal constitutional claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as well as several state law claims stemming from the termination of plaintiff's employment and her subsequent criminal prosecution.
Defendant Victoria Home, a nursing facility in Ossining, New York, move to dismiss plaintiff's claims against it pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Defendant Frank Bluszcz, a Special Investigator ("SI Bluszcz") in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit ("MFCU") at the office ("OAG") of Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York ("Attorney General"), move to dismiss certain claims asserted against him in the Amended Complaint against him pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Defendant Nelly Ramirez has not moved to dismiss the claims against her.
For the reasons articulated below, I grant the motions of Victoria Home and SI Bluszcz and I dismiss the claims against Ramirez sua sponte.
For the purpose of this motion to dismiss, all non-jurisdictional facts asserted in plaintiff's Amended Complaint are assumed to be true.
Until her termination in 2000, plaintiff Renee Mitchell was a certified nurse's assistant at the Victoria Home ("Victoria Home" or the "Home"), a nursing home in Ossining, New York. Amended Complaint ("Am.Cplt.") ¶¶ 10, 29. That year, plaintiff asserts, another Victoria Home employee named Nelly Ramirez ("Ramirez") reported to Victoria Home officials that, on or about January 1, 2000, she had observed plaintiff physically abuse an elderly resident. Id. ¶ 17. Ramirez's report caused the Home to begin investigating plaintiff's alleged conduct. Id. ¶¶ 17, 21.
Plaintiff alleges that, shortly after Ramirez made the report, Victoria Home employees interviewed plaintiff about the alleged incident. Id. ¶ 22. Although plaintiff denied any wrongdoing, the Home fired plaintiff shortly after the incident. Id. ¶¶ 23, 29. Plaintiff claims that Ramirez's report was "inaccurate, misleading and/or false," and that various Victoria Home employees, including Ramirez, conspired to exaggerate the incident to "insulate themselves from potential liability" and to justify plaintiff's termination. Id. ¶¶ 33, 34.
The Amended Complaint states that the Home thereafter reported plaintiff's alleged misconduct to the New York State Department of Health ("DOH"). Id. ¶ 37 Consequently, the OAG's MFCU began an investigation and, according to plaintiff, placed SI Bluszcz in charge. Id. ¶¶ 41, 42. According to plaintiff, SI Bluszcz, although aware of evidence exonerating plaintiff, sought to "exaggerate, magnify and distort" Ramirez's observations and "fabricate incriminating evidence" against plaintiff, and "conspired" with Ramirez and the Home to "bolster and magnify" Ramirez's accusations by, among other things, preparing a statement for Ramirez — namely, a supporting deposition — that "exaggerated and/or misstated" what Ramirez had observed. Id. ¶¶ 46-47, 49. Plaintiff alleges that the supporting deposition executed by Ramirez was written in English and was never translated into Spanish which according to plaintiff is Ramirez's primary language. Id. ¶¶ 54-56.
Plaintiff alleges that on October 3, 2000, the Attorney General then filed an accusatory instrument against plaintiff, consisting of an information signed by SI Bluszcz and of Ramirez's supporting deposition. Id. ¶¶ 51, 54; Exh. A. The accusatory instrument alleged that plaintiff hit and grabbed the elderly resident on the right side of her neck and chest, and that such conduct constituted willful violation of the New York Public Health law and regulations thereunder. Id. ¶¶ 57, 60.
A Press Release issued by the OAG on October 24, 2000, publicized Attorney General Elliot Spitzer's announcement that plaintiff had been arrested for physically abusing an 85-year-old female patient at an Ossening nursing home on New Years Day. Id. ¶ 64; Declaration of Martha A. Lee, dated May 27, 2005, Exh. B.1
The Amended Complaint alleges that on or about March 12, 2002, plaintiff was tried on the charge set forth in the accusatory instrument before a jury in the Village of Ossining Justice Court, Westchester County. Id. ¶ 65. Ramirez was called as the sole eyewitness against plaintiff and testified through a Spanish translator. Id. ¶ 66. According to plaintiff, Ramirez did not testify that she saw plaintiff hit the elderly resident, but rather that she saw plaintiff "push and hold" the elderly resident as the resident was trying to strike plaintiff. Id. ¶ 67. Ramirez also testified that she had not read the supporting deposition but that it was read to her and that she signed it because she was asked to do so and trusted the person who asked her to sign it. Id. ¶ 68.
The jury found plaintiff guilty, and on June 6, 2002, she was sentenced to 45 days in the county jail and three years probation. Id. ¶ 69; Declaration of George W. Echevarria, dated June 16, 2005, Exh. B. Plaintiff served 30 days of her 45-day sentence. Id. ¶ 70. Plaintiff appealed her conviction and, by order dated November 21, 2003, the Appellate Term reversed the conviction and dismissed the accusatory instrument. Id. ¶¶ 71, 72.
Plaintiff commenced this action by filing a complaint on November 19, 2004 (the "Original Complaint"), which named five defendants: Victoria Home; Ramirez, individually and as an employee of the Home; SI Bluszcz, individually and in his official capacity; Gerald Epstein, a Special Assistant Attorney General ("SAAG") in the MFCU of the OAG, individually and in his official capacity; and the Attorney General, individually and in his official capacity. See Original Complaint, Caption. The Original Complaint appeared to assert federal constitutional claims under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution via 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id. ¶ 75. Plaintiff also sought to invoke the Court's supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367 to assert state law claims for malicious prosecution, wrongful termination, defamation, abuse of process, false arrest false imprisonment, unlawful detention, and unlawful imprisonment. Id. ¶¶ 9, 74.
On April 8, 2005, SI Bluszcz, SAAG Epstein, and the Attorney General (the "Original State Defendants") moved to dismiss the Original Complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) and Victoria Home moved to dismiss the Original Complaint against it pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).
On May 2, 2005, plaintiff filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the Original State Defendants' and Victoria Home's motions to dismiss. On May 3, 2005, however, plaintiff filed the Amended Complaint, thereby superseding the Original Complaint and mooting the first motions to dismiss.
The Amended Complaint no longer names SAAG Epstein and the Attorney General as defendants, leaving SI Bluszcz, in his individual and official capacities, as the only remaining state defendant, and Victoria Homes and Ramirez as the other remaining defendants. See Am. Cplt., Caption.
The Amended Complaint contains four separate counts. Count I is denominated "42 U.S.C. § 1983 Against Individual Defendants," and "claims damages for the injuries set forth above against Defendants Ramirez, Victoria Home and Bluszcz" for violation of plaintiff's constitutional rights. Am. Cplt. ¶¶ 76-77 (Count I).
In Counts II through IV of the Amended Complaint, plaintiff seeks to invoke the Court's supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367 to assert state law claims for: defamation against Victoria Home and Ramirez (Count II); for unlawful termination against Victoria Home (Count III); and for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment against all three defendants (Count IV). See id. ¶¶ 7, 76-86. As for relief, via the Amended Complaint plaintiff continues to seek compensatory damages, costs and expenses, and attorney's fees. Id., "Wherefore" clause.
For purposes of analyzing a motion to dismiss, the pleadings should be read in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and the plaintiff's allegations as to the material facts should be taken as true. See Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 267, 114 S.Ct. 807, 810, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994); Cooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546, 84 S.Ct. 1733, 12 L.Ed.2d 1030 (1964); Easton v. Sundram, 947 F.2d 1011, 1014-15 (2d Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 911, 112 S.Ct. 1943, 118 L.Ed.2d 548 (1992). The court generally must limit its analysis "to the facts stated in the complaint or in documents attached to the complaint as exhibits or incorporated in the complaint by reference." Kramer v. Time Warner Inc., 937 F.2d 767, 773 (2d Cir.1991). In addition, the court may consider public records, including a state court's divorce decree, in deciding a motion to dismiss, even if that document was not incorporated in the complaint by reference. Taylor v. Vermont Dep't of Educ., 313 F.3d 768, 776 (2d Cir.2002); Cortec Industries, Inc. v. Sum Holding L.P., 949 F.2d 42, 48 (2d Cir.1991); Pani v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, 152 F.3d 67, 75 (2d Cir.1998); see also Blue Tree Hotels Inv. (Can.), Ltd. v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 369 F.3d 212, 217 (2d Cir.2004).
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