Nannay v. Rowan College

• Decision Date: 30 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. 98-3672.,CIV. A. 98-3672.
• Citation: 101 F.Supp.2d 272
• Parties: Grace M. NANNAY, etc., Plaintiff, v. ROWAN COLLEGE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

Page 272

101 F.Supp.2d 272

Grace M. NANNAY, etc., Plaintiff, v. ROWAN COLLEGE, et al., Defendants.

No. CIV. A. 98-3672.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

June 30, 2000.

William C. Popjoy, III, Hoffman, Dimuzio, & Hoffman, Woodbury, NJ, for plaintiffs.

John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey by Joanne Stipick, Deputy Attorney General, Trenton, NJ, for State of New Jersey, Rowan College, Kevin Mannix, Pearl Bartelt, Frank Hogan, defendants.

Scott D. Samansky, Fishman & Callahan, P.C., East Hanover, NJ, for The Sports Authority, defendant.

William A. Riback, Camden, NJ, for Rene DeBosscher, Sarah Lonabaugh, Tammy Lonabaugh, Traci Lonabaugh, defendants.

OPINION

RODRIGUEZ, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on three separate motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the motion addressing the federal claims will be granted and the Court will decline to assert supplemental jurisdiction over any remaining claims.

JURISDICTION

The Complaint alleges that this Court has jurisdiction over this matter because relief is requested pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as it has been alleged that "the defendants violated several rights and immunities of Cindy Ann Nannay arising under the Constitution of the United States of America." (Complaint, p. 2, Statement of Jurisdiction.)

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case was filed as the result of a murder-suicide which occurred on the campus of Rowan College, now Rowan University, in Glassboro, New Jersey on August 12, 1996.

On August 12, 1996, Cindy Ann Nannay was a twenty-two year old student at Rowan College in Glassboro, New Jersey, and was a volunteer announcer for the college radio station, WGLS. (Complaint, ¶¶ 1, 2; State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 4.) For approximately one year prior to August 12, 1996, Cindy Ann Nannay had been involved in a relationship with and had been sharing living accommodations with Scott Lonabaugh, age twenty-eight and not connected to Rowan College. (Complaint, ¶ 3; State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 5.) Their shared living accommodations were in Gloucester City, New Jersey and in Thorofare, New Jersey. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 11.) It is apparent that the relationship was an abusive one. (Complaint, ¶ 4.)

The record reflects that on or about December 19, 1995, Gloucester City Police were summoned to the home of Scott Lonabaugh as the result of a complaint that he was threatening children in the street with a weapon. (Complaint, ¶ 7; Gloucester City Police Department Investigation Report, attached as Exhibit C to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion.) At that time, the police officers seized a .9 mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol, several rounds of ammunition, and a .177 pellet/BB rifle from Lonabaugh. (Complaint, ¶ 7.) As a further result of this incident, the Camden County Sheriff's Department and the Camden County Prosecutor's Office entered into a Forfeiture Consent Order with Lonabaugh, seizing Lonabaugh's weapons and ammunition. (Complaint, ¶ 8; Exhibit D to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion.) The State-issued permit held by Lonabaugh for the purpose of purchasing a rifle or shotgun was not revoked. (Complaint, ¶ 8.)

On April 30, 1996, the Gloucester City Police Department was summoned to a domestic violence incident at Scott Lonabaugh's residence. (Complaint, ¶ 10.) Lonabaugh had tied up Cindy Nannay and was threatening her with a knife. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 13; Gloucester City Police Department Investigation Report, attached as Exhibit B to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion.) As a result of the April 30, 1996 incident, Cindy Ann Nannay sought and obtained a restraining order against Scott Lonabaugh. (Complaint, ¶ 6; State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 14.) She subsequently requested that the charges and restraints be dropped, so the matter was dismissed. (Exhibit F to State Defendants' Counsel's Certification Submitted in Support of Motion; State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 15.)

Shortly after this incident, Cindy Nannay called defendant Frank Hogan, her manager at the radio station, at home and told him that she and Lonabaugh had had an argument, that Lonabaugh raised his voice and had tried to tie her to a chair. (Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Counsel's Certification in Opposition to State Defendants' Motion, Deposition of Frank Hogan, p. 14.) Hogan advised Nannay to consider getting out of the relationship and to take advantage of the counseling center at the college the following day. (Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Counsel's Certification in Opposition to State Defendants' Motion, Deposition of Frank Hogan, p. 14.) However, Cindy Nannay continued the relationship with Scott Lonabaugh and the two continued to live together. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 17.)

At some point, possibly in May of 1996, Scott Lonabaugh was treated for mental problems at the Shoreline Behavior Health Center in Toms River, New Jersey. (Statement of Rene DeBosscher, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Event Report attached as Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion, p. 5.) After his release from Shoreline, Scott Lonabaugh and Cindy Nannay took up residence with Lonabaugh's mother, defendant Sara Lonabaugh, and her boyfriend, defendant Rene DeBosscher, in Thorofare, New Jersey. (Statement of Rene DeBosscher, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Event Report, attached as Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion, p. 5.)

On or about July 30, 1996, Cindy Ann Nannay broke off her relationship with Scott Lonabaugh and moved out of the shared living accommodations. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 12.) She moved in with a woman named Bonnie who was affiliated with her Church. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 18.)

On August 1, 1996, Cindy Nannay met with defendant Pearl Bartelt, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Rowan College, and requested the college's assistance in providing her with housing. (State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 19 (relying on Exhibit J to State Defendants' Counsel's Certification in Support of Motion, Deposition of Pearl Bartelt).) At that time, Cindy Nannay advised Dean Bartelt that there had been some single "physical incident" which precipitated her needing housing. (Exhibit J to State Defendants' Counsel's Certification in Support of Motion, Deposition of Pearl Bartelt, p. 8.) Dean Bartelt arranged, through the Director of Residence Life, for Cindy Nannay to receive emergency housing on campus free of charge and for her to receive counseling through the campus counseling center beginning on August 5, 1996. (Complaint, ¶ 13; Exhibit J to State Defendants' Counsel's Certification in Support of Motion, Deposition of Pearl Bartelt, p. 10-11, 13.)

During this time, approximately two weeks prior to August 12, 1996, Scott Lonabaugh attempted to commit suicide, by cutting his left wrist. (Complaint, ¶ 5; Statement of Rene DeBosscher, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Event Report, attached as Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion, p. 5.) He was treated at Underwood Memorial Hospital and Crisis Intervention and released. (Complaint, ¶ 5; Statement of Rene DeBosscher, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Event Report, attached as Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion, p. 5.) At some point, Scott Lonabaugh lost his home due to a bankruptcy associated with his divorce, and he began seeing a psychologist. (Statement of Rene DeBosscher, Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office Event Report, attached as Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Opposition to The Sports Authority's Motion, p. 5.)

On or about August 4, 1996, Cindy Nannay again called Frank Hogan at home and told him that Scott Lonabaugh had hit her, and that she was going to leave him, and that Dean Bartelt had arranged for campus housing for her. (Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Counsel's Certification in Opposition to State Defendants' Motion, Deposition of Frank Hogan, p. 19-20.) Hogan again advised Nannay to seek counseling, and Nannay informed him that she had an appointment for the following day. (Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Counsel's Certification in Opposition to State Defendants' Motion, Deposition of Frank Hogan, p. 20.) Dean Bartelt then called Hogan at home and confirmed that she had made arrangements for Cindy Nannay to obtain campus housing. (Exhibit A to Plaintiff's Counsel's Certification in Opposition to State Defendants' Motion, Deposition of Frank Hogan, p. 20-21.)

On August 5, 1996, Cindy Nannay did meet with a counselor who urged her to file a complaint with Rowan's Department of Public Safety for phone harassment and who arranged a meeting with a representative of People Against Spousal Abuse to discuss Nannay's options, such as her right to file a complaint against her abuser and her right to seek a restraining order. (Affidavit of Cynthia Kammer submitted in Support of State Defendants' Motion; State Defendants' Statement of Material Facts, ¶¶ 22, 23.) On August 6, 1996, Cindy Nannay again met with the counselor who personally escorted her to the meeting with the PASA counselor. (Affidavit of Cynthia Kammer submitted in Support of State Defendants' Motion, ¶ 4.)

On August 9, 1996, Scott Lonabaugh purchased a 12 gauge shotgun from defendant The Sports Authority located in Maple Shade, New Jersey. (Complaint, ¶¶ 9, 11; Sports Authority's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, ¶ 1.) The sale was handled by a manager for The Sports Authority, Wayne Jacobsen. (Sports Authority's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, ¶ 4.)

In order to complete the purchase, Scott Lonabaugh presented two necessary forms of identification, his New Jersey Driver's License and his State of New Jersey...