Oliver v. City of New York

Decision Date22 February 2023
Docket Number19 Civ. 11219 (PGG)(JLC)
PartiesAKEEM OLIVER, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
ORDER

PAUL G. GARDEPHE, U.S.D.J.

In this action, Plaintiff Akeem Oliver - a New York City public school teacher -raises Section 1983 and discrimination claims against the City of New York (the City), the New York City Department of Education (“DOE”) and certain of its employees, and officers of the New York City Police Department (the NYPD). (Second Am Cmplt. (“SAC”) (Dkt. No. 41)) Plaintiffs claims relate to alleged discrimination he suffered at Tompkins Square Middle School (the “School”) and to his March 22, 2019 arrest.

The SAC was filed on August 13, 2020. (SAC (Dkt. No. 41)) On February 4, 2021, Defendants moved to dismiss, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Mot. (Dkt. No. 63)) This Court referred Defendants' motion to the assigned magistrate for a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”). (Dkt. No. 71) On February 15, 2022 Magistrate Judge James L. Cott issued a thorough 80-page R&R, recommending that Defendants' motion be granted in part and denied in part. (R&R (Dkt. No. 97))

For the reasons stated below, the R&R will be adopted in part and Defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND[1]

The R&R sets out the factual background of this case in detail. (R&R (Dkt. No. 97) at 5-17)[2] The SAC's factual allegations are briefly summarized below.

I. THE PARTIES

Oliver is a Black, male, special needs teacher at the School, where he began teaching in 2011. (SAC (Dkt. No. 41) ¶¶ 1, 44-45).

The SAC asserts claims against fifteen defendants. The R&R addresses the first set of defendants as the “NYPD Defendants,” and the second set of defendants as the “DOE Defendants.” The NYPD Defendants are

Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner of the NYPD (in his official capacity);
John L. O'Connell, Commanding Officer of the NYPD's Ninth Precinct (in his official capacity);
Josep Gonzalez, an NYPD sergeant (in his personal and official capacities);
Kenneth J. Taylor, an NYPD officer (in his personal and official capacities); and
• five unidentified NYPD Officers (in their personal and official capacities) (the “Unidentified NYPD Officers”).

The DOE Defendants are

• the DOE;
• the School;
• Carry Chan, Superintendent of School District 1 (in her official capacity);
Kristine Mustillo, Deputy Community Superintendent of School District 1 (in her personal and official capacities); and
Sonhando Estwick, the School's principal (in his personal and official capacities).
The fifteenth Defendant is the City.

(SAC(Dkt No. 41) ¶¶ 33-43)

II. THE FACTS
A. Pre-Arrest Events

The SAC alleges that Oliver experienced racist remarks and unfounded attacks on his reputation at the School. Among other things, Oliver complains that (1) Defendant Estwick told Oliver at a staff meeting that the School “had no plans to do anything in recognition of Black Elistory Month,” and referred to Oliver an “affirmative action hire' whose “radical views were not welcome at the [S]chool'; (2) Estwick and DOE spread rumors that Oliver “harbored ‘predatory' intentions toward . .. students,” and issued unsupported disciplinary letters that were placed in Oliver's personnel file; and (3) Estwick prevented Oliver from serving as a coach for after-school activities. (Id. ¶¶ 50-58 (quoting Defendants' alleged remarks))

In 2017, a School guidance counselor and a teacher spread a rumor that Oliver had an inappropriate relationship with a student, T.S. Estwick “refused to correct” the unfounded rumor. (Id. ¶¶ 59-64) This rumor led to an investigation, during which Oliver was reassigned to the “Rubber Room,... a room where teachers under investigation due to allegations of wrongdoing - regardless of whether these allegations are substantiated - must report and simply sit and idle away the hours.” (Id. ¶¶ 3, 65-67)

B. Oliver's Prior Claims Against Estwick and the DOE

Oliver has brought multiple legal proceedings against Estwick and the DOE. In 2014, he brought an arbitration claim “against Defendant Estwick, alleging a pattern of discrimination and harassment and seeking to change his negative teaching evaluation.” According to Oliver, he prevailed in the arbitration. That same year, he filed a complaint with the DOE's Office of Equal Opportunity “against Defendant Estwick for racial discrimination in the workplace.” The Office of Equal Opportunity conducted an investigation but closed the case in April 2018 without taking any action against Estwick. (Id. ¶¶ 53-55)

Following his 2017 assignment to the Rubber Room, Oliver filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) and a lawsuit, which named the DOE and Estwick, among others. (Id. ¶ 69) The lawsuit was settled on December 27, 2018. (Id.)

C. The March 22, 2019 Arrest

On March 21, 2019, G.C. - a female student at the School - reported that Oliver had “caressed” her arm and “said something to G.C. along the lines of T know you love me, or you know you love me,' which purportedly made her uncomfortable” (the “Alleged Incident”). (Id. ¶ 73) Without speaking with Oliver, Estwick and other DOE employees “immediately [reported] the Alleged Incident to G.C.'s parents and/or the NYPD, encouraging G.C. and her parents to report the Alleged Incident to the NYPD, and/or . . . encouraging the NYPD to arrest [Oliver] without first undertaking any investigation of the Alleged Incident.” (Id. ¶ 76)

On March 22, 2019, Superintendent Chan, Estwick, “other [School] staff, and one of G.C.'s parents met at [the School].” (Id. ¶ 78) After that meeting, [w]ithout investigating the incident, and without any evidence that Mr. Oliver posed any immediate threat, the NYPD, with Defendants DOE, Chan and Estwick's encouragement, decided to arrest Mr. Oliver.” (Id.)

Estwick entered Oliver's classroom, told Oliver that Superintendent Chan wanted to see him, and led Oliver to the School's entrance, where six NYPD officers arrested him. (Id. ¶ 79) Oliver was handcuffed and led on a “perp walk” through a “large group of parents, [School] staff, and students” to a police vehicle. Once inside the car, Oliver was told that he was being charged with “endangering a child.' (Id. ¶¶ 80-84 (quoting police officer's alleged remark)) Oliver was brought to the Ninth Precinct and detained in a cell for three and a half hours. The arrest report, which NYPD Officer Taylor allegedly authored, indicates that NYPD Sergeant Gonzalez approved Oliver's arrest for violating New York Penal Law Section 260.10 (Endangering the Welfare of a Child) based on G.C.'s allegation. (Id. ¶¶ 89, 92)

Oliver was released later that day. One of the arresting officers told Oliver that (1) the NYPD had investigated G.C.'s allegation by interviewing two student-witnesses, neither of whom corroborated G.C.'s allegation; and (2) the arrest was ‘unusual' in comparison to how the NYPD ‘typically' deals with similar allegations. (Id. ¶¶ 97-98 (quoting officer's alleged remark))

D. Post-Arrest Events

After Oliver was released, Estwick gave him a DOE letter stating that he had been reassigned to the Rubber Room pending an investigation by the New York City Special Commissioner of Investigation. (Id. ¶¶ 108-10) As a result of the Rubber Room assignment, Oliver lost income and lost opportunities to apply for additional responsibilities or a transfer to another school. (Id. ¶¶ 109, 115-16) Estwick also emailed parents of School students stating that Oliver “ha[d] been reassigned away from the school pending the results of an investigation.' Oliver contends that Estwick's email to parents was “not common,” was “unnecessary,” and effectively “broadcast” that he had been sent to the Rubber Room. (Id. ¶ 112-13 (quoting the alleged email))

On June 10, 2019, Oliver returned to his teaching duties at the School. Estwick apologized to Oliver for the arrest and said that - in ‘“turning [Oliver] over' to the police on March 22” - he ‘felt like [he] was walking [Oliver] to [his] death sentence.' (Id. ¶¶ 119 (quoting Estwick's alleged remark))

On June 11,2019, Deputy Superintendent Mustillo gave Oliver a copy of an investigation report containing students' anonymous allegations against him. Oliver alleges that District 1 - the school district in which Mustillo serves as a deputy superintendent, and which contains the School - conducted the investigation, after a referral from the DOE's Office of Equal Opportunity. (Id. ¶¶ 122, 125) Oliver denied the students' allegations, but in a disciplinary letter Mustillo informed Oliver that she rejected his account and had “adopt[ed] the students' allegations. (Id. ¶¶ 127-31)

E. Disparate Treatment

Oliver alleges that the DOE Defendants treated him - a Black man accused of improper behavior toward a student - much worse than similarly situated White teachers. According to Oliver, three White male teachers accused of similar or more serious misconduct -including a teacher whom G.C. had accused of misconduct - suffered no consequences. Two of these teachers were not investigated or disciplined in any fashion, while the third was investigated but not sent to the Rubber Room or otherwise disciplined. (Id. ¶¶ 134-45)

F. Monell Allegations Against the NYPD

Oliver alleges that [t]he NYPD's unlawful and ‘unusual' arrest of [him] is consistent with - and the result of - the NYPD's long history of profiling harassing, and abusing people of color, in particular Black males. Upon information and belief, Defendant City is aware of the NYPD's long history of profiling and abuse of Black males, which it has condoned and supported for years.” (Id. ¶ 100 (quoting alleged...

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