Paulone v. City Of Frederick .
| Decision Date | 17 February 2010 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. WDQ-09-2007. |
| Citation | 718 F.Supp.2d 626 |
| Parties | Joette PAULONE, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF FREDERICK, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.
Elizabeth A. Conklyn, Conklyn and Associates, Frederick, MD, for Plaintiff.
Daniel Karp, Karpinski Colaresi and Karp PA, H. Scott Curtis, Susan Howe Baron, State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Baltimore, MD, David Bruce Stratton, Jordan Coyne and Savits LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.
Joette Paulone sued the State of Maryland, the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners, and Sheriff Charles Jenkins for violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and related torts. Pending are Jenkins's motion to dismiss and Maryland's motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. For the following reasons, Jenkins's motion will be granted, and Maryland's motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
On the evening of July 31, 2008, Frederick County Police Officer McGregor stopped Joette Paulone-a deaf woman-on suspicion of drunk driving. Compl. ¶ 13. 1 Paulone was arrested after she failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the Frederick Police Department Headquarters. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. During her two and a half hour detention at Police Headquarters, Paulone repeatedly requested but was denied a sign language interpreter. 2 Id. ¶¶ 16-17. She was forced to sign forms even though she had indicated that she did not understand them. Id. ¶¶ 18-20.
Paulone was then transported to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, where she again requested and was denied an interpreter during her eight hour detention. Id. ¶¶ 23-24. The Detention Center TTY device, which would have allowed Paulone to make a telephone call, was not working. Id. ¶¶ 26-27. 3 Paulone asked that the TTY machine be plugged in to allow its battery to charge, but her request was ignored. Id. ¶¶ 27-28. She repeatedly asked how long she would be detained but could not communicate with the officers at the Detention Center. Id. ¶ 29. To gain her release, Paulone again signed papers without the help of an interpreter or an explanation of what she was signing. Id. ¶¶ 30-31. 4
On October 7, 2008, the Frederick County District Court put Paulone on 18-months of supervised probation, which included an evaluation for alcohol addiction and attendance at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (“MADD”) victim impact panel. Id. ¶¶ 39-40; Patrick G. McGee Aff. ¶ 4, Sept. 23, 2009. On October 8, 2008, Paulone reported for intake at the Division of Parole and Probation (“the Division”) and met with Krissie Smith-Alvey who noted that Paulone was deaf and needed an interpreter. McGee Aff. ¶ 5. Although Paulone was not provided with an interpreter during this initial visit to the Division, the case notes indicate that Paulone and Smith-Alvey were able to communicate. Id. ¶ 7; Compl. ¶ 41. 5
On November 10, 2008, Paulone reported for her initial appointment with her monitor, Lorraine Halpin, and sign language interpreter Joann Griffin at the Division's Drinking Driving Monitor Program (“DDMP”). McGee Aff. ¶¶ 5, 9. 6 On January 23, 2009, Halpin denied Paulone's request for a State provided interpreter at her mandatory MADD meeting and her alcohol evaluation, testing, and treatment. Id. ¶ 11. 7 On February 4, 2009, Paulone attended the required MADD meeting; Halpin received a letter verifying her attendance on February 10, 2009. Id. ¶ 12. On February 12, 2009, Paulone informed the City of Frederick, the Board of Commissioners, and the Division that she intended to file a complaint for disability discrimination. Id. ¶ 14.
On February 19, 2009, DDMP monitors and an interpreter met with Paulone, directed her to enroll in a six-week or 12-hour alcohol education class by March 17, 2009, and told her that the Division was not required to provide an interpreter for those classes. Id. ¶ 15. Paulone was given a list of eight different alcohol education providers and chose Project 103, a Frederick County Health Department program. Id. ¶¶ 15-17. 8 On March 11, 2009, Halpin reminded Paulone that she had to be enrolled in treatment by March 17, 2009. Id. ¶ 19.
On March 17, 2009, Paulone tried to register for a DUI education class at Crossroads 9 but was not permitted to register because she had not brought an interpreter. 10 Id. ¶ 20. Later that day, Paulone met with Halpin, 11 explained her unsuccessful attempt to register, and agreed to request that Crossroads provide an interpreter for her alcohol education classes. Id. Ex. C at 3, Ex. O. On March 25, 2009, Paulone sent a letter to Crossroads, requesting that it supply an interpreter for her DUI education classes. Id. Ex. O. On March 31, 2009, DDMP requested that the Frederick County District Court issue a summons for Paulone because she had not enrolled in an alcohol education class, a condition of her probation. Id. ¶ 22; Compl. ¶¶ 43, 45. A show cause hearing was scheduled for June 2, 2009. McGee Aff. ¶ 23.
In April 2009, Paulone informed the Division of her efforts to enroll in a treatment program and explained her problems securing an interpreter through Crossroads. Id. ¶ 24, Ex. S. 12 In a May 7, 2009 letter, Addiction Counselor Laura Dreany-Pyles informed DDMP that Paulone had enrolled in a DWI education class with Deaf Addiction Services at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; she was expected to complete it by June 3, 2009. Id. Ex. T. On May 29, 2009, Paulone met with Lucas, who reminded her about the upcoming show cause hearing. Id. ¶ 26. 13 At the hearing on June 2, 2009, the judge granted Halpin's requests to dismiss the probation violation charge against Paulone and allowed her probation to be unsupervised after she completed the alcohol education classes. Id. ¶ 27. On June 5, 2009, Paulone completed her alcohol education classes. Id. ¶ 28.
On July 10, 2009, the Maryland State Treasurer's Office received notice of Paulone's intent to file a claim against the State for “violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other things.” Sharon G. Barry Aff. ¶ 2, Ex. A at 2, August 24, 2009. On July 30, 2009, Paulone sued the City of Frederick, 14 the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners, the State of Maryland, and Charles Jenkins. Paper No. 1. On August 18, 2009, Jenkins filed a motion to dismiss, and Frederick County filed an answer. Paper Nos. 11, 13. On September 24, 2009, Maryland filed a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, and the City of Frederick filed an answer. Paper Nos. 21, 22.
Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), an action may be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint, but does not “resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses.” Presley v. City of Charlottesville, 464 F.3d 480, 483 (4th Cir.2006). 15 The Court “should view the complaint in a light most favorable to the plaintiff,” and “accept as true all well-pleaded allegations,” Mylan Labs., Inc. v. Matkari, 7 F.3d 1130, 1134 (4th Cir.1993), but the Court is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation,” Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986), or “allegations that are mere[ ] conclus[ions], unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences,” Veney v. Wyche, 293 F.3d 726, 730 (4th Cir.2002).
If the court considers matters outside of the pleading on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, it must treat the motion as one for summary judgment and provide all parties a “reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b). “When a party is aware that material outside the pleadings is before the court, the party is on notice that a Rule 12(b)(6) motion may be treated as a motion for summary judgment.” Gay v. Wall, 761 F.2d 175, 177 (4th Cir.1985). 16 Here, Maryland filed two affidavits and numerous documents as exhibits to its motion. The caption of Maryland's motion-to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment-also gave notice of possible resolution of the motion on summary judgment. Because Paulone knew about the pending motion for summary judgment, she could have presented her defense or requested additional time for discovery. 17 Accordingly, resolution of the claims against Maryland on summary judgment is appropriate.
Under Rule 56(c), summary judgment “should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In considering a motion for summary judgment, “the judge's function is not ... to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute about a material fact is genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
The Court must “view the evidence in the light most favorable to ... the nonmovant, and draw all reasonable inferences in h[er] favor,” Dennis v. Columbia Colleton Med. Ctr., Inc., 290 F.3d 639, 645 (4th Cir.2002), but the Court also must abide by the “affirmative obligation of the trial judge to prevent factually unsupported claims and defenses from proceeding to trial,” Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Football Club, Inc., 346 F.3d 514, 526 (4th Cir.2003) ( quoting Drewitt v. Pratt, 999 F.2d 774, 778-79 (4th Cir.1993)).
B. State of Maryland's Motion...
To continue reading
Request your trial