Ricchio v. Bijal, Inc.
| Decision Date | 10 June 2019 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 15-13519-FDS |
| Citation | 386 F.Supp.3d 126 |
| Parties | Lisa RICCHIO, Plaintiff, v. BIJAL, INC. d/b/a Shangri-La Motel; Ashvinkumar Patel; Sima Patel; and Clark McLean, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Cynthia D. Vreeland, Aaron Macris, Arjun K. Jaikumar, Eric L. Hawkins, Felicia H. Ellsworth, Jason H. Liss, Jillian Schlotter, Kathryn E. McEvoy, Lucy Heenan Ewins, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff.
David A. Sullivan, Law Office of David A. Sullivan PC, Fall River, MA, John B. Reilly, John Reilly & Associates, Attleboro, MA, Geoffrey M. Aptt, DarrowEverett LLP, Providence, RI, for Defendants.
Clark McLean, Middleboro, MA, pro se.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This is an action arising under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 ("TVPA") and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 ("TVPRA"). Plaintiff Lisa Ricchio alleges that she was taken hostage in June 2011 at the Shangri-La Motel in Seekonk, Massachusetts, by defendant Clark McLean, who raped and abused her for a period of several days. Defendant Bijal, Inc. owns the motel. Defendants Ashvinkumar and Sima Patel worked and lived at the motel at the time of Ricchio's alleged captivity. The complaint alleges, in substance, that defendants knowingly benefitted from the sex trafficking activities of McLean.
Bijal, Inc. and the Patels have filed a motion for summary judgment. For the following reasons, the motion will be denied.
Under Local Rule 56.1, a party moving for summary judgment is required to "include a concise statement of the material facts of the record as to which [they] contend[ ] there is no genuine issue to be tried," "with page references to affidavits, depositions, and other documentation." The statement of material facts submitted by defendants, who are the moving parties, does not satisfy that standard. Rather than identifying specific material facts with specific citations to the record, defendants instead provide blanket references to what they contend are "material portions" of various depositions. Although the motion could be denied simply for failure to comply with the rule, the Court has nonetheless attempted to determine, based on its own examination of the record, whether there is a genuine dispute of material fact.
The Shangri-La Motel in Seekonk, Massachusetts, is owned by Bijal, Inc. (Ila Patel Dep. at 16). Bijal is owned by Ila Patel. (Id. at 15-16). Ila Patel is married to Shailesh (Sunny) Patel. (Id. at 16). Ashvinkumar (Ashvin) Patel is Sunny Patel's first cousin. (Sunny Patel Dep. at 18). Ashvin Patel is married to Sima Patel. (Id. ).
Ila Patel bought the Shangri-La Motel with her then-husband in 1984. (Ila Patel Dep. at 17). In 1988, Ila and her husband established Bijal for the purpose of running the Shangri-La Motel. (Id. ). Ila's husband passed away in 1992. (Id. at 36).
Sunny Patel arrived in the United States in 1995. (Sunny Patel Dep. at 10). In 1996, he married Ila. (Id. ). After marrying Ila, Sunny started working with her at the motel. (Id. at 11). The two of them also began living together at the motel and remained living there until 2003. (Id. at 14).
In 2003, Ila and Sunny moved from the motel to a house Sunny had purchased, and Ashvin Patel and his wife Sima began working and living at the motel. (Ashvin Patel Dep. at 11, 29).1 Ila remained the motel's manager, and Ashvin and Sima performed cleaning and maintenance work. (Id. at 18, 20). At times, Ashvin and Sima would "fill in" for Ila and help check-in customers. (Id. ). In return for their work, Ashvin and Sima were paid a yearly salary by Bijal and provided with free lodging at the motel. (Id. at 26-28; Sima Patel Dep. at 29-31).
In 2010, Lisa Ricchio was living in Maine. She met a man named Clark McLean through one of McLean's "drug customer[s]" during the winter of 2010. (McLean Dep. at 24, 42). McLean did not tell Ricchio his real name, and instead told her that his name was "A," "Antoin Hobson," or "Adrian Hobbs." (Ricchio Test'y at 14; McLean Dep. at 25).
After meeting, McLean would call or text Ricchio from "time to time." (McLean Dep. at 89). McLean, who lived in Taunton, Massachusetts, would travel frequently to Maine for his "drug dealing" business. (Id. at 89, 98). He would see Ricchio while he was in Maine. (Id. at 89). The two eventually developed a relationship. (Ricchio Test'y at 13; McLean Dep. at 90).
In May 2011, Ricchio attended what she calls a "healthy living program" in Utah to "manage [her] chronic and daily pain, and to get off ... all my narcotics ... and all my medications." (Ricchio Test'y at 15). Ricchio and McLean continued to text and call each other while she was in Utah. (Id. at 19). Around the end of May, she "graduated" from the program and returned to Maine. (Id. at 20, 24).
On June 1, 2011, McLean called Ricchio and asked her to visit him in Massachusetts. (Ricchio Test'y at 22-23; McLean Dep. at 93). Ricchio contends that he was "very upset" and "crying," and that he told her that he had cancer. (Ricchio Test'y at 23). McLean denies doing so. (McLean Dep. at 94).
Ricchio drove to Massachusetts to see McLean. (Ricchio Test'y at 25-26). According to McLean, she met him on Pine Street in Taunton. (McLean Dep. at 167).
According to Ricchio, McLean told her to enter the driver seat of his car and begin driving. (Ricchio Test'y at 29).2 McLean gave her directions, and they ultimately arrived at the Shangri-La Motel. (Id. ).
McLean testified that he had previously stayed at the Shangri-La Motel for an "extended period" of approximately four months and was familiar with Ashvin and Sima Patel, although he did not know them by name. (McLean Dep. at 69, 70). When asked when his extended stay at the motel had been, McLean answered, "either, like, 1999, or 2000." (Id. at 71). Ashvin and Sima Patel, however, did not begin working or living at the motel until 2003. McLean also testified that he had stayed at the motel "give or take ten times probably" for shorter periods between the early 2000s and 2011. (Id. at 73). He also testified that he was friendly with the Patels and that they were familiar with each other. (Id. at 74).
When they arrived at the motel, Ricchio paid for a room for her and McLean. (Ricchio Test'y at 30; McLean Dep. at 103).
After checking in at the motel, Ricchio says that McLean took her car keys and her cell phone. (Ricchio Test'y at 31, 34). McLean denies doing so. (McLean Dep. at 179, 213).
According to Ricchio, later that night, McLean forced her to have oral and vaginal sex. (Ricchio Test'y at 39-40, 45). McLean contends that she consented to the sex. (McLean Dep. at 199-200).
Ricchio says that she then attempted to get out of the room while McLean started to fall asleep. (Ricchio Test'y at 47). According to her, she saw the "wife" that ran the motel directly outside of her room, that she begged the wife for help, and that the wife then brushed her aside, "kind of laughed," and "walked away." (Id. at 48). McLean then "burst[ ]" out of the room, grabbed her by the neck, and threw her back into the room. (Id. at 48).
McLean denies that Ricchio ever tried to escape, and denies that he ever beat her in front of Sima Patel. (McLean Dep. at 104-05). Sima Patel also denies having seen McLean beat or drag Ricchio, and denies that she ever pleaded to her for help. (Sima Patel Dep. at 99). Defendants contend that the Patels, who are native Gujarati speakers, did not speak English at all during the time period at issue, and speak only broken English now. (Tulsi Patel Dep. at 16, 24).
Ricchio and McLean appear to have remained at the motel until June 5 or June 6, 2011. (McLean Dep. at 171; Ricchio Test'y at 79).
During their time at the motel, according to Ricchio, McLean continued to rape her and abuse her both verbally and physically, including by putting a lit cigarette into her vagina. (Ricchio Test'y at 56-58). Eventually, McLean made clear to her that he intended to force her into prostitution. (Police Report at 6-7). She also says that he forced her to take pills, although the type of drug is unclear. (Ricchio Test'y at 52, 62).
McLean denies that he either raped or abused Ricchio, that he intended to force her into prostitution, and that he forced her to ingest pills. (McLean Dep. at 45-46, 90, 99-100). He acknowledges, however, that he sold her both cocaine and prescription pills while they were staying at the motel. (Id. at 45-46). He says that she was under the influence of narcotics "the whole time" they were at the motel. (Id. at 211).
According to Ricchio, she and McLean encountered Ashvin or Sima Patel on three other occasions during their time at the motel. On one occasion, she and McLean came across Ashvin in the motel parking lot, and that she saw McLean give him a "high-five" and tell him "[l]et's get this thing going again." (Ricchio Test'y at 60). McLean and Ashvin both deny it happened. (Ashvin Patel Dep. at 130).3 On another occasion, McLean and Ricchio saw Sima; McLean greeted her, and she said something to the effect of "long time no see." (Ricchio Test'y at 69). On a third occasion, Sima knocked on the door of the room that she and McLean were staying in and stated that they needed to pay more money for their stay. (Id. at 74). McLean later gave Ricchio money that she then paid to Sima. (Id. at 74). Sima testified that she would at times knock on guests' doors when they had not paid enough for their stay, but says that she does not remember whether she knocked on McLean's door during their stay. (Sima Patel Dep. at 94).
According to Ricchio, on their final day at the motel, McLean forced her to drive them both to her car, and then forced her to get into the car with him. (Ricchio Test'y at 80).4 Ricchio says that McLean then had her drive him to...
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