Valencia ex rel. Franco v. Lee

Citation316 F.3d 299
Decision Date21 January 2003
Docket NumberDocket No. 01-7327.
PartiesChristian R. VALENCIA, an Infant By his Mother and Natural Guardian, Teresa FRANCO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sung M. LEE and Shiu Chun Lee, Defendants, The City of New York, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

John M. Daly, Yonkers, New York (John E. Fitzgerald, Eugene S.R. Pagano, Alberto Casadevall, Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald, Yonkers, New York, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Margaret G. King, Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York, New York (Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, Larry A. Sonnenshein, Thomas G. Merrill, Dwayne C. Turner, Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York, New York, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellant.

Before: NEWMAN and KEARSE, Circuit Judges, and RAKOFF, District Judge*.

KEARSE, Circuit Judge.

Defendant City of New York (the "City") appeals from a judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, following a bench trial before David G. Trager, Judge, ordering the City to pay plaintiff Christian R. Valencia ("Christian"), an infant represented by his mother and natural guardian, Teresa Franco (collectively "plaintiffs"), $385,000, on the ground that the City had created a special relationship with Christian and had breached its duty to use due care with respect to his health. On appeal, the City contends principally that the district court erred in ruling (a) that the City owed a duty to plaintiffs, (b) that plaintiffs acted in reliance on any undertaking by the City, and (c) that any injury suffered by plaintiffs was attributable to the City. Because the federal claims asserted by plaintiffs were abandoned at a relatively early stage of this case, leaving only state-law claims against the City, one of which raises complex and unsettled questions of New York law, we conclude that the district court should not have exercised supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims. We therefore vacate the judgment, with instructions to the district court to remand the action to the state court from which it was removed.

I. BACKGROUND

To the extent pertinent here, the events and the early proceedings in this litigation, as set forth in two opinions of the district court, Valencia v. Lee, 55 F.Supp.2d 122 (1999) ("Valencia I") (granting in part and denying in part the City's motion for summary judgment), and Valencia v. Lee, 123 F.Supp.2d 666 (2000) ("Valencia II") (finding in favor of plaintiffs after trial), were as follows.

Christian was born in 1992. Until late 1995, he and Franco lived in a Brooklyn, New York apartment ("the apartment") owned and managed by defendants Sung M. Lee and Shiu Chun Lee (the "Lees" or the "landlords"). In 1993, medical tests revealed elevated levels of lead in Christian's blood. As required by New York law, those test results were reported to the City's Department of Health ("DOH").

On August 25, 1993, DOH sent two Public Health Sanitarians ("PHSs") to inspect plaintiffs' apartment. The PHSs took numerous lead readings and found 56 areas that tested positive for lead paint. They gave Franco a document explaining, inter alia, that her landlords would be sent a letter ordering them to rid the apartment of the lead paint within 10 days; that if the landlords did not comply, the City itself would have the lead abatement work done and bill the landlords; that the PHSs would continue to check the home until the abatement was completed; and that a DOH Public Health Advisor ("PHA") would visit the apartment to answer Franco's questions about lead poisoning and Christian's medical care.

On the following day, as well as on three other occasions during the next two years, a PHA visited Franco to give her counseling. The PHAs advised Franco as to, inter alia, an appropriate diet for Christian, the appropriate manner and timing of cleaning the apartment, Christian, and his toys, and the need for continued blood testing.

During a nearly three-year period following the PHSs' initial visit to the apartment in August 1993, little was done to accomplish the required lead abatement. In September or October 1993, the landlords placed plywood over some of the problem surfaces; this had no substantial abating effect. In November 1993, the City took charge of the job; but, despite numerous additional inspections by PHSs, the necessary work was not completed for more than 2½ years. On November 1, 1995, Franco and Christian moved out of the apartment; the lead abatement work still was not close to completion.

A. The Present Lawsuit

In 1996 and 1997, in a Head Start program and in school, Christian exhibited significant learning and behavioral problems. He continued to have such problems through June 1999, and as a result, he was required, inter alia, to repeat the second grade. Franco commenced the present action in New York State court in May 1997 on behalf of Christian against the Lees and the City, alleging that Christian's problems were the result of the lead paint in the apartment, the failure to have the lead removed, and the failure to provide adequate warnings as to the hazards of Christian's continued exposure to lead paint. The complaint alleged two federal claims, to wit, (a) that the City had violated regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Lead-based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4822 ("LPPPA"); and (b) that, under color of state law, plaintiffs had been deprived of rights secured by federal law and the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint also alleged several state-law causes of action, including claims of negligence, nuisance, breach of contract, misrepresentation, infliction of emotional distress, and failure to comply with and enforce local laws. Based on the presence of federal questions, the City promptly removed the action to federal court.

In the district court, the City answered the complaint in June 1997, and discovery ensued. The landlords failed to answer the complaint, and a default judgment was entered against them in July 1998. In October 1998, with discovery nearly completed, the City informed the district court that it intended to move for summary judgment dismissing all of the claims asserted against the City. In response, plaintiffs stated their opposition to the dismissal of state-law claims, but they "conceded that there [wa]s insufficient evidence to support the federal law claims." Valencia I, 55 F.Supp.2d at 125; see Letter from Alberto Casadevall, counsel for plaintiffs, to Judge Trager dated October 15, 1998, at 1 ("Based on discovery had to date plaintiffs are not prepared to pursue at trial any claims against defendant City ... based upon the ... `LPPPA'[]. Similarly, plaintiffs are not prepared to pursue at trial any claims against defendant City ... alleging a denial of federal rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.... Thus, plaintiffs are only prepared to try issues involving state and local laws.").

The district court held a pre-motion conference with the parties on October 28, 1998. The court indicated that although plaintiffs had abandoned their federal claims, the court would exercise supplemental jurisdiction over their state-law claims and would not remand the case to state court. In January 1999, the City served its motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of all of the claims asserted against it. Plaintiffs, consistent with their prior position, opposed dismissal of the state-law claims against the City and abandoned their federal claims.

In June 1999, the district court granted summary judgment dismissing the federal claims, based on plaintiffs' abandonment of those claims, see Valencia I, 55 F.Supp.2d at 125, and granted summary judgment dismissing all of the state-law claims except the claim that the City had failed to enforce local laws, see id. at 136. Following a discussion of whether plaintiffs could succeed on the failure-to-enforce claim, including the issue of whether the City owed plaintiffs a duty under New York law to use reasonable care in enforcing municipal regulations, see id. at 129-34, the district court concluded that triable issues of fact existed as to whether the City had created a special relationship with plaintiffs and whether it owed plaintiffs a duty because of that relationship, see id. at 132-34. The court ruled that the City was not entitled to common-law immunity with respect to such a claim.

B. The District Court's Decision After Trial

In July and August 2000, the district court conducted a seven-day bench trial on the claim that the City had created a special relationship with Christian and had breached its duty to use due care with respect to his health. In December 2000, the court issued its decision, Valencia II, 123 F.Supp.2d 666-94, finding that the City had negligently failed to fulfill its duty to protect Christian from lead poisoning and that that failure was a substantial factor in causing Christian's difficulties in school.

As to the existence of a duty on the part of the City, the court stated that, although "[t]he City is not normally liable for failing to properly fulfill its duties to the general public[, t]he New York Court of Appeals has carved out an exception to this rule ... where the City creates a `special relationship' with the plaintiff." 123 F.Supp.2d at 674. The district court noted that in Garrett v. Holiday Inns, Inc., 58 N.Y.2d 253, 460 N.Y.S.2d 774, 447 N.E.2d 717 (1983) ("Garrett"), the New York Court of Appeals had set out three tests for whether such a special relationship existed:

This "special relationship" can be established in one of three ways: (1) where the City "violated a duty commanded by a statute enacted for the special benefit of particular persons;" (2) where the City "voluntarily assumed a duty, the proper exercise of which was justifiably relied upon...

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