Rodrigues et al v. City of Brockton et al
| Djason Rodrigues, Danielson Rodrigues and Jason Mosley |
| City of Brockton, City of Brockton Police Department, Mayor Robert F. Sullivan, Chief Brenda Perez and Superintendent Mike Thomas |
| 1:2023cv12724 |
| November 10, 2023 |
| US District Court for the District of Massachusetts |
| Richard G Stearns |
| Civil Rights: Other |
| 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Civil Rights Act |
| Both |
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| Filing 14 Defendants' ANSWER to Complaint with Jury Demand by City of Brockton.(Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 13 Judge Richard G. Stearns: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered - The motion to dismiss having been ALLOWED in part and DENIED in part, the court enters the following pretrial schedule. Initial disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) must be completed by 1/29/24. All amendments to the pleadings and/or joinder of additional parties shall be completed by 3/29/24. The court will permit 30 interrogatories, 30 requests for admissions and 30 document requests without leave of court and expects those requests to be filed with the opposing counsel within 30 days of the initial disclosures (no later than 2/29/24). If the parties would like to participate in the court's mediation program, they must notify our docket clerk Arnold Pacho (617-748-9812) by 5/27/24 (it may take several weeks to get a mediation date). All fact discovery must be completed no later than 6/14/24. Dispositive Motions (if any) are due by 7/12/24, with Oppositions due no later than 8/2/24; a Reply may be filed only with leave of court. If a party intends to utilize an expert, they must file a notice on the docket no later than 5/24/24, in order for the court to consider whether an expert is appropriate (party must offer basic Fed. R. Evid. 702 and 703 information) and, if so, to alter the existing schedule. (Zierk, Marsha) |
| Filing 12 Judge Richard G. Stearns: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered granting in part and denying in part #5 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim.Defendants Robert Sullivan, in his capacity as Mayor of the City of Brockton (Mayor Sullivan); Brenda Perez, in her capacity as Chief of Police for the City of Brockton (Chief Perez); Michael Thomas, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools for the City of Brockton (Superintendent Thomas); and Jason Mosley (Officer Mosley) move to dismiss certain claims asserted by plaintiffs Djason Rodrigues (Djason) and Danielson Rodrigues (Danielson) as insufficiently pled or barred by the doctrine of qualified immunity. For the following reasons, the court will allow the motion in part and deny it in part.The court declines to dismiss the Monell and failure to train claims (Counts VIII & IX) asserted against Mayor Sullivan, Chief Perez, and Superintendent Thomas. The Complaint directly alleges that these defendants negligently trained or supervised Officer Mosley in the use of force; adopted a custom or policy of using excessive force against immigrants and students of color; and were aware of but ignored a pattern of use of excessive force by Brockton police officers. Compl. [Dkt # 1] paras. 51-55, 136-138, 142-145. Although it is true that the liability criteria for failure to train claims "are exceptionally stringent," Justinian v. Walker, 986 F.2d 11, 20, (1st Cir. 2020), and that, at the summary judgment stage, plaintiffs will be required to show that a specific deficiency in a training program was the "moving force" that caused the constitutional injury, City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 389 (1989), for pleading purposes these allegations suffice, at this early stage in the proceedings, to state plausible a claim for relief.The court similarly declines to dismiss the assault and battery (Count I), false arrest (Count II), and 1983 excessive force (Count VII) claims against Officer Mosley. The Complaint alleges that Djason was involved in an unspecified "minor altercation" with another student and that, after contretemps had already deescalated, Officer Mosley "abruptly and violently inserted himself into the situation" and attacked Djason. Compl. [Dkt # 1] paras. 58-59. Because the court must, at this stage, accept plaintiffs' version of events as true, and because an unjustified violent attack by a police officer would, if proven true, violate a clearly established constitutional right, an award of qualified immunity would be inappropriate.The court also denies the motion to dismiss Count II on the alternative basis that the arrest was supported by probable cause. To find that Officer Mosley had probable cause to arrest Djason, the court would need to rely on factual allegations outside the four corners of the Complaint (namely, that the minor altercation referenced in the Complaint entailed "Djason committing an assault and battery against a student," see Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt # 6] at 11) and impermissibly make adverse inferences against plaintiffs.The court allows the portion of the motion to dismiss directed to the negligence claim (Count IV) asserted against Officer Mosley. As plaintiffs concede, the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act "precludes a direct claim against Officer Mosley" under the circumstances presented here. Pls.' Opp'n to Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt # 11] at 15 n.4. The court cannot, however, dismiss the claim as applied to the remaining defendants. Defendants' argument for application of an exemption to liability rests on factual matters outside the scope of the Complaint and thus is inappropriate for consideration at the motion to dismiss stage. Finally, the court allows the motion to dismiss the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act claim (Count X) against Mayor Sullivan, Chief Perez, and Superintendent Thomas in their official capacities. As plaintiffs concede, municipalities are not persons within the scope of the statute. See id. at 16. (RGS, law3) |
| Filing 11 Opposition re #5 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM filed by Djason Rodrigues. (Perry, Timothy) |
| Filing 10 SUMMONS Returned Executed Jason Mosley served on 11/22/2023, answer due 12/13/2023. (Perry, Timothy) |
| Filing 9 NOTICE of Appearance by Stacey Klein Verde on behalf of Mike Thomas (Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 8 NOTICE of Appearance by Stacey Klein Verde on behalf of City of Brockton Police Department (Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 7 NOTICE of Appearance by Stacey Klein Verde on behalf of City of Brockton (Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 6 MEMORANDUM in Support re #5 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM filed by City of Brockton. (Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 5 MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM by City of Brockton.(Verde, Stacey) |
| Filing 4 SUMMONS Returned Executed City of Brockton served on 11/22/2023, answer due 12/13/2023. (Perry, Timothy) |
| Filing 3 Summons Issued as to All Defendants. Counsel receiving this notice electronically should download this summons, complete one for each defendant and serve it in accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. 4 and LR 4.1. Summons will be mailed to plaintiff(s) not receiving notice electronically for completion of service. (Barbosa, Nilsa) |
| Filing 2 ELECTRONIC NOTICE of Case Assignment. Judge Richard G. Stearns assigned to case. If the trial Judge issues an Order of Reference of any matter in this case to a Magistrate Judge, the matter will be transmitted to Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley. (Cook, Savannah) |
| Filing 1 COMPLAINT against All Defendants Filing fee: $ 402, receipt number AMADC-10128351 (Fee Status: Filing Fee paid), filed by Djason Rodrigues. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit 1, #2 Exhibit 2, #3 Exhibit 3, #4 Exhibit 4, #5 Exhibit 5, #6 Civil Cover Sheet, #7 Category Form)(Perry, Timothy) |
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