Bell v. N.Y. State Dep't of Corr.

RANDY R. BELL, Plaintiff, v. NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION;NEW YORK STATE CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AND POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION INC.;ANTHONY ANNUCCI; MIKE POWERS; GREG FREDERICKS; JIM BLEU;TERRY PIKE; KEVIN ALDOUS; MICHAEL CALDWELL; CALVIN RABSATT;BRIAN MCAULIFFE; MIKE SOVIE; MICHELE O'GORMAN; JAMES BELL;SCOTT CLARY; STEVE GARABRANDT; TONY HARPER;CARL HEWKO; TOM PATNODE; and PATRICK GRAY, Defendants.

No. 1:17-CV-937

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

March 22, 2019

APPEARANCES:

RANDY R. BELL

Plaintiff pro se

5668 Eloise Cr.

P.O. Box 584

Osgoode, Ontario K0A 2W0

HON. LETITIA JAMES

Attorney General for the State of New York

Attorney for State Defendants

The Capitol

Albany, NY 12224

LIPPES MATHIAS WEXLER FRIEDMAN LLP

Attorney for NYSCOPBA Defendants

54 State St., Suite 1001

Albany, NY 12207

HELENA O. PEDERSON, ESQ.

Ass't Attorney General

THOMAS D. LATIN, ESQ.

DAVID N. HURD United States District Judge

MEMORANDUM-DECISION and ORDER

I. INTRODUCTION

Pro se plaintiff Randy R. Bell ("plaintiff" or "Bell") filed this civil action on August 24, 2017, alleging various federal and state claims related to the alleged unfair distribution of overtime assignments by his employer, Riverview Correctional Facility ("RCF"). He brings suit against various entities, New York State correctional officers, supervisors, and administrators, and union members. In total, the complaint includes twelve causes of action against twenty defendants.

Defendants include: New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision ("DOCCS"), individually as a state agency, in its official capacity and as a co-conspirator; New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc. ("NYSCOPBA"), individually, in its official capacity and as a co-conspirator; Anthony Annucci ("Annucci"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Corrections and Community Supervision; Mike Powers ("Powers"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, Former RCF Corrections Sergeant and present NYSCOPBA Executive President; Greg Fredericks ("Fredericks"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and local NYSCOPBA Union President (retired); Jim Bleu ("Bleu"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and local NYSCOPBA Union President (resigned); Terry Pike ("Pike"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator,RCF Corrections Officer and local NYSCOPBA Union President (resigned); Kevin Aldous ("Aldous"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and local NYSCOPBA Union President (current); Michael Caldwell ("Caldwell"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Deputy Superintendent of Security; Calvin Rabsatt ("Rabsatt"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, Superintendent of RCF (retired); Brian McAuliffe ("McAuliffe"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, current Superintendent of RCF; Mike Sovie ("Sovie"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Sergeant and NYSCOPBA union member; Michele O'Gorman ("O'Gorman"), individually, in her¹ official capacity and as a co-conspirator, New York State Labor Relations Deputy Director; James Bell ("J. Bell"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and local NYSCOPBA union representative; Scott Clary ("Clary"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, Former RCF Corrections Sergeant and current Corrections Lieutenant; Steve Garabrandt ("Garabrandt"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Sergeant and local NYSCOPBA union representative for the Sergeants; Tony Harper ("Harper"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and NYSCOPBA union member; Carl Hewko ("Hewko"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and NYSCOPBA union member; Tom Patnode ("Patnode"), individually, in his official capacity and as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Sergeant and NYSCOPBA union member; and Patrick Gray ("Gray"), individually, in his official capacityand as a co-conspirator, RCF Corrections Officer and NYSCOPBA union member (collectively "defendants").

Defendants can be grouped into two sets: (1) the "NYSCOPBA defendants," represented by Thomas D. Latin, Esq. of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP, and (2) the "State defendants," represented by Helena O. Pederson, Esq. of the New York State Attorney General's Office. The NYSCOPBA defendants include: NYSCOPBA, Powers, Fredericks, Bleu, Pike, Aldous, Harper, and Hewko. The State defendants include: DOCCS, Annucci, Caldwell, Rabsatt, McAuliffe, Sovie, O'Gorman, J. Bell², Clary, Garabrandt, Patnode, and Gray.

The NYSCOPBA defendants collectively moved³ under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 12(b)(1) & (6) seeking to dismiss plaintiff's complaint in its entirety for failure to state any claims upon which relief could be granted. Thereafter, the State defendants collectively moved under Rule 12(b)(1) & (6) seeking to dismiss plaintiff's complaint in its entirety for failure to state any claims upon which relief could be granted. While the two motions are not identical, there are many consistent arguments throughout both motions. Plaintiff opposed both motions and separately moved to amend his complaint. Both sets of defendants opposed plaintiff's motion to amend. All three motions have been fully briefed and have been considered on the basis of the submissions without oral argument.

II. BACKGROUND⁴

At all relevant times, plaintiff was a correctional officer employed by DOCCS, at RCF. He is a member of NYSCOPBA, which is the certified bargaining representative for the Security Services Unity of New York State employees, which includes all correctional officers and correctional sergeants employed by DOCCS.

NYSCOPBA and the State of New York entered into a Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA"). Bell details in his pleadings the relevant CBA voluntary overtime provisions. He was not satisfied with the system by which overtime was assigned at RCF and wanted DOCCS and NYSCOPBA to enter into a labor management agreement creating a new method of assigning voluntary overtime. Bell asserts that in 2013, he proposed an overtime assignment scheme to be used at RCF. Instead, RCF management, union representatives, and "corrupt officers" prevented the overtime proposal from being implemented by influencing a union vote.

According to Bell, implementation of his proposal would have stopped theft of overtime pay that occurred as a result of preferential overtime job assignments being sometimes given to or saved for more preferred officers. Further, union members threatened officers in the workplace not to report the overtime hiring corruption. Plaintiff also details incidents which took place at defendants' union meetings and events.

Bell filed two contract grievances with NYSCOPBA. Following the Step 2 hearings (agency level hearings) on both contract grievances, DOCCS denied the grievances.NYSCOPBA then advised plaintiff that it would not further pursue the grievances on his behalf because there was no contractual provision which permitted NYSCOPBA to unilaterally impose a membership-driven overtime labor management agreement upon DOCCS.

Plaintiff also filed three complaints with the New York State Public Employment Relations Board which, according to Bell, were wrongfully rejected for deficiencies.

III. LEGAL STANDARDS

A. Motion to Amend

Where, as here, "a plaintiff seeks to amend [the] complaint while a motion to dismiss is pending, a court 'has a variety of ways in which it may deal with the pending motion to dismiss, from denying the motion as moot to considering the merits of the motion in light of the amended complaint.'" Hamzik v. Office for People with Dev. Disabilities, 859 F. Supp. 2d 265, 273-74 (N.D.N.Y. 2012) (quoting Roller Bearing Co. of Am., Inc. v. Am. Software, Inc., 570 F. Supp. 2d 376, 384 (D. Conn. 2008)).

Under Rule 15, "a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave. The court should freely give leave when justice so requires." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2); see also Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962) ("In the absence of any apparent or declared reason—such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.—the leave sought should, as the rules require, be 'freely given.'").

Bell's amended complaint, ECF No. 45-2, adds three new defendants: Scott Feldt, Troy Miller, and Tim Allen, all in their capacities as DOCCS employees. Plaintiff allegesthese individuals engaged in acts of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation beyond those included in the initial complaint. Bell also seeks to clarify his claims by adding and removing language throughout the amended complaint and by re-naming several of the claims from his original complaint. He has also added seven additional claims, bringing the total to 19 causes of action. The amended complaint spans 144 pages, a marked increase from his initial 86 page complaint.

B. Amended Complaint

The amended complaint includes the following causes of action: (1) breach of contract (neglect to ensure equal overtime distribution), against all defendants except Hewko, Patnode, and Gray; (2) breach of contract (tortious interference), against all defendants; (3) 42 U.S.C. § 1983, violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, against all defendants; (4) ...