Carbone v. City of New Castle

Kimberlee Rae Carbone, Plaintiff, v. The City of New Castle; The County of Lawrence;Chief Robert Salem; Officer David Maiella; Officer Terry Dolquist;Officer Sheila Panella; Correction Officer April Brightsue;Correction Officer Niesha Savage; Commander Mark Keyser;Attorney Joshua Lamancusa; Jameson Health Systems;Bernard Geiser, M.D.; Kim Fee, Defendants.

2:15-cv-1175

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

February 3, 2016

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiff, Kimberlee Rae Carbone, has filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against numerous individuals and entities who were allegedly involved in her arrest and subsequent strip and cavity searches following a traffic stop in November 2013; to wit: the City of New Castle, the County of Lawrence, New Castle Chief of Police Robert Salem, New Castle Police Officer Terry Dolquist, New Castle Police Officer Sheila Panella, Lawrence County Corrections Officer April Brightsue, Lawrence County Corrections Officer Niesha Savage, Lawrence County Corrections Commander Mark Keyser, Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa, Jameson Health System, Bernard Geiser, M.D., and Kim Fee.

The following motions are pending before the Court:

(1) the LAWRENCE COUNTY DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM (ECF No. 31);

(2) DEFENDANTS THE CITY OF NEW CASTLE, CHIEF ROBERT SALEM, OFFICER DAVID MAIELLA, OFFICER TERRY DOLQUIST, AND OFICER SHEILA

PANELLA'S PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO FEDERAL RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 12(b)(6) (ECF No. 34);

(3) JAMESON HEALTH SYSTEM'S AND KIM FEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO FEDERAL RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 12(b)(6) (ECF No. 38); and

(4) the RULE 12(b)(6) MOTION TO DISMISS filed by Dr. Geiser (ECF No. 49).

The motions have been extensively briefed (ECF Nos. 32, 35, 38, 41, 42, 42, 50, 54, 52, 53) and accordingly are ripe for disposition.

I. Background

A. Factual Allegations

On November 3, 2013, Officer Maiella saw a man, later identified as Jason Monette, briefly enter an apartment and, upon exiting, get into the front passenger seat of Plaintiff's car, which was parked outside the apartment complex. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 23-25. As Plaintiff pulled away, Officer Maiella stopped the vehicle, allegedly because she did not apply her turn signal at least 100 feet before the intersection. Id. ¶ 26.

Fifteen minutes later, Chief Salem and District Attorney Lamancusa arrived on the scene and asked Plaintiff about the identity of her passenger and whether she possessed any drugs. Id. ¶ 29. Plaintiff identified her passenger and denied possessing any drugs, and then she invoked her right to remain silent. Id. ¶ 30. Lamancusa and Salem, however, did not believe the responses Plaintiff had given them. Id.

After informing Plaintiff that he smelled burnt marijuana coming from the car, Maiella arrested her for suspicion of DUI. Id. ¶ 31. A field sobriety test was not performed. Id. ¶ 32. Maiella proceeded to detain Plaintiff and search her incident to arrest, but he did not find any drugs on her. Id. ¶ 33. Maiella later obtained a warrant to search Plaintiff's car, but no drugs were found there, either. Id. ¶ 34.

Nonetheless, "Maiella and Dolquist transported the Plaintiff to [Lawrence County Correctional Center] at the direction of Defendants Lamancusa and Salem." Id. ¶ 36. Once there, "Maiella, Dolquist, and Keyser instructed Defendants Brightsue and Savage to strip search the Plaintiff." Id. ¶ 38. "Brightsue, Savage, and Keyser forced the Plaintiff to remove her clothing," and she was then "directed to bend over, spread her buttocks, and cough." Id. ¶¶ 39, 41. During a visual inspection of Plaintiff's vagina and rectum, Brightsue and Savage (incorrectly) believed that they saw a plastic bag protruding from Plaintiff's vagina, so Plaintiff was directed "to repeatedly prod her personal areas by inserting her fingers into her vagina to remove" the item, which was determined not to exist. Id. ¶¶ 43-44. Then she "was forced to once again bend over, spread her buttock, and cough while Defendants Brightsue and Savage again visually inspected her vaginal and rectal areas." Id. ¶ 45. All the while, Plaintiff was "crying hysterically and insisting that" she was not hiding anything in her body. Id. ¶ 46. After these visual inspections failed to uncover any drugs, Maiella "contacted Defendants Lamancusa and Salem to determine how to proceed." Id. ¶ 47. He was instructed to take Plaintiff to Jameson Hospital for an internal examination of her body cavities. Id. ¶ 48. At no point did Defendants seek or obtain a search warrant. Id. ¶ 49.

Plaintiff arrived at Jameson Hospital at approximately 7:24 p.m. Id. ¶ 50. Once again, she told Defendants that she was not hiding anything; she also told them that she "did not consent to medical treatment or an offensive touching." Id. ¶ 50. Over Plaintiff's objections, Lamancusa, Salem, Maiella and Dolquist agreed with Dr. Geiser and Nurse Fee that Plaintiff needed treatment "for a possible overdose, rectal packing and/or oral intake of a controlled substance." Id. ¶ 51. However, "Plaintiff refused treatment, refused to sign a consent for treatment form and once again adamantly denied concealing any foreign substance." Id. ¶ 52. She was neverthelessexamined. Although she did not display any objective symptoms that "would confirm a possible overdose, rectal packing or oral intake of drugs," id. ¶ 53, the procedure went ahead anyway. Plaintiff was restrained to a bed by her wrists and ankles, and Dr. Geiser performed an internal inspection of her vagina and rectum. Id. ¶ 54. Following the examination, Dr. Geiser told Salem and Lamancusa that he did not detect anything. Id. ¶ 58. At that point, Plaintiff requested to use the restroom, and she was told to squat over a chair and urinate into a bedpan. Id. ¶¶ 59, 60. While doing so, her genital area was partially exposed to Defendants after the privacy cover that was being used to shield her was mishandled. Id. ¶ 62. A sample of Plaintiff's urine was subsequently taken and the bedpan was examined for foreign substances, but none were found. Id. ¶ 63.

Since Defendants believed that "Plaintiff might have something located deeper in her vagina and rectum," id. ¶ 64, a CT scan was performed, the results of which were negative, id. ¶¶ 65, 66. During this time, "Lamancusa berated the Plaintiff by informing her that if she helped him by provid[ing] information regarding drug related activity the unreasonable and unconstitutional intrusion would end." Id. ¶ 67. In addition, the Defendants "harassed, mocked, and berated the Plaintiff by making derogatory remarks about her compromised position" and Lamancusa further mocked her "by asking her if she knew what prison felt like." Id. ¶ 68.

After the CT scan, Dr. Geiser performed a second internal examination of Plaintiff's vagina and rectum. Id. ¶ 71. Once he was finished, he instructed Fee and another nurse to assist him with another internal inspection of Plaintiff's vagina and rectum. Id. ¶ 72. Again, nothing was found. Id. ¶ 74. Next, the medical staff swabbed Plaintiff's vagina for testing. Id. ¶ 75. Maiella then returned to the room, unsecured Plaintiff from the bed, and advised her that she could leave. Id. ¶ 76. Hospital records confirm that she was discharged at 9:15 p.m. Id. ¶ 77.

The next day, Plaintiff returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with a sprained wrist. Id. ¶ 78. Two days later, she followed-up with her physician for pain and discomfort in her vaginal area. Id. ¶ 79. Later that same week, Plaintiff began seeing a psychologist, and she has since been treated for nightmares, mood disorder, difficulty sleeping, decreased intimacy, depression, and anxiety. Id. ¶ 80.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed this action on September 8, 2015. Each of the Defendants responded by filing partial motions to dismiss. Thereafter, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint, in which she asserts the following claims: "Fourth Amendment - Unreasonable Search and Seizure" against Lamancusa and Salem, Maiella, Dolquist, and Panella (the "Police Defendants") (Count I); "Fourth Amendment - Unreasonable Search and Seizure" against Brightsue, Savage, and Keyser (the "Corrections Defendants") (Count II); "Fourth Amendment - Unreasonable Search and Seizure" against the City of New Castle and Lawrence County (Count III); "Conspiracy to Violate Plaintiff's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights" against Jameson, Dr. Geiser, Fee, Lamancusa, and the Police Defendants (Count IV); "First Amendment Retaliation" against Lamancusa and the Police Defendants (Count V); "Fourteenth Amendment - Liberty Interest in Reputation" against Lamancusa, the Police Defendants, and the Corrections Defendants (Count VI); and "Fourteenth Amendment Substantive and Procedural Due Process" against the City of New Castle, Lawrence County, Lamancusa, the Police Defendants, and the Corrections Defendants (Count VII).

In the remaining Counts, Plaintiff alleges several supplemental state-law claims: negligence against Jameson, Dr. Geiser, and Fee (Count VIII); respondeat superior against Jameson (Count IX); battery against Jameson, Dr. Geiser, and Fee (Count X); falseimprisonment against Lamancusa, the Police Defendants, and the Corrections Defendants (Count XI); civil conspiracy against Lamancusa, Dr. Geiser, Fee, the Police Defendants, and the Corrections Defendants (Count XII); negligent supervision against Jameson (Count XIII); and intentional infliction of emotional distress ("IIED") against Lamancusa, Dr. Geiser, Fee, the Police Defendants, and the Corrections Defendants (Count XIV).

II. Legal Standard

A complaint may be dismissed for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). "To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is...