Evans v. Gloucester Twp.

124 F.Supp.3d 340

Crystal A. EVANS, Plaintiff,

v.GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, et al., Defendant.

Civil Action No. 14–7160 (JBS/JS).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

Signed Aug. 20, 2015.

Filed Aug. 21, 2015.

Vera McCoy, Esq., Blackwood, NJ, for Plaintiff Crystal A. Evans.

Douglas Diaz, Esq., Archer & Greiner, PC, Haddonfield, NJ, for Defendants Gloucester Township, Gloucester Township Police Department, and David R. Mayer.

OPINION

SIMANDLE, Chief Judge:

I. INTRODUCTION

In this action, Plaintiff Crystal A. Evans, a former Gloucester Township Councilmember, alleges that Gloucester Township ("the Township"), Gloucester Township Police Department ("the Police Department"), former Mayor David R. Mayer, and other municipal employees conspired to violate her rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution by fostering a culture of political retribution. Plaintiff also asserts several state law claims arising from the same alleged misconduct. Specifically, Plaintiff contends that Mayer and others in his administration subjected Plaintiff to hostility and harassment during council meetings, implicated Plaintiff in an alleged voting fraud scheme, orchestrated Plaintiff's arrest for stalking without probable cause, and participated in a sexually-explicit internet defamation campaign against Plaintiff. Plaintiff attempts to present this series of incidents as part of an expansive conspiracy directed by Defendant Mayer to squelch political opposition and as the product of a municipal policy or custom of political retaliation.

This matter comes before the Court upon a motion to dismiss by Defendants Gloucester Township, Gloucester Township Police Department, and David R. Mayer. [Docket Item 13.] Defendants argue that Plaintiff's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985 should be dismissed as untimely, that Plaintiff's state tort claims should be dismissed for failure to comply with the New Jersey Tort Claims Act ("NJTCA"), and that Plaintiff's claims are otherwise insufficiently pleaded. The Court must therefore determine whether Plaintiff's claims are barred by the statute of limitations or the notice requirements under the NJTCA and whether Plaintiff's allegations are sufficient to support her various claims.

For the reasons discussed below, the Court will grant Defendants' motion to dismiss.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

The Court accepts as true for purposes of the instant motion the following facts from Plaintiff's Amended Complaint. [Docket Item 11.]

Plaintiff Crystal Evans is a former Gloucester Township Councilmember and member of the Gloucester Township Democratic Party. (Am.Compl. ¶ 26.) Plaintiff served as a constituent caseworker for the New Jersey Fourth Legislative District under former state assemblyman and current Mayor of Gloucester Township, Defendant David R. Mayer from January, 2004 to January, 2008. (Id. ¶ 27.) During this time, Plaintiff developed a close relationship with Mayer and he nominated her as the Democratic candidate for Gloucester Township Council in 2007. (Id. ¶ 28.) Plaintiff was elected and served on Council from January, 2008 to January, 2012. (Id. ¶ 29.)

1. Alleged political retaliation while councilmember

Plaintiff alleges that shortly after entering office she fell out of favor with Democratic council members and party leaders because she refused to participate in unethical behavior and consistently opposed proposals she believed benefitted a small group of political insiders. (Id. ¶¶ 30, 40.) Before Plaintiff's first council meeting she was instructed by Township Clerk Rosemarie DiJosie¹ to vote in favor of a voluminous budget which Plaintiff did not have an opportunity to review. (Id. ¶ 31.) When Plaintiff objected, DiJosie explained that party leadership expected her "to do as she was told" and Gloucester Township Tax Assessor Chuck Palumbo allegedly "brow-beat" her in a private meeting to ensure a favorable vote on the budget. (Id. ¶¶ 32–35.) During the vote, Plaintiff stated on the record that she did not have time to review the budget and only voted in favor of it because she was told that failure to do so would result in the shutdown of essential city services. (Id. ¶ 36.) A few days later, Mayer, the acting president of the Gloucester Township Democratic Party at the time, "chastised" Plaintiff for "embarrassing the Democratic Party" and "belittled" her by suggesting that he made a mistake in supporting her run for council. (Id. ¶ 37.) Thereafter, Mayer and S. Daniel Hutchinson engaged in a series of character attacks which inhibited Plaintiff's ability to carry out her official duties and culminated in her dismissal from the constituent caseworker position in June, 2008. (Id. ¶ 39.) Plaintiff also observed Mayer "routinely instruct subordinate municipal officials to quash political opposition to unpopular measures" by subjecting individuals to fines, audits, and civil and criminal investigations. (Id. ¶ 41.) As mayor, Mayer encouraged other council members to "publicly deride Plaintiff in an effort to psychologically intimidate" and force her from office. (Id. ¶ 42.) Plaintiff completed her council term in January, 2012 and did not seek reelection due to the allegedly ongoing hostility and harassment. (Id. ¶ 43.)

2. Pay-to-play referendum

Plaintiff alleges that after leaving office she continued to experience harassment directed by Gloucester Township officials. (Id. ¶ 44.) As a councilmember, Plaintiff supported "South Jersey Citizens," a Gloucester Township watchdog group, in its effort to gather signatures for a referendum petition which sought to establish an ordinance limiting campaign contributions from municipal contractors. (Id. ¶ 45.) Plaintiff alleges that from March, 2012 to July, 2012, Mayer conspired with Gloucester Township Solicitor Howard C. Long and a legal assistant to the Gloucester Township Law Manager to fabricate a voting fraud charge against Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 46.) South Jersey Citizens submitted the petition signatures to Rosemarie DiJosie on February 19, 2012. (Id. ¶ 47.) Plaintiff contends that Defendant Marianne Coyle, a legal assistant in the Township Law Department, threatened an elderly constituent who had signed the petition, JoAnne Stallworth, with a lawsuit if she did not sign an affidavit stating that Plaintiff tricked her into signing the petition by saying it supported funding for a local recreation center. (Id. ¶ 50.) Ms. Stallworth allegedly signed such an affidavit at the law offices of Wade, Long, Wood & Kennedy, LLC in the spring of 2012. (Id. ¶ 52.) Plaintiff maintains that all three partners of this firm were members of Mayer's administration. (Id. ¶ 53.) The affidavit was leaked to a reporter at the Courier Post who contacted Plaintiff to inquire into voter fraud allegations leveled by the Mayer administration. (Id. ¶ 55.) According to Plaintiff, Defendants also attempted to use Ms. Stallworth's affidavit "to manufacture a voter fraud allegation against Plaintiff in a public lawsuit" brought by South Jersey Citizens against Rosemarie DiJosie. (Id. ¶ 56.)

3. Alleged workplace harassment

From July 19, 2010 to November 12, 2012, Plaintiff was employed as the manager of the Turnersville branch of the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission ("MVC"). (Id. ¶ 57.) Between September, 2011 and November, 2012, Plaintiff began receiving automated phone calls from the Gloucester Township Police Department and Mayer's office announcing weather alerts and emergency storm procedures. (Id. ¶ 59.) Plaintiff found these phone calls unusual because her MVC branch was outside the normal target area for such notifications, she received them on her private extension which was only known by state employees, and other MVC employees were not receiving the notifications. (Id. ¶¶ 60–61.) During this same period, Plaintiff suspected that the director of the MVC, Robert Grill, was asked to monitor her activities because Grill required Plaintiff to share her computer username and password with a new hire, Kathleen Sharpe. (Id. ¶ 62.) Plaintiff discovered Ms. Sharpe using the computer in Plaintiff's office on several occasions. (Id. ) Plaintiff asserts that the harassment became so severe that she wrote a letter to the Department of Justice in September, 2012 alleging that she was being targeted for political retaliation. (Id. ¶ 63.)

4. Alleged false arrest and malicious prosecution

Plaintiff further alleges that on the evening of November 7, 2012, Angela DeLucca² contacted the Gloucester Township Police Department to report that someone had damaged the downspouts on her home.

(Id. ¶ 64.) Ms. DeLucca and Plaintiff's brother-in-law, Daniel Evans, were involved in a domestic dispute and Mr. Evans asked Plaintiff to pick him up from Ms. DeLucca's home. (Id. ¶ 65.) Plaintiff contends that the reporting officers, Defendants Benjamin Lewitt and Gregory A. Jackson, took advantage of Ms. DeLucca's agitated state to elicit "highly emotional responses ... about her relationship with Plaintiff." (Id. ¶ 68.) These responses included allegations that Plaintiff harassed Ms. DeLucca by calling her approximately 500 times, visiting her home uninvited on at least twelve occasions, damaging her home, and once threatening Ms. DeLucca's life.³ (Id. ¶ 69.) Plaintiff alleges that Officer Lewitt improperly used these statements to "unilaterally escalate initial allegations of a predicate disorderly person's offense into a Fourth Degree Felony Stalking charge." (Id. ¶ 70.) Plaintiff alleges that Ms. DeLucca never asked the police to pursue charges. (Id. ¶ 72.) Plaintiff also asserts that the Investigative Field Reports prepared by the officers reveal a failure to investigate and collect evidence in good faith before the Criminal Complaint–Summons was issued on November 8, 2012. (Id. ¶ 74.) No attempt was made to contact Plaintiff prior to issuing the summons. (Id. ¶ 77.) According to Plaintiff, on November 8, 2012,⁴ both Ms. DeLucca and Mr....