Marvaso v. Sanchez

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GEORGE MARVASO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RICHARD SANCHEZ, et al., Defendants.

CIVIL No. 18-12193

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division

March 24, 2023

OPINION AND ORDER (1) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART JOHN ADAMS AND MICHAEL J. REDDY JR'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [ECF NO. 48]; (2) GRANTING RICHARD SANCHEZ'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [ECF NO. 49]; AND (3) GRANTING MICHAEL J. REDDY SR.'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [ECF NO. 50]

LINDA V. PARKER U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

This is a consolidated civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, arising from a May 8, 2013 fire at a restaurant and pool hall located in Westland, Michigan. In the original complaint filed July 13, 2018, business owners George Marvaso and Mary Marvaso, along with their son and daughter, who were also employees, George F. Marvaso and Sunday Gains allege that Defendant Richard Sanchez, a Lieutenant with the Michigan State Police Department violated their Fourth Amendment Rights by conducting an unreasonable search of Plaintiffs' homes and the seizure of records and property. See Case No. 18-12193. In a subsequent lawsuit, Plaintiffs George Marvaso, Mary Marvaso and George F Marvaso (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed a Second Amended Complaint alleging that Wayne-Westland Fire Department employees John Adams and Michael J. Reddy, Jr., and retired Fire Chief, Michael J. Reddy, Sr., engaged in a conspiracy to violate Plaintiffs' Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by allegedly falsifying a report related to the fire.

The matters presently before the Court are on Defendants John Adams' and Michael J. Reddy, Jr.'s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 48), Defendant Richard Sanchez's motion for summary judgment, (ECF No. 49), and Defendant Michael J. Reddy Sr.'s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 50). The motions are fully briefed. (ECF Nos. 52, 56, 59, 60, 61.) Finding the facts and legal arguments sufficiently presented by the parties, the Court is dispensing with oral argument with respect to the parties' motions pursuant to Eastern District of Michigan Local Rule 7.1(f). For the reasons that follow, the Court is granting in part and denying in part John Adams and Michael J. Reddy, Jr.'s motion, granting Richard Sanchez's motion, and granting Michael J. Reddy Sr.'s motion.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

On May 8, 2013, at approximately 8:16AM, a fire occurred in the kitchen of Marvaso's Italian Grille restaurant in Westland, Michigan, which was leased and operated by Plaintiffs. Shortly after, the fire began to spread to the adjacent business, Electric Stick pool hall, which was also leased and operated by Plaintiffs.

At approximately 8:16AM, an unidentified individual called 911 to report the fire. After the fire trucks arrived, Sunday Gains also arrived and confirmed that no one was in the restaurant or pool hall at that time.

At approximately 8:23AM, firefighter Brian Woelke and two other firefighters went into the building to locate the fire. Because the building was about to collapse, the firefighters received a call to evacuate. However, Mr. Woelke did not make it out of the building and was later found dead near the rear entrance of the building. According to the autopsy report, he died of smoke inhalation after his self-contained breathing apparatus (“SCBA”) ran out of air.

Officials from the Wayne-Westland Fire Department initially investigated the fire, refusing the Michigan State Police Department's offer to conduct the fire origin and cause investigation. The Wayne-Westland Fire Marshal, Plaintiff John Adams (“Fire Marshal Adams”), conducted an on-scene investigation, which revealed no accelerants. Investigators who investigated the fire for the companies that insured the buildings' landlord and the tenant businesses classified the cause of the fire as “undetermined.”

Between May 8, 2013 and June 30, 2013, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“MIOSHA”) investigated Woelke's death, conducting its “closing conference” with Wayne-Westland Fire Department officials on the latter date. The Fire Chief for the Wayne-Westland Fire Department at the time was Defendant Michael J. Reddy Jr. (“Fire Chief Reddy”).^[1]During the meeting between MIOSHA and the city's fire department officials, MIOSHA indicated that it would be issuing citations to the fire department for safety violations resulting in Woelke's death. On August 30, 2013, MIOSHA issued a citation to the City of Westland for a “serious” violation of health and safety regulations. The City subsequently acknowledged the citation and agreed to pay the $3,500 penalty assessed against it.

During the Summer of 2013, Michael J. Reddy, Sr. (“Mr. Reddy”), a retired Fire Chief for the City of Westland and father of Fire Chief Reddy, invited Sunday Gains to lunch. According to the initial complaint Plaintiffs filed in this case, Sunday Gains is the daughter of George and Mary Marvaso and was an employee of Electric Stick. During their meeting, Mr. Reddy “leaned over and told Ms. Gains ‘You know I would do anything to protect my family.'” (Case No. 18-12442, Second Am. Compl. ECF No. 50 at Pg ID 329, ¶ 35.)

According to Plaintiffs, Mr. Reddy, Fire Chief Reddy, and Fire Marshal Adams had one or more conversations between June 27, 2013 and early September 2013, at which time “they agreed that the best way to deflect attention away from the Westland Fire Department's role in causing the tragic death of firefighter Brian Woelke would be to conclude that the fire was intentionally set and not the result of an accidental, natural, or undetermined cause.” (Id. at Pg ID 330, ¶ 37.) Plaintiffs allege that Defendants “agreed and expected that law enforcement would turn their attention toward the plaintiffs as the primary suspects in the case.” (Id.) Further, “[D]efendants conspired to change the cause [of the May 8, 2013 fire] to ‘incendiary' to ward off criticism of the Wayne-Westland Fire Department's leadership's [deficiencies as cited by MIOSHA] that resulted in the tragic loss of a young firefighter's life.” (Id. ¶ 38.) Plaintiffs claim that the conspiracy between Defendants “was designed to shift blame away from the fire department's inadequacies and gross negligence, and to shift the focus of a criminal investigation to Plaintiffs.” (Id. ¶ 46.)

On or about mid-September 2013, Fire Marshal Adams met with Westland City Councilman Bill Johnson. While Adams previously told Councilman Johnson that the cause of the fire was electrical in nature, he now indicated that he was changing his conclusion to an incendiary cause even though he had no new evidence. When Councilman Johnson asked Fire Marshal Adams why he was changing his mind, Fire Marshal Adams answered: “Because a firefighter died, Bill.” (Id. ¶ 39.)

In mid-November 2013, Fire Marshal Adams submitted an alleged false fire origin and cause report to the Michigan State Police (“MSP”) and Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, which triggered an MSP homicide investigation resulting in the allegedly unlawful search warrants-based on affidavits drafted by Defendant Lt. Richard Sanchez (“Lt. Sanchez”)-being executed for Plaintiffs' homes, where records and personal property were seized. Fire Marshal Adams' announcement that the fire had an incendiary cause, and that the MSP would be opening a homicide investigation into Woelke's death was widely reported in the statewide news media.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The central inquiry when evaluating a summary judgment motion is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52 (1986). After adequate time for discovery and upon motion, Rule 56 mandates summary judgment against a party who fails to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case and on which that party bears the burden of proof at trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986).

The movant has the initial burden of showing “the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. at 323. Once the movant meets this burden, the “nonmoving party must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To demonstrate a genuine issue, the nonmoving party must present sufficient evidence upon which a jury could reasonably find for that party; a “scintilla of evidence” is insufficient. See Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 252. The court must accept as true the non-movant's evidence and draw “all justifiable inferences” in the non-movant's favor. Id. at 255.

III. ANALYSIS

Fire Marshal Adams and Fire Chief Reddy, Lt. Sanchez, and Mr. Reddy filed motions for summary judgment based on overlapping facts, arguments, and analysis. (ECF Nos. 48, 49, and 50.) As such, the Court will address each motion for summary judgment in the order of filing.

A. Fire Marshal Adams and Fire Chief Reddy's Motion for Summary Judgment

In their motion for summary judgment, Fire Marshal Adams and Fire Chief Reddy (“Defendants”) seek summary judgment on (1) Plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claim, (2) Plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment claim, (3) Plaintiff's Conspiracy claims, and (4) Defendants' affirmative defense that both Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity against Plaintiff's claims. (ECF No. 48.) Specifically, Defendants maintain that Plaintif...