Neuens v. City of Columbus

169 F.Supp.2d 780

Andrew J. NEUENS, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF COLUMBUS, et. al., Defendants.

No. 99-CV-1384.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division.

November 1, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

James Donald McNamara, Columbus, OH, for plaintiff.

Robert Latham Washburn, Jr., Cloppert Portman Sauter, Latanick & Foley, Columbus, OH, for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

MARBLEY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on all of the Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment. Defendant City of Columbus, which also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, has been dismissed as a party by stipulation. Jurisdiction lies under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. A hearing on the Motions for Summary Judgment was held on October 12, 2001.

For the following reasons, the Court hereby GRANTS summary judgment as to the state claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and DENIES summary judgment as to the federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the state claim for negligence.

II. FACTS

Because this case comes before the Court on the Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment, the Court views the facts in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff.

On the evening of December 25, 1998, the Plaintiff, Andrew Neuens, went out with two friends, Nate Faught and Chad Spinosi. The men went first to a neighborhood establishment, then to a dance club. Subsequently, they decided to go to the Waffle House restaurant to eat. They arrived at the Waffle House at 3385 E. Dublin-Granville Road at approximately 2:00 a.m., the morning of December 26, 1998.

According to the Plaintiff, the Waffle House restaurant is fairly small. The outer door leads into a small foyer or hallway, and an inner door opens from that foyer into the restaurant. Inside, the cash registers are directly across from the doorway. To the right of the registers is a jukebox, behind which are three of the restaurant's booths.

When the Plaintiff and his companions entered the Waffle House, they seated themselves in the first booth nearest the door, behind the jukebox. The Plaintiff sat alone on the side of the booth that allowed him to face the door and cash registers. Mr. Faught and Mr. Spinosi sat across from him, facing the other booths. Upon entering the restaurant, the men noticed a security guard, Defendant John Padgett, by the door.

Soon after the Plaintiff and his friends began to eat the food they had ordered, a group of people consisting of Defendants Bridges, Parker, and Kincaid, along with another man and two women ("Defendant group"), entered the restaurant. Prior to entering the Waffle House, the Defendant group had been at a bowling alley. While there, some members of the group, including Defendant Parker, engaged in a fight, which Defendant Bridges, who is a police officer, took no action to prevent, stop, or report. According to the Plaintiff, the Defendant group began creating problems as soon as they entered the Waffle House by acting "loud, drunk, and obnoxious." Defendant Bridges acknowledged that at least two members of his group were visibly inebriated, and that he himself had probably consumed alcohol that night, as well. When they came in, the Defendant group seated itself at the third booth behind the jukebox.

According to the Plaintiff, the Defendant group continued to harass the Plaintiff and his companions even after they sat down at their booth. Specifically, Defendant Kincaid yelled expletives toward them. Although neither the Plaintiff nor his friends had ever met anyone in the Defendant group prior to that encounter, apparently some members of the Defendant group mistook the Plaintiff and his friends for the people with whom they had fought at the bowling alley earlier that evening.

As the Plaintiff, Mr. Faught, and Mr. Spinosi finished their meals, the tension between the two groups grew. Margaret Tracy, the waitress for both tables, believed that the tension was escalating to the point that it would ultimately lead to violence. According to Waffle House policy as printed in the Waffle House employee handbook, if an employee sees a situation in the restaurant that she believes will imminently turn to violence, she has a duty to report that situation to a manager. Despite this Waffle House rule, Ms. Tracy did not report the situation that she observed between the Plaintiff and the Defendants to her manager. According to her deposition testimony, however, Ms. Tracy did inform the security guard, Defendant Padgett, that she was concerned that a fight would soon erupt.¹

When the Plaintiff and his companions finished eating their meal, Defendant Padgett approached their table and advised them to leave the restaurant. Subsequently, Mr. Spinosi got out of the booth, and turned to walk out of the restaurant. According to the Plaintiff, as soon as Mr. Spinosi got up, the Defendant group also got up, passed the Plaintiff's table, and moved toward the exit. Before Mr. Spinosi reached the outer door, but after he had gone through the inner door, Defendant Parker pushed him from behind. As Mr. Spinosi turned around, he was then punched twice in the face, first by Defendant Parker, and then by Defendant Kincaid.

The Plaintiff stood up from his table after the Defendant group had already passed by. As he approached the cash register, he heard a commotion behind him, and turned to see what was happening. The next thing the Plaintiff remembers is waking up in the hospital hours later. The Plaintiff subsequently learned that Defendant Parker, after punching Mr. Spinosi, walked toward the register and punched the Plaintiff from behind, knocking him to the floor, unconscious. Apparently, Defendant Parker then kicked the Plaintiff in the head. Defendant Officer Bridges admits seeing Defendant Parker standing near the Plaintiff, but denies seeing Defendant Parker punch or kick him. Nonetheless, at that point, Defendant Bridges grabbed Defendant Parker and pulled him out of the restaurant. The Defendant group then departed the Waffle House in two separate vehicles.

It is unclear whether Defendant Padgett tried physically to restrain Defendants Kincaid and Parker during this incident. Mr. Faught testified during his deposition that the security guard did nothing other than caution the other members of the Defendant group not to get involved. After the Defendant group left, however, Defendant Padgett radioed his employer, Defendant Smith Detective & Security, Inc. ("SDSI" or "Smith Security") for backup. After contacting his employer, a Smith Security supervisor and a uniformed Columbus police officer arrived at the Waffle House within four minutes.

As a result of this incident, the Plaintiff was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his eye, severe lacerations to his eyebrows and lips, and a concussion, along with other minor injuries. On December 23, 1999, the Plaintiff filed a Complaint against Defendants City of Columbus, Ohio, Officer Bridges, Ernest Parker, Josh Kincaid, John Padgett, Smith Detective & Security, Inc., and J. Thomas & Co., Inc. (d/b/a Waffle House). The Complaint raised federal claims against the City of Columbus and Officer Bridges for violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985. The Complaint additionally raised state claims against the Defendants for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED. R.CIV.P. 56(c). The movant has the burden of establishing that there are no genuine issues of material fact, which may be accomplished by demonstrating that the non-moving party lacks evidence to support an essential element of its case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Barnhart v. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co., 12 F.3d 1382, 1388-89 (6th Cir.1993). The non-moving party must then present "significant probative evidence" to show that "there is [more than] some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Moore v. Philip Morris Cos., 8 F.3d 335, 340 (6th Cir.1993) (citation omitted). "[S]ummary judgment will not lie if the dispute is about a material fact that is `genuine,' that is, if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (finding summary judgment appropriate when the evidence could not lead a trier of fact to find for the non-moving party).

In evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). In responding to a motion for summary judgment, however, the non-moving party "may not rest upon its mere allegations ... but ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(e); see Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Searcy v. City of Dayton, 38 F.3d 282, 286 (6th Cir.1994). Furthermore, the existence of a mere scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party's position will not be sufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Copeland v. Machulis, 57 F.3d 476, 479 (6th Cir. 1995).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Federal Claims

The Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint asserted federal claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 against the City of Columbus and Defendant Officer Bridges. On ...