Schutt v. Melmark, Inc.

186 F.Supp.3d 366

Alexander Schutt, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Melmark, Inc., et al., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION No. 15-2731

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed May 9, 2016

James J. Byrne, McNichol Byrne & Matlawski PC, Media, PA, for Plaintiffs.

Athena Pappas, Francis J. Deasey, Deasey Mahoney Valentini North Ltd., Philadelphia, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Goldberg, District Judge

Alexander Schutt ("Schutt") and his parents Clarence and Barbara Schutthave brought suit against Melmark, Inc. ("Melmark"), a residential facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and several Melmark employees.¹ The case centers on Defendants' decision to cease providing care for Schutt and their alleged malfeasance in transporting Schutt to a crisis intervention center.

The Complaint consists of the following claims: deprivation of Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count 1); conspiracy to deprive civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1985 (Count 2); negligence (Count 3); negligence per se (Count 4); intentional infliction of emotional distress ("IIED") on behalf of Clarence and Barbara Schutt (Count 5); intentional infliction of emotional distress on behalf of Schutt (Count 6); and professional malpractice (Count 7).

Defendants have moved to dismiss all claims except for the negligence claim (Count 3). For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Complaint alleges the following facts:² Schutt is a twenty-nine year old autistic man from New Jersey. From 2001 until May 15, 2013, Schutt resided at Melmark's residential care facility, where he received twenty-four hour care for his "severe intellectual and physical disabilities," "maladaptive behaviors including aggression, noncompliance, elopement and PICA," and "grand mal seizures." (Compl. ¶¶ 16–17.) Schutt was initially placed at Melmark by his home school district, Princeton Regional School District, which funded Schutt's care until he "aged out of his educational entitlements" when he turned 21 years old in 2007. (Compl. ¶ 18.) Thereafter, the New Jersey Department of Developmental Disabilities ("NJ DDD") assumed "full" responsibility for funding Schutt's care at Melmark pursuant to an annual contract NJ DDD had with Melmark. (Compl. ¶ 19.)

Schutt alleges that in the spring of 2011, NJ DDD began to dispute the rates it paid for housing New Jersey residents at Melmark. During this time, NJ DDD negotiated several contract extensions to continue Schutt's care while NJ DDD searched for an alternative placement for Schutt. (Compl. ¶ 23.) Despite failing to secure a suitable alternative placement, NJ DDD ceased paying Melmark in April 2012. (Id.)

Schutt, however, continued to reside at Melmark even after his NJ DDD funding was discontinued. (Id. at ¶ 25.) Melmark subsequently filed a petition for involuntary commitment in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas requesting that the Delaware County Department of Mental Health and the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare provide residential programming for Schutt. (Id.) The petition was "unsuccessful leading [Defendants] to engage in a conspiracy to remove [Schutt] from Melmark's care." (Id. at ¶ 26.)

This "conspiracy" allegedly began in December 2012, when Woods notified Schutt's parents that, due to the lack of funding, Melmark would no longer take Schutt to any off-campus activities. (Id. at ¶ 33.) Woods allegedly "conceded" that "the decision to terminate all of [Schutt's] off-campus activities represented a concerted effort by Melmark to encourage [Schutt's parents to remove Schutt] from Melmark's care." (Id. at ¶ 37.) In November 2012, Woods refused to transport Schutt to his parents' home to celebrate Thanksgiving, despite previously agreeing to do so. (Id. at ¶¶ 38, 41.)

Nonetheless, Schutt continued to reside at Melmark into the spring of 2013. (Id. at ¶ 44.) In an email exchange between Donovan-Gillis, Linke and Woods, Woods "indicated that she wanted to do anything possible to accelerate [a] final discharge because [Schutt's] family had a lack of concern for Melmark." (Id. at ¶ 45.) Woods further stated "[t]hey raise millions of dollars for research of a debunked intervention, but have not offered one dollar to the agency taking care of their son for the past 12 years." (Id.)

Sometime thereafter, Woods indicated to another employee that Melmark would likely transfer Schutt to a crisis care facility and refuse to readmit him in the near future, and, accordingly, Woods would need to review Schutt's behavioral records. (Id. at ¶ 46.) After her review, Woods emailed the Melmark employee to change the percentage based assessments in his behavioral records, stating "the percents are so low, it's hard to make him sound 'dangerous' with that type of measurement." (Id. at ¶ 47.)

Then, on May 15, 2013, Defendants determined Schutt was behaving aggressively, despite there being no reported aggression during a routine dentist appointment Schutt attended and no staff incident and or restraint reports being generated for Schutt that day. (Id. at ¶¶ 50, 51 n.3.) Later that day, without observing Schutt, Woods determined his "behavior was escalating and he was in need of a higher level of care." (Id. at ¶ 53.) Under the direction of Linke, who also did not observe Schutt's behaviors, Melmark employees transported Schutt to a crisis center at Kenney Hospital located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. (Id. at ¶¶ 52, 54–55.) Despite receiving express directions from Kennedy Hospital staff to remain with Schutt until he could be seen by a physician, Melmark employees "abandoned" Schutt at the crisis center. (Id. at ¶ 57 n.6.)

Defendants failed to provide Schutt's medical records to Kennedy Hospital. As a result, the staff at Kennedy Hospital was unaware of the daily dosages of medicine Schutt required to control his seizures. (Id. at ¶ 58.) Due to Defendants' actions, Schutt "remained sedated in a windowless, padded room for eight (8) days" and "was not provided any opportunity to bathe himself." (Id. at ¶¶ 59, 60.) During this time, employees of Kennedy Hospital requested that Melmark return for Schutt but Melmark refused. (Id. at ¶ 61.)

On May 22, 2013, Schutt was declared homeless by the State of New Jersey, and after approval from NJ DDD, was transferred the following day to a temporary facility in Franklin Township, NJ where he suffered two grand mal seizures. (Id. at ¶ 65.) The seizures were the result of Schutt's removal from Melmark and Defendants' subsequent failure to provide proper documentation to the staff at Kennedy Hospital. (Id. at ¶ 65.)

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits a court to dismiss all or part of an action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. When deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court must accept the facts pled in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Semerenko v. Cendant Corp., 223 F.3d 165, 173 (3d Cir.2000). A plaintiff must provide more than a formulaic recitation of a claim's elements that amounts to mere labels and conclusions. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face."' Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).

To determine the sufficiency of a complaint under Twombly and Iqbal, a court must take the following three steps: (1) the court must "tak[e] note of the elements a plaintiff must plead to state a claim"; (2) the court should identify allegations that, "because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth"; and (3) "where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement for relief." Burtch v. Milberg Factors, Inc., 662 F.3d 212, 221 (3d Cir.2011) (citations omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), Defendants have moved to dismiss Counts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 as well as the request for punitive damages in Plaintiffs' Complaint.

i. Count 1—42 U.S.C. § 1983

Defendants urge that Plaintiffs' section 1983 claims must be dismissed because the Complaint fails to allege facts to demonstrate that Defendants acted under the color of state law. Under section 1983, a plaintiff must demonstrate that his or her federal constitutional or statutory rights were violated by a person acting "under the color of state law." Kost v. Kozakiewi c z, 1 F.3d 176, 184 (3d Cir.1993). The essential question is whether the challenged activity "may be fairly treated as that of the State itself[.]" (Jackson v. Metro. Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 351 (1974) ). Although this is a "fact-specific inquiry[,]" it may be addressed on a motion to dismiss. Schneider v. Arc of Montgomery Cty., 497 F.Supp.2d 651, 660 (E.D.Pa.2007) (collecting cases).

A private party may be regarded as a "a federal actor... under one of three interrelated theories of government action: (i) the 'public function' test, (ii) the 'close nexus' test and (iii) the 'symbiotic relationship' test." Brown v. Philip Morris Inc., 250 F.3d 789, 801 (3d Cir.2001). In deciding whether there has been state action, the court must remain focused on the central purpose of the state action inquiry—to "assure that constitutional standards are invoked when 'it can be said that the state is responsible for the specific conduct of which plaintiff complains."' Brentwood Acad. v. Tennessee Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass'n, 531 U.S. 288, 295, 121 S.Ct. 924, 148 L.Ed.2d 807 (2001) (emphasis in original).

Plaintiffs contend that the Complaint contains sufficient factual allegations to...