Meucci v. Hartford
Filing
27
ORDER: Plaintiff's Motion 18 to Dismiss Defendant's Counterclaims is GRANTED. Signed by Judge Janet Bond Arterton on 04/26/2012. (Flagg, K.)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
DAWN MEUCCI,
Plaintiff,
Civil No. 3:11CV766 (JBA)
v.
CITY OF HARTFORD,
Defendant.
April 26, 2012
RULING ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO DISMISS DEFENDANT’S
COUNTERCLAIMS
Defendant City of Hartford has filed counterclaims against Plaintiff Dawn Meucci,
alleging vexatious litigation under the common law and Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-568. Plaintiff
moves [Doc. # 18] to dismiss the counterclaims. For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiff’s
motion to dismiss will be granted.
I.
Counterclaim Allegations1
Defendant’s counterclaims allege that Ms. Meucci acted with “malice when she
sought and secured a release of jurisdiction from the CHRO and continued to pursue
disability discrimination claims against the City of Hartford.” (Id. ¶ 19.) Defendant alleges
that she was seeking by her disability discrimination claim, “to advance her personal career
expectations in an effort to be appointed to a position of Administrative Operations
Manager” (id. ¶ 20), but had no probable cause to bring her disability discrimination claim
because it had been dismissed by the Office of Human Relations, and because her two
grievances were resolved by way of settlement, “to the satisfaction of the city” (id. ¶ 21).
1
Because the motion to dismiss addresses exclusively the substance of Defendant’s
Counterclaim, the following facts are taken only from the allegations contained in
Defendant’s Counterclaim [Doc. # 9].
Defendant identifies these three claims of Plaintiff’s, one of which was found to be without
merit,2 and the other two which were settled in the grievance process, as forming the basis
for its vexatious litigation counterclaims.3
In her motion to dismiss Defendant’s Counterclaims, Plaintiff argues that because
the basis for the counterclaims is the allegation that Plaintiff’s present litigation amounts to
vexatious litigation, and the present litigation has not yet concluded, Defendant cannot
satisfy the essential elements for bringing a common law or statutory action for vexatious
litigation.
2
On November 5, 2008, Ms. Meucci filed a complaint with the City of Hartford
Office of Human Relations, alleging that she was “denied promotion by the now former
Director of Metro Hartford Information Services” (“MHIS”). (Id.) On June 29, 2009,
following an investigation, Ms. Elda Sinani concluded that Ms. Meucci had not been
discriminated against, as an Administrative Operation Manager position was “never opened
or ever existed as an opportunity for promotion in MHIS.” (Id. ¶ 5.) This conclusion was
“affirmed” by Ms. Lillian Ruiz, Director of the Office of Human Relations, on June 30, 2009.
(Id. ¶ 6.) The City acknowledges that “one might question claims resolved by an internal
body of a municipality such as the now defunct Office of Human Relations,” and focuses
instead on the two grievances with the State Board of Labor Relations as the substance of its
Counterclaim. (Def.’s Mem. Opp’n [Doc. # 20] at 2.)
3
In 2009, Ms. Meucci claimed that “non–HMEA employee Miriam Rodriguez
commenced performing many of the duties theretofore performed by HMEA employee
Dawn Meucci,” thus “reducing Ms. Meucci’s work load and subjecting her to adverse job
action.” (Id. ¶ 7.) On December 23, 2009, the grievance was settled, which required a
withdrawal of Ms. Meucci’s claim with prejudice (id. ¶ 8), and the State Board of Labor
Relations confirmed that the grievance had been closed with prejudice (id. ¶ 9). Ms. Meucci
also filed a second grievance which was resolved on April 28, 2010, and pursuant to the
terms of the second settlement agreement, the City of Hartford agreed to move Mr. Meucci
to a cubicle that was ADA compliant. (See id. ¶¶ 17–18.)
2
II.
Discussion4
“A vexatious suit is a type of malicious prosecution action, differing principally in
that it is based upon a prior civil action.” Vandersluis v. Weil, 176 Conn. 353, 356 (1978).
“[A] a claim for vexatious litigation requires a plaintiff to allege that the previous lawsuit was
initiated maliciously, without probable cause, and terminated in the plaintiff's favor.” Blake
v. Levy, 191 Conn. 257, 264 (Conn. 1983) (citing Vandersluis v. Weil, 176 Conn. 353, 356
(1978)) .
Defendant maintains that its vexatious suit claims do not rely on this pending action,
but instead arise from (1) the dismissal of Plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim by the
internal Office of Human Relations, (2) her first grievance, which was resolved by way of
settlement with prejudice, “to the satisfaction of the City,” and (3) her second grievance,
which was also resolved by way of settlement, “in Ms. Meucci’s favor, but to the satisfaction
of the City.” (Def.’s Opp’n at 1–2.)
However, the express allegations of Defendant’s counterclaims describe the substance
of Ms. Meucci’s “vexatious” actions as:
4
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require a complaint to contain “a short and
plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” Fed.R.Civ.P.
8(a)(2), and a defendant may move to dismiss a complaint that fails “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 plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009)
(quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)); accord Kuck v. Danaher, 600
F.3d 159, 162–63 (2d Cir.2010). A complaint will not survive a motion to dismiss if it relies
on “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory
statements,” or if “the well–pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the
mere possibility of misconduct.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949–50.
3
19.
21.
22.
Ms. Meucci acted with malice when she sought and secured a release of
jurisdiction from the CHRO and continued to pursue disability
discrimination claims against the City of Hartford. . . .
Ms. Meucci did not act with probable cause in proceeding with her disability
discrimination claim because 1) it had been dismissed by the Office of
Human Relations, 2) her first grievance was resolved by way of a settlement
with prejudice, . . . to the satisfaction of the City and 3) her second grievance
was resolved by way of settlement in Ms. Meucci’s favor, but to the
satisfaction of the City.
The actions of Ms. Meucci in bringing an ADA and Connecticut Fair
Employment Practices Act claim are vexatious.
(Counterclaims ¶¶ 19–22) (emphasis added).
The express language of the Counterclaim allegations focuses on Plaintiff’s bringing
an “ADA and Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act claim,” which is what the present
action and its prerequisite administrative complaint encompass. Defendant does not allege
termination in its favor of the CFEPA complaint to the CHRO, only that the CHRO released
jurisdiction (as required to commence a civil action under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-101).
Further, even if the CHRO complaint and the two grievances are viewed separately
from this case, and even if the grievances were “resolved . . . to the satisfaction of the city”
(Counterclaim ¶ 22), they are not alleged to have terminated in the City’s favor, and the
counterclaims contain no allegation that Plaintiff ever initiated any other civil action related
to these complaints, aside from this lawsuit.5 In the absence of any other civil actions that
could constitute vexatious litigation, and as this litigation has not yet concluded, Defendant
has not alleged the essential elements that the litigation terminated in its favor, and thus has
failed to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6).
5
Though Defendant’s internal processing of Plaintiff’s complaints and settlements
of prior grievances cannot constitute “prior litigation” that terminated in Defendant’s favor,
evidence related to these complaints may find its way into the trial of this case.
4
III.
Conclusion
For the reasons discussed above, Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss Defendant’s
counterclaims is GRANTED. Defendant’s counterclaims are dismissed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s/
Janet Bond Arterton, U.S.D.J.
Dated at New Haven, Connecticut this 26th day of April, 2012.
5
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