Andersen v. City of Chicago et al

Filing 924

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order signed by the Honorable Virginia M. Kendall on 10/28/2021. Plaintiff's Motion to reinstate his Monell claim against Defendants 902 is denied, and Plaintiff's Monell claims are dismissed without prejudice. See Opinion for further details. Mailed notice(lk, )

Case: 1:16-cv-01963 Document #: 924 Filed: 10/28/21 Page 1 of 7 PageID #:45982

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
DANIEL ANDERSEN,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE CITY OF CHICAGO, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 16 C 1963
Judge Virginia M. Kendall

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff Daniel Andersen sued the City of Chicago and various members of
Chicago law enforcement for violations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42
U.S.C. § 1983 and several state-law claims. (Dkt. 1). Plaintiff now moves to reinstate
his Monell claim against Defendant City of Chicago and conduct limited discovery.
(Dkt. 902). For the reasons given below, that motion is denied.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Daniel Andersen filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
1983 against Defendants City of Chicago (“City”) and a number of Defendant Officers
arising out of his wrongful conviction and incarceration. Specifically, Andersen sued
the Defendant Officers for violating his constitutional rights by allegedly coercing his
false confession, fabricating false evidence, and concealing exculpatory evidence. He
also sued the City alleging that its police department’s policies and practices render
it liable for his wrongful conviction and injuries pursuant to Monell v. New York
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Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978). Part of those allegations was that
the City had a “street file” policy and practice of withholding exculpatory and/or
impeachment evidence.

The City moved to bifurcate and stay discovery on

Andersen’s Monell claim (Dkt. 67). The Court granted the bifurcation and stay (Dkt.
90). The case against the Defendant Officers proceeded to trial and a jury returned
a verdict for Andersen, finding that the individual officers violated Andersen’s
constitutional rights by, inter alia, coercing a confession, withholding exculpatory
evidence, and fabricating false evidence. The City remained a defendant pursuant to
a Limited Consent Judgement, and judgment was entered against the City in the
amount of $7,550,000 in compensatory damages. (Dkt. 890). The City has paid those
damages.
Now that Andersen has prevailed on his claims as to the individual Defendant
Officers, he moves that his Monell claims should be reinstated so he can proceed with
limited fact discovery and a trial against the City. 1 (Dkt. 902).
DISCUSSION
Andersen argues that he should be permitted to pursue a potentially viable
Monell claim following the finding of liability against the individual Defendants
because he seeks nominal damages. The City responds that the entry of the Limited
Consent order and City’s payment of his compensatory damages award prevents this
and moots the case. 2
1

Andersen is no longer pursuing his Monell claim that the City had an unconstitutional practice
of coercing confessions. (Dkt. 902 at 2).
2
The City also argues that the Monell claim should not be reinstated because of the amount of
costly discovery it would require the City to undertake. Were the Court able to hear the Monell
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Andersen argues that because Monell allows for direct, non-derivative liability,
the case is not moot where the parties can identify a concrete interest. Monell v. Dep’t
of Soc. Servs. of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 695 (1978). In support, Andersen
points to Swanigan v. City of Chicago, 775 F.3d 953 (7th Cir 2015) (“Swanigan I”)
which permitted the pursuit of Monell claims that seek additional equitable relief or
are distinct from the claims against the individual defendants. Id. at 963. Swanigan
I was decided in 2015, prior to the bifurcation of Andersen’s Monell claims here. (Dkt.
90). There, the Seventh Circuit acknowledged that “[s]ome cases have remedial
import beyond the individual plaintiff’s claim for monetary damages, and § 1983
provides a vehicle for obtaining other judicial relief against governmental policies
that violate constitutional rights.” Swanigan I at 962. But Swanigan had advised the
district court in his case that he wanted to amend his complaint to clarify he was
seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, and it was this additional equitable relief that
was key in determining whether the Monell claim would be dismissed. Swanigan I at
962-963 (“After learning that Swanigan wanted to amend his complaint, the district
court should have lifted the stay and waited for the amended complaint before
evaluating any jurisdictional impediments.”) Here, Andersen is not seeking
declaratory or injunctive relief and has not indicated he intends to do so.
Several years after the Monell claims had been stayed and bifurcated in this
case, the Seventh Circuit again considered the issue of Monell recovery in Swanigan
v. City of Chicago, 881 F.3d 577 (7th Cir. 2018) (“Swanigan II”). After amending his
claims, engaging in the necessary discovery (costly or expansive it may be) would not be a reason
to dismiss the claim.
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complaint, Swanigan attempted to evade the rule against double-recovery 3 by
identifying a different part of his action that he had not yet recovered compensatory
damages on. The Seventh Circuit rejected that argument and held that Swanigan
could not recover from the City for his prolonged detention “because he was
compensated for that constitutional violation in his suit against the officers.”
Swanigan II at 582 (citing Janusz v. City of Chicago, 832 F.3d 770 (7th Cir. 2016));
see also Duran v. Town of Cicero, 653 F.3d 632 (7th Cir. 2011). Like Swanigan,
Andersen has now been compensated for his injury, and so cannot recover again from
the City on his Monell claim.
This case is therefore similar to the recent decisions in Kuri v. Folino and Wrice
v. Byrne from this district that, while not binding on this Court, are instructive. In
Kuri, 409 F.Supp.3d 626 (N.D. Ill. 2019), the court found there was no remaining case
or controversy because the plaintiff could not recover anything against the City
beyond what he had recovered against the individual defendants. That is the case
here. The City remained a defendant in Andersen’s case, and judgment was entered
against it for $7,550,000 in compensatory damages. It has paid those damages (Dkt.
891) pursuant to the Illinois statute requiring municipalities to indemnify their
employees for compensatory damages in tort judgments. See e.g., Kuri, 409 F.Supp.3d
626, citing 745 ILCS 10/9-102. The court in Kuri specifically noted that the lack of
injunctive relief sought was a key consideration in dismissal of the Monell claim. 409
3

See Bosco v. Serhant, 836 F.2d 271, 281 (7th Cir. 1987) (“[O]nce the plaintiff has been fully
compensated for his injuries by one or more of the tortfeasors, he may not thereafter recover any
additional compensation from any of the remaining tortfeasors.”)
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F.Supp.3d at 653. While Andersen argues that the Limited Consent Agreement is
not an acknowledgement of the City’s liability (Dkt. 918 at 3), he does not dispute
that the City has paid his compensatory damages award.
Similarly, in Wrice v. Byrne Judge Leinenweber rejected a plaintiff’s request to
lift a stay on Monell discovery because “if the plaintiff wins against the individual
defendants, the rule against double recovery prohibits pursuing the [Monell] claim
any further.” Wrice v. Byrne, No. 14- C-5934 at Dkt. 626 (N.D. Ill. June 24, 2020).
Andersen argues that his “non-economic” interests maintain a live case or
controversy. (Dkt. 902, 918). But as Swanigan II suggests—and Judge Leinenweber
put more plainly in Wrice—Andersen’s reliance on non-economic interests like
deterrence and the public interest do not overcome the bar against double recovery:
Andersen “brought his suit asking for damages; he has been awarded damages; and
damages will have to be sufficient to satisfy those non-economic interests. [Andersen]
does not seek further injunctive or declaratory relief.” Wrice v. Byrne, Case No. 14- C5934 (N.D. Ill. June 24, 2020) at Dkt. 626.
Andersen’s response to these recent decisions is that they “lack the same
history as this case” (Dkt. 918 at 6) because a different judge ruled on bifurcation.
However, the Court’s prior comments on the future potential viability of Andersen’s
Monell claim at the bifurcation stage cannot compel a different outcome. The Court’s
earlier statements were made without the benefit of the later decided Swanigan II. 4
The Court also questions Andersen’s cast of those comments as “clear orders” or “long promised” (Dkt. 918) –
especially where he relies on a comment made during an evidentiary hearing or a footnote citing a case where
injunctive relief on a Monell claim was sought. See Dkt. 90 at 10, n.3 citing Ojeda-Beltran v. Lucio, No. 07 C 6667,
2008 WL 2782815, at *4 (N.D. Ill. July 16, 2008). While the Court appreciates that Andersen places great import on
his Monell claim, the Court’s past comments do not (and indeed, could not) constitute a ruling on this motion.
4

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And while Andersen suggests that the recent Supreme Court decision Uzuegbunam
v. Preczewski (141 S.Ct. 792 (2021)) may counsel differently, the Supreme Court
stated that their decision was narrowly focused on the issue of redressability. Id. at
792. That case determined that a plaintiff had a redressable injury when seeking
nominal damages after receiving injunctive relief. Id at 801. (Explaining nominal
damages are “the damages awarded by default until the plaintiff establishes some
other form of damages, such as compensatory or statutory damages.”) The difference
here is that there is not injunctive relief, and Andersen has established—and
received—compensatory damages from the City.
Perhaps in light of Uzuegbunam and the building cadre of cases in this District
deciding the issue of Monell recovery following bifurcation and subsequent motions
for reinstatement of those claims 5 the Seventh Circuit may elect to consider the issue
of whether a plaintiff may still recover nominal damages for a Monell claim after a
See, e.g., Maysonet v. Guevara, 2020 WL 3100840 at *4 (N.D. Ill. June 11, 2020)
(noting “bifurcation is essentially a means to achieve a de facto dismissal of the
Monell claim” and rejecting bifurcation motion); Cadiz v. Kruger, 2007 WL 4293976,
at *8 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 29, 2007) (“When (as here) a plaintiff claims the violation of a
constitutional right as a result of a municipality’s policies, practices or customs, that
claim creates a separate case or controversy from the claims against the individual
officers that the plaintiff has standing to pursue.”); Ezell v. City of Chicago, 2019 WL
3776616 (N.D. Il. Aug. 12, 2019) (“[H]aving already recovered in their suit against
the Officers, Plaintiffs would be barred from pursuing damages for the same injuries
against the City.”); Bradford v. City of Chicago, 2019 WL 5208852 at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct.
16, 2019) (granting bifurcation and finding a plaintiff would receive “complete relief”
from a damages award in allowing bifurcation of a Monell claim)., Kuri v. Folino, 409
F. Supp. 3d at 653 (rejecting motion to reinstate Monell); Wrice v. Bryne, Case No.
14- C-5934 (N.D. Ill. June 24, 2020) at Dkt. 626 (same as Kuri); Bouto v. Guevara,
2020 WL 956294, at *2 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 27, 2020) (rejecting bifurcation motion because
it would prejudice plaintiff).
5

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complete compensatory award. 6 It has not yet done so, except to find in Swanigan II
that the plaintiff had been afforded complete compensatory relief and could not
pursue a Monell claim on that basis. See also, e.g., Bradford v. City of Chicago, 2019
WL 5208852 at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 16, 2019) (finding a plaintiff would receive “complete
relief” from a damages award in allowing bifurcation of a Monell claim). Because
Andersen has been afforded complete relief and cannot recover against the City twice,
he cannot now pursue his Monell theory of liability.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s motion to reinstate his Monell claim
against Defendants is denied, and Plaintiff’s Monell claims are dismissed without
prejudice.

Date: October 28, 2021

____________________________________
Virginia M. Kendall
United States District Judge

Andersen points to decisions in the Second Circuit and Ninth Circuit that have done
so. Amato v. City of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 170 F.3d 311, 321 (2d Cir. 1999);
Ruvalcaba v. City of Los Angeles, 167 F.3d 514, 524 (9th Cir. 1999). In those cases,
there was no judgment against the city defendants, and the Seventh Circuit has not
held that a nominal damages theory can be pursued when there has been complete
compensatory relief. See Swanigan II; see also Stachniak v. Hayes, 989 F.2d 914, 923
(7th Cir. 1993) (holding that a nominal damages instruction “is only appropriate to
vindicate constitutional rights whose deprivation has not caused actual injury.”)
6

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