GEORGE A. O'TOOLE, Jr., District Judge.
The plaintiff, Friedrich Lu, acting pro se, brought this case alleging claims stemming from what appear to be three unrelated circumstances: an eviction of the plaintiff from property owned by Fairfield Real Estate Management Corp. ("Fairfield Corp.") by the Suffolk County sheriff's office, the appeals process in one of the plaintiff's state cases, and an incident in which Tufts University police officers removed the plaintiff from the Tisch Library at the university. The Complaint only alleges claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiff filed a second complaint that pleads no meaningful additional facts, but names some additional parties and adds state law claims as well as an additional claim under Section 1983. This document was not filed with leave of the Court or otherwise as authorized under Rule 15; it is thus not the operative complaint.
Because the plaintiff only brings this case under federal question jurisdiction,
All named defendants have moved to dismiss the case. For case of analysis, I separate the defendants into groups: (1) Fairfield Corp., its alleged owners and operators, Frederick Fairfield and Heather Fairfield, and their attorney, John Tobin (the "Fairfield defendants"); (2) the sheriff and his deputy, Steven Tompkins and Brian Dalton; (3) the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its courts, and—included only in the amended complaint—counsel for the state Department of Mental Health, Lester Blumberg, R. Brandon Rios, and Benjamin Golden; and (4) Tufts and the Tufts police officers, two of whom are named in the amended pleading as Lynda D'Andrea and Omar McGovern.
According to the Complaint, the plaintiff was living at a property owned by Fairfield Corp. The Fairfield defendants allegedly obtained a judgment of eviction concerning the property. The plaintiff asserts a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of his constitutional rights in the obtainment and execution of this eviction. However, for all that appears, the Fairfield defendants are private citizens. Section 1983 actions can only be brought against those acting "under color" of law. Private parties are state actors for the purposes of Section 1983 "[o]nly in rare circumstances," none of which apply here.
According to the plaintiff, Deputy Sheriff Dalton executed the eviction judgment obtained by the Fairfield defendants, violating the plaintiff's rights. The plaintiff alleges that because the "judgment and execution did not name Lu [it] was thus facially invalid (vis-a-vis Lu)." (Compl. ¶ I(1)(a) (dkt. no. 1).) The plaintiff was a subtenant of Bay Cove Human Services, Inc., the lessee of the property. The execution named only Bay Cove, although Lu in fact participated in the eviction proceedings in the Boston Housing Court.
The plaintiff's only argument against Tompkins is that, in exercising his powers as Sheriff of Suffolk County, Tompkins "abdicates his authority and totally delegates all decisions to his deputy sheriffs who operates [sic] without supervision or restraint." (Compl. ¶ I(1)(b).) To the extent that the plaintiff is suing Tompkins in his official capacity, the plaintiff cannot bring a § 1983 claim. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is an arm of the state, and therefore immune under the State's sovereign immunity.
Regardless, the plaintiff's generalized grievance about how Tompkins runs the Sheriff's Department does not link to a particular harm felt by the plaintiff. There is simply no valid claim asserted.
The plaintiff complains that the Massachusetts state courts have improperly handled his various appeals, and that the Supreme Judicial Court "condones the practice." (Compl. ¶ II(2).) The State, and its courts, cannot be sued in federal court; sovereign immunity prevents it.
The plaintiff's request to amend his complaint to individually name the members of the Supreme Judicial Court does not cure his problem, as sovereign immunity applies to state officers in their official capacity.
The plaintiff makes another court-related complaint that counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health in another of his suits in the Massachusetts Superior Court "have colluded with [the presiding judge] to withhold a ruling there, on Lu's emergency motions for injunctive relief."
On June 10, 2015, three Tufts police officers allegedly "asked [the plaintiff] to leave [the Tisch Library] without informing [him] why . . . and imposed an unspecified period of bar from using the library." (Compl. ¶ III(2).) In the Complaint, these officers' names are unknown. The plaintiff's attempted amended pleading suggests names for two of the officers and alters the caption to incorporate their names as well as the "Trustees of Tufts University."
The Trustees of Tufts College—apparently the appropriate legal name—have filed a motion to dismiss the § 1983 claim. Tufts is a private university, and the actions of its employees do not fall within the scope of state action necessary for a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
The plaintiff's § 1983 claim against the individual Tufts police officers also fails.
For the reasons given above, the Fairfield defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiff's Complaint Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(6) (dkt. no. 9) is GRANTED. Their Motion for a Hearing on Their Motion to Dismiss (dkt. no. 10) is MOOT. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Supreme Judicial Court's Motion to Dismiss (dkt. no. 17) is GRANTED. Dalton and Tompkins' Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) (dkt. no. 19) is GRANTED. The Trustees of Tufts College's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) & 12(b)(5) (dkt. no. 30) is GRANTED. Massachusetts, the SJC, Blumberg, Rios, and Golden's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (dkt. no. 32) is GRANTED. The Tufts police officers' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) & 12(b)(5) (dkt. no. 36) is GRANTED.
The plaintiff's serial motions for summary judgment—Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Against Tompkins (dkt. no. 23), Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Against Dalton (dkt. no. 24), and Motion for Summary Judgment Against Fairfield Defendants (dkt. no. 25)—are all DENIED. The plaintiff's Motion to Amend Complaint for a Second Time (dkt. no. 26) is DENIED. His Motion for Court to Rule His Emergency Motion (dkt. no. 29) concerning the disposition of his claims against the Fairfield defendants is MOOT.
The plaintiff's Cross-Motion to Strike Motion to Dismiss and for Rule 11 Sanction Against Three State Defendants for Fraud on Court (dkt. no. 38), Cross-Motion to Sanction, for Fraud on Court, Defendants Lynda D'Andrea and Omar McGovern Plus Counsel (dkt. no. 39), and Cross-Motion for Rule 11 Sanction Against Trustees of Tufts College for Fraud on Court (dkt. no. 42) are DENIED. These motions appear to be primarily oppositions to the substantive motions to dismiss. In addition, the various defendants' filings in this case have been proper, and—from the email exchanges included in the motions—defense counsel have behaved respectfully and professionally throughout this litigation.
The plaintiff's Motion to Reconsider (dkt. no. 8) the earlier TRO decision, Request to Default Three State Defendants (dkt. no. 45), Motion to Refile His Jan. 22, 2016 Request to Default Three State Defendants (dkt. no. 44), and his Motion to Depose AAG Abigail Fee (dkt. no. 47) are MOOT in light of the disposition of the motions to dismiss.
All federal claims against the defendants are dismissed with prejudice. All state law claims are dismissed without prejudice. This action is DISMISSED.