BECKY R. THORSON, Magistrate Judge.
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion to Amend his Complaint. (Doc. No. 53.) The Court issued a briefing schedule, allowing Plaintiff to file any written argument supporting his motion by November 30, 2018. (Doc. No. 55.) Plaintiff filed documents in support of his motion (Doc. Nos. 58, 59, 60), and Defendant Ossell filed opposition documents. (Doc. Nos. 68, 69, 70, 71.) A hearing was held on Plaintiff's motion on December 18, 2018. (See Doc. No. 74, Minute Entry.) On December 19, 2018, the Court received an unsolicited document from Plaintiff (with exhibits), which appeared to supplement his already submitted oral and written argument on his motion.
On December 18, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against David Ossell, Melissa Gunderson, and the Ramsey County Human Services Department. (Doc. No. 1.) He thereafter clarified that he intended to sue Ossell and Gunderson in both their personal and official capacities. (See Doc. No. 6.) After receiving that clarification, this Court recommended dismissal without prejudice of the official capacity claims for failure to adequately allege that Ossell or Gunderson were acting pursuant to an official policy or unofficial custom of Ramsey County, and recommended dismissal without prejudice of Ramsey County Human Services Department for failure to plead allegations indicating the county acted unlawfully. (Doc. No. 8.) United States Chief Judge John R. Tunheim issued an order consistent with that recommendation on April 30, 2018. (Doc. No. 17.)
On May 14, 2018, Ossell filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. (Doc. No. 21.) That motion was denied on November 6, 2018, based on this Court's recommendation. (Doc. No. 57; see Doc. No. 49, Sealed Report and Recommendation.) Therefore, at the time Plaintiff filed his papers supporting the present motion to amend, Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment claim asserted against Defendants Ossell and Gunderson in their personal capacity remained, and still remains.
Although Plaintiff's motion to amend papers are not clear as to what he is specifically seeking to add, it appears that he is seeking to add back in the official capacity claims against Ossell and Gunderson as well as claims against various other Defendants — i.e., the City of Saint Paul; the County of Ramsey; the State of Minnesota; the Minnesota Department of Human Service/"H.S.D."; the Saint Paul Police Department; Todd Axtell, Chief of the Saint Paul Police Department; and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney. (See generally Doc. Nos. 53, 58.) It appears that Plaintiff is trying to add claims against the City of Saint Paul, the County of Ramsey, the State of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services based on their supervisory role over Defendants Ossell and Gunderson or other entities. It also appears that Plaintiff is attempting to add claims in addition to his current Fourth Amendment claim — including one that relates to the alleged misconduct in how the "H.S.D." handled Plaintiff's matter in state court, and one based on "Malice" that seems to be connected to actions taken with respect to the underlying child protection/child custody proceedings. Defendant Ossell, as an employee of the St. Paul Police Department, opposes the motion with respect to the proposed amendments that assert new claims against himself and the other St. Paul parties—the City of St. Paul, the St. Paul Police Department, and Chief Todd Axtell—on the grounds that the proposed amendments are futile. (Doc. No. 68, Def. Ossell's Mem. of Law Opposing Pl.'s Mot. to Am. Compl. ("Def.'s Mem.").) Defendant Gunderson has not responded and is yet to be served.
Except where amendment is permitted as a matter of course, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, "a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave [and] [t]he court should freely give leave when justice so requires." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). The trial court has discretion to decide whether to grant leave to amend. Niagara of Wis. Paper Corp. v. Paper Indus. Union-Mgmt. Pension Fund, 800 F.2d 742, 749 (8th Cir. 1986). "There is no absolute right to amend." Becker v. Univ. of Neb. at Omaha, 191 F.3d 904, 908 (8th Cir. 1999). "[E]ven where some prejudice to the adverse party would result if the motion to amend were granted, that prejudice must be balanced against the hardship to the moving party if it is denied." Buder v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 644 F.2d 690, 694 (8th Cir. 1981). "[D]enial of leave to amend pleadings is appropriate only in those limited circumstances in which undue delay, bad faith on the part of the moving party, futility of the amendment, or unfair prejudice to the non-moving party can be demonstrated." Roberson v. Hayti Police Dep't, 241 F.3d 992, 995 (8th Cir. 2001).
A futility challenge to a motion to amend a complaint is successful where "claims created by the amendment would not withstand a Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." DeRoche v. All Am. Bottling Corp., 38 F.Supp.2d 1102, 1106 (D. Minn. 1998); see also Lunsford v. RBC Dain Rauscher, Inc., 590 F.Supp.2d 1153, 1158 (D. Minn. 2008) (stating that a motion to amend is futile if the amended complaint would not survive a motion to dismiss). "Likelihood of success on the new claim or defenses is not a consideration for denying leave to amend unless the claim is clearly frivolous." Becker, 191 F.3d at 908.
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). Although a complaint need not contain "detailed factual allegations," it must contain facts with enough specificity "to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Id. at 555. This standard "calls for enough fact[s] to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of [the claim]." Id. at 556. Whether a complaint states a claim is a question of law. Morton v. Becker, 793 F.2d 185, 187 (8th Cir. 1986). "Rule 12(b)(6) authorizes a court to dismiss a claim on the basis of a dispositive issue of law." Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 326 (1989).
First, with respect to Plaintiff's alleged official-capacity claims against Ossell and Gunderson, the claims as alleged are futile for the same reasons stated by this Court in its March 19, 2018 Report and Recommendation. Plaintiff's proposed amendments do not adequately allege that Ossell or Gunderson were acting pursuant to an official policy or unofficial custom of Ramsey County during the course of the actions alleged to have violated Jackson's constitutional rights. See, e.g., Ware v. Jackson Cnty., Mo., 150 F.3d 873, 880 (8th Cir. 1998). That Ramsey County employed Ossell and Gunderson at the time of their alleged misconduct is not sufficient to establish liability. See Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Serv., 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978).
Second, if Plaintiff is seeking to add as Defendants the City of Saint Paul; the County of Ramsey; the State of Minnesota; the Minnesota Department of Human Service/"H.S.D."; the Saint Paul Police Department
Third, Plaintiff's newly asserted claims that appear to relate to the alleged misconduct in how the "H.S.D." handled Plaintiff's matter in state court, or that are based on "Malice" that seem to be connected to actions taken with respect to the underlying child protection/child custody proceedings, are futile. Aside from the fact that Plaintiff has not alleged facts supporting such claims, any claim for "false kidnapping" or "false imprisonment" fails as a matter of law because there is no apparent authority recognizing kidnapping as a civil tort in Minnesota, and false imprisonment is subject to a two-year statute of limitation, see Minn. Stat. § 541.07(1), and is therefore barred. With respect to Plaintiff's allegation regarding "false reports in juvenile court," this Court cannot discern what constitutional violation Plaintiff might be asserting, nor can it discern what other cause of action Plaintiff might be trying to plead. Therefore, this Court determines that his claims based on false reports do not meet the pleading standards. Plaintiff also references "emotional stress and physical stress." To the extent Plaintiff is trying to assert a claim for either intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress or physical stress, Plaintiff has not met the pleading standard because he has not alleged facts that would plausibly infer that the elements of such claims have been met.
Based on all of the above, Plaintiff's motion to amend must be denied in its entirety. Therefore, Plaintiff's Complaint as originally filed at Doc. No. 1 (with attachments) remains the operative Complaint in this case; and consistent with the prior rulings of this Court, the only claims that remain at this time are the individual capacity claims against Defendant Ossell and Defendant Gunderson
Based on the file, submissions, and arguments presented, and for the reasons stated above, the Court hereby