Federal District Court Grants Motion To Dismiss Complaint

Berkman Henoch obtains order dismissing federal complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”).

According to the civil complaint, Plaintiff and a police officer who was the target of wiretap investigation were “friends” and “were also both avowed enemies” of the individually named defendants, which included Suffolk County’s former police chief and district attorney.  The complaint further alleged that the individual defendants agreed to “feed false information to a local magistrate in order to secure a warrant to wiretap [the police officer’s] phone.  They falsely claimed that the [police officer’s] conduct had threatened officer safety.  In reality, the wiretap campaign had nothing to do with officer safety, which was simply a cover story to deceive the court into issuing the wiretap warrant.  According to the complaint, there was no probable cause for the wiretap.”

Based on the foregoing allegations, Plaintiff commenced an action against the County of Suffolk (“Suffolk” or “County”) and several individual defendants alleging that the illegal wiretapping of the police officer’s cellular phone by the district attorney’s office, which intercepted the officer’s communications with the Plaintiff and others, violated the Federal Wiretap Act.

The District Court (Azrack, U.S.D.J.) agreed with Berkman Henoch’s contention that a municipality, as a matter of law, cannot be held liable under the Federal Wiretap Act (“FWA”) for the violation alleged in the complaint.

In issuing its decision, the District Court observed that “[w]hile the Second Circuit had not addressed this issue . . . The Court is persuaded by the Seventh Circuit’s more robust analysis . . . and accordingly finds that Suffolk County cannot be held liable as an ‘entity’ for these alleged violations.”  Similarly, the Court agreed with Berkman Henoch in determining that Suffolk County cannot be liable for violations committed by the individual defendants under the doctrine of respondeat superior. 

The County of Suffolk was represented by Joseph E. Macy, Esq. and Nicholas S. Tuffarelli, Esq. – members of Berkman Henoch’s Litigation Department.

Link to: Copy of the Court’s Order Granting the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint