Howard v. Nunley

1 Citing case

  1. Lieberman v. City of Rochester

    07-CV-6316L (W.D.N.Y. Apr. 29, 2011)   Cited 4 times
    Dismissing "class of one" equal protection claim because plaintiffs' failed to "allege[] any facts showing that the[] [defendant] officers, or Rochester police officers generally, have acted differently when confronted by a situation similar to the incident here. . . . . . therefore failed to plead facts that would support an inference that they were singled out for an improper purpose."

    Plaintiffs do allege that during their confrontation with the officers, the officers called them various derogatory names, some of which, such as "faggot" and "dyke," apparently referenced plaintiffs' actual or perceived sexual orientation. Complaint ΒΆΒΆ 43, 45. While that may indicate some discriminatory intent, it is not in itself indicative of discriminatory enforcement, i.e., that the officers acted as they did because of plaintiff's actual or perceive sexual orientation. See, e.g., Hill v. City of Southfield, No. 09-cv-12373, 2010 WL 4822946, at *4 (E.D.Mich. Nov. 22, 2010) ("Although the officers' racial epithets [at the time of his arrest] might assist in establishing a discriminatory purpose, without a showing of discriminatory effect, Hill's selective enforcement claim fails"); Howard v. Nunley, No. CV 1-06-191, 2009 WL 799291, at *2-*3 (E.D.Cal. Mar 24, 2009) ("Although Plaintiff claims that Defendant Nunley used a racial epithet, this does not demonstrate that Defendant Nunley discriminated against Plaintiff based on his race. . . . Thus, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff's Equal Protection claim"); Stewart v. Harrah's Illinois Corp., No. 98 C 5550, 2000 WL 988193, at *17 (N.D.Ill. July 18, 2000) ("Although Larson's alleged statement, `nigger, I don't want to put my hands on you,' before conducting the search incident to arrest is undoubtedly offensive, it is insufficient to show that race motivated Stewart's arrest or the charges brought against him"). I see no basis, therefore, for an equal protection claim here.