Opinion
No.: 3:13-CV-411-TAV-HBG
02-20-2014
JAMES CASPER and MARY CATHERINE CASPER, Plaintiffs, v. CLAIBORNE COUNTY, TENNESSEE, SHERIFF DAVID RAY, individually and in his official capacity as a employee of the CLAIBORNE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, STEVE CLINE, individually and in his official capacity as a employee of the CLAIBORNE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This civil action arises out of the execution of a search warrant and the subsequent arrest and incarceration of plaintiff James Casper [Doc. 1]. Plaintiffs assert claims against defendants under to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and under state law, specifically the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act ("TGTLA") [Id.].
Before the Court is defendants' Motion for Partial Dismissal [Doc. 6]. Pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defendants move the Court to decline to exercise jurisdiction over plaintiffs' state-law claims and to dismiss plaintiffs' official-capacity claims because Claiborne County has been named as a defendant. Plaintiffs did not respond to the motion and the time for doing so has passed. See E.D. Tenn. L.R. 7.1; E.D. Tenn. L.R. 7.2 ("Failure to respond to a motion may be deemed a waiver of any opposition to the relief sought.").
It is undisputed that the Court has federal question jurisdiction over plaintiff's § 1983 claim and that the Court may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, has held that "the Tennessee legislature expressed a clear preference that TGTLA claims be handled by its own state courts" and that this preference "is an exceptional circumstance for declining jurisdiction." Gregory v. Shelby Cnty., Tenn., 220 F.3d 433, 446 (6th Cir. 2000), abrogated on other grounds by Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. W. Va. Dep't of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598 (2001). For reasons explained in Cass v. Tennessee Valley Authority, Case No. 3:10-cv-307-TAV-CCS [Doc. 49], the Court finds declining to exercise jurisdiction over plaintiffs' TGTLA claims in this case is appropriate.
The Court also finds it appropriate to dismiss plaintiffs' official-capacity claims as redundant. Pursuant to federal law, "[a]n official capacity claim filed against a public employee is equivalent to a lawsuit directed against the public entity which that agent represents." Claybrook v. Birchwell, 199 F.3d 350, 355 n.4 (6th Cir. 2000) (citing Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165 (1985)). Claiborne County, Tennessee, is a defendant in this action and has thus received notice of the claims against it.
Accordingly, for the reasons explained herein, the Court will GRANT defendants' Motion for Partial Dismissal [Doc. 6] and DISMISS plaintiff's TGTLA claims as well as the claims against Sheriff David Ray and Steve Cline in their official capacities.
ORDER ACCORDINGLY.
Thomas A. Varlan
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE