Neborsky v. Town of Victory

Full title: RUTH ANNE NEBORSKY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TOWN OF VICTORY; FERNE LOOMIS…

Court: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Date published: Apr 26, 2021

20-1908-cv (2d Cir. Apr. 26, 2021)

Opinion

20-1908-cv

04-26-2021

RUTH ANNE NEBORSKY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TOWN OF VICTORY; FERNE LOOMIS, in her official and personal capacity; CAROL EASTER, in her official and personal capacity; BONNIE BATCHELDER, in her official and personal capacity; and BATCHELDER ASSOCIATES, in its official and personal capacity, Defendants-Appellees.

FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT: DEBORAH T. BUCKNAM, Bucknam Law, PC, Walden, VT. FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES: MARIKATE E. KELLEY, MKelley Law, PLC, North Ferrisburgh, VT (Philip C. Woodward, Woodward & Kelley, PLLC, Ferrisburgh, VT, on the brief), for Town of Victory. KEVIN L. KITE (Constance Tryon Pell, on the brief), Carroll, Boe & Pell, PC, Middlebury, VT, for Ferne Loomis and Carol Easter. GARY L. FRANKLIN, Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC, Burlington, VT, for Bonnie Batchelder and Batchelder Associates.

FOR THE COURT: Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk

SUMMARY ORDER

Rulings by summary order do not have precedential effect. Citation to a summary order filed on or after January 1, 2007, is permitted and is governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and this Court's Local Rule 32.1.1. When citing a summary order in a document filed with this Court, a party must cite either the Federal Appendix or an electronic database (with the notation "summary order"). A party citing a summary order must serve a copy of it on any party not represented by counsel.

At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 26^th day of April, two thousand twenty-one. PRESENT: JOSÉ A. CABRANES, ROSEMARY S. POOLER, JOSEPH F. BIANCO, Circuit Judges.

FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT:

DEBORAH T. BUCKNAM, Bucknam Law, PC, Walden, VT.

FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES:

MARIKATE E. KELLEY, MKelley Law, PLC, North Ferrisburgh, VT (Philip C. Woodward, Woodward & Kelley, PLLC, Ferrisburgh, VT, on the brief), for Town of Victory. KEVIN L. KITE (Constance Tryon Pell, on the brief), Carroll, Boe & Pell, PC, Middlebury, VT, for Ferne Loomis and Carol Easter. GARY L. FRANKLIN, Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC, Burlington, VT, for Bonnie Batchelder and Batchelder Associates.

Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont (Geoffrey W. Crawford, Judge).

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the District Court be and hereby is AFFIRMED.

Plaintiff-Appellant Ruth Anne Neborsky appeals from a judgment of the District Court dismissing on summary judgment all of her claims against the Town of Victory, town officials Ferne Loomis and Carol Easter, and accountant Bonnie Batchelder and Batchelder Associates, PC. On appeal, Neborsky contests the dismissal of her equal protection claims under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Common Benefits Clause of the Vermont Constitution, and her claims of false and defamatory statements by the Batchelder Defendants and town officials Loomis and Easter.

Upon a review of the record and the District Court's careful and thorough evaluation of that record, we AFFIRM the May 22, 2020 judgment of the District Court.

FOR THE COURT:

Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk