Opinion
Civil Action No. 17-2709 (MAS) (LHG)
01-18-2018
KEVIN CARTER, Plaintiff, v. SALVATORE GIANNA, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiff is proceeding, in forma pauperis, with a civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court previously proceeded the Complaint after screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). (Order, June 12, 2017, ECF No. 3.) Presently before the Court is Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, (Am. Compl., ECF No. 6), which the Court must screen under § 1915(e)(2)(B).
The Amended Complaint seeks to add one additional defendant, namely "NJ Transit Corporation." Plaintiff alleges that "[t]he NJ Transit employs [Defendant] Gianna and is responsible for the actions of [its] employees." (Am. Comp. 4.) There is, however, no respondeat superior liability in § 1983 actions. "[A government entity] cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor—or, in other words, [it] cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory." Caldwell v. Egg Harbor Police Dep't, 362 F. App'x 250, 251 (3d Cir. 2010); see Weigher v. Prison Health Servs., 402 F. App'x 668, 670 (3d Cir. 2010) (holding that a private corporation contracted by the state to provide traditional governmental services cannot be held liable under a theory of respondeat superior in a § 1983 suit). Because Plaintiff does not assert a cognizable claim against NJ Transit Corporation in the Amended Complaint, all claims against it are dismissed, and it is dismissed from the case.
IT IS therefore on this 18th day of January, 2018,
ORDERED that all claims against Defendant NJ Transit Corporation are hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, and Defendant NJ Transit Corporation is hereby DISMISSED from the case;
ORDERED that Plaintiff's time to serve Defendant Gianna is hereby EXTENDED to 90 days after the date of this Order; and it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve this Order upon Plaintiff by regular mail.
/s/ _________
MICHAEL A. SHIPP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE