# Holt v. Board of Mayor

> District Court, E.D. Tennessee · September 16, 1976 · 421 F. Supp. 363

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8839086

## Case

- **Full name:** Lancie HOLT v. BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF TOWN OF NEWPORT
- **Court:** District Court, E.D. Tennessee
- **Decided:** September 16, 1976
- **Citations:** 421 F. Supp. 363; 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13211
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court
- **Cited by:** 1 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8839086

## Opinion text

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
NEESE, District Judge.
This is a civil rights action for money damages against, inter alia, the defendant Kuhn’s Big K Stores, Incorporated. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ; 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (3). Such defendant moved for a dismissal as to it on the ground that the plaintiff failed to state a claim against it on which relief can be granted. Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Such motion is meritorious.
The plaintiff is a Tennessee citizen, and such defendant is a Tennessee corporation. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (a)(1), (c). The plaintiff claims that such defendant is liable to him for the actions of its employee, a certain security guard, on the basis of the doctrine of respondeat superior. No other involvement personally of the corporation is alleged by the plaintiff.
The defendant-department store cannot be held liable solely as a master or principal. If the store were an active participant, it could still not be state action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . Therefore, the plaintiff must look to common law actions for relief against the moving defendant. Draeger v. Grand Central, Inc., C.A.10th *364 (1974), 504 F.2d 142, 146 [7]. For such reason, the plaintiff failed to state a claim herein against Kuhn’s Big K Stores, Incorporated, on which relief can be granted. The latter’s motion hereby is GRANTED, and as to such defendant only this action hereby is
DISMISSED.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8839086. Public record. Not legal advice.