Oxford Motion To Dismiss Ryan Moore
Oxford Motion To Dismiss Ryan Moore
v No. 21-12871
Defendants.
_____________________________________/
GEOFFREY N. FIEGER (P30441) TIMOTHY J. MULLINS (P28021)
JAMES J. HARRINGTON (P65351) KENNETH B. CHAPIE (P66148)
ROBERT G. KAMENEC (P35283) JOHN L. MILLER (P71913)
NORA Y. HANNA (P80067) ANNABEL F. SHEA (P83750)
MILICA FILIPOVIC (P80189) Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C.
Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Harrington, P.C. Attorneys for Defendant Ryan Moore
Attorneys for Plaintiffs 101 W. Big Beaver Road, 10th Floor
19390 West Ten Mile Road Troy, MI 48084-5280
Southfield, MI 48075 (248) 457-7020
P: (248) 355-5555 [email protected]
F: (248) 355-5148 [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
FACTS
1. GEOFFREY FIEGER’S ACTIONS ARE UNCONSCIONABLE AND HAVE
ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
In a hurry to be on the news, Geoffrey Fieger filed a lawsuit against Oxford
Schools and numerous employees without conducting the due diligence required by
our Rules of Professional Responsibility. While his pleading is full of lies and
Mr. Fieger has claimed that Mr. Ryan Moore was the High School Dean of Students.
(DE# 1 at ¶ 15). Then, throughout the Complaint, Mr. Fieger accused Mr. Moore of
being aware that the shooter poised a threat to students and did nothing. (Id at ¶¶ 66,
76-82.) Lastly, Mr. Fieger affirmatively alleged that Mr. Moore made students less
Had Mr. Fieger been less concerned about being on the news and more
concerned about the facts, he would have been able to easily confirm that Mr. Moore
had not even worked in the High School for more than one year. At the risk of being
redundant: Mr. Moore was not the High School Dean of Students as alleged by
2
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This is not much ado about nothing. In reality, because of Mr. Fieger’s sloppy
legal filings, Mr. Moore has received death threats. These death threats have even
been covered by the news and have necessitated Sheriff Deputies being posted
outside school employees’ homes. In fact, the “Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies
are now investigating more than a dozen new threats against school administrators
in Oxford” following Mr. Fieger’s lawsuit.1 After Mr. Fieger’s lawsuit, Mr. Moore’s
face was on national TV. Mr. Moore—to protect his family—(1) had reinforced
doors installed on his home and (2) pulled his children out of school. Also, not
surprising, Mr. Moore is concerned about how these lies will impact his potential
employability. Again, this is all due to Mr. Fieger’s reckless actions. Mr. Moore now
lives in fear. Just today, the school district had to close all buildings again due to
threats.2 This has caused Mr. Moore to experience a significant increase of emotional
stress during an already traumatic time for Mr. Moore as a member of the Oxford
Community.
Mr. Fieger’s unconscionable actions have not only adversely impacted Mr.
Moore’s emotional and psychological health, but they have also adversely impacted
1
See https://www.wxyz.com/news/oxford-school-shooting/more-than-a-dozen-threats-confirmed-
against-school-administrators-in-oxford (last accessed December 14, 2021).
2
See https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/oxford-school-district-closed-nov-14-after-threat-to-
middle-school (last accessed December 14, 2021)
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the entire Oxford Community. Mr. Moore is a member of the Oxford Community
School’s Trauma Response Team. The filing of this lawsuit has hindered Mr.
Moore’s ability to render effective and meaningful aide to the Oxford Community
After Mr. Fieger filed this lawsuit and appeared on numerous news channels
In response, Mr. Fieger refused to fix the problem he created. In fact, he doubled
down.
In an “ex parte” filing—in violation of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Local
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accusing Defendant of “destroying” evidence.3 (DE # 11). That Motion alleged that
Mr. Moore—someone that should not have been sued in the first place—made
his LinkedIn Account private to hopefully prevent physical harm to himself and his
family. Mr. Fieger is trying to obfuscate his sanctionable actions by filing motions
that lack factual and legal merit. The Court needs to stop this misconduct before it
gets worse; the Court needs to stop it before someone is physically injured or killed
LEGAL ARGUMENT
There is no dispute that Mr. Moore was not the High School Dean of Students
as alleged in the Complaint. See (Exhibit A). Mr. Fieger was advised of this fact last
week and refused to dismiss him. This has resulted in Mr. Moore receiving death
3
The Oakland County Sheriff Department and Oakland County Prosecutor have already obtained
and are in possession of all relevant evidence—which will be of no surprise to this Court. And the
School District has not destroyed any evidence. These are more false allegations made by an
attorney trying to say something inflammatory to be on the news.
4
The Rules of Professional Responsibility prohibit Mr. Fieger’s extrajudicial statements, but the
Rules are obviously not enough to dissuade him. See Grievance Adm'r v. Fieger, 476 Mich. 231,
362, 719 N.W.2d 123, 195 (2006).
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the inherent authority of the Court is an independent basis for sanctioning bad faith
conduct in litigation. 501 U.S. 32 (1991). In Chambers, the Supreme Court affirmed
a district court's award of $996,644.65 in attorney's fees and litigation expenses for
the defendant's series of meritless motions and pleadings and delaying actions. 501
U.S. at 38, 111 S.Ct. 2123. In affirming the district court's resort to
its inherent authority for that award, despite the availability of 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and
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501 U.S. at 50, 111 S.Ct. 2123 (emphasis added and citations omitted).
The Sixth Circuit has likewise stated that “[i]n addition to Rule 11 and 28 U.S.C. §
1927, a district court may award sanctions pursuant to its inherent powers when bad
faith occurs.” Runfola & Assocs., 88 F.3d at 375. The district court has the
“inherent authority to award fees when a party litigates ‘in bad faith, vexatiously,
wantonly, or for oppressive reasons.’” Big Yank Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins.
Co., 125 F.3d 308, 313 (6th Cir.1997) (quoting Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v.
Wilderness Soc'y, 421 U.S. 240, 247, 95 S.Ct. 1612, 44 L.Ed.2d 141 (1975)). “In
order to award attorney fees under this bad faith exception, a district court must find
that ‘the claims advanced were meritless, that counsel knew or should have known
this, and that the motive for filing the suit was for an improper purpose such as
harassment.’ ” Big Yank Corp., 125 F.3d at 313 (quoting Smith v. Detroit Fed'n of
Here, there is no dispute that Mr. Fieger sued someone entirely unconnected
to this event. He was given notice of this fact and an opportunity to fix it. He
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Refused. Because of his bad faith, a public school employee has been pictured on
the news and received death threats. That is unconscionable and morally wrong.
motion accusing Mr. Moore of hiding his social media—an action that was
necessitated by Mr. Fieger improperly naming him in a lawsuit. When these actions
are considered together, this Court should impose monetary sanctions of a sufficient
amount that will hopefully dissuade Plaintiff’s counsel from further reckless
litigation tactics.
CONCLUSION
This Court should immediately dismiss Mr. Moore from this lawsuit. It should
also impose significant sanctions against Mr. Fieger for his unconscionable and
reckless misconduct.
/s/TIMOTHY J. MULLINS
GIARMARCO, MULLINS & HORTON, PC
Attorney for Defendant Ryan Moore
DATED: December 14, 2021
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/s/TIMOTHY J. MULLINS
GIARMARCO, MULLINS & HORTON, PC
Attorney for Defendant Ryan Moore
101 W. Big Beaver Road, 10th Floor
Troy, MI 48084-5280
(248) 457-7020
[email protected]
P28021
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EXHIBIT A
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1. I was not the Dean of Students at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.
2. The allegations against me contained in Fieger’s lawsuit, Case No. 21-cv-12871, are
completely false.
3. As a result of being improperly named in Fieger’s lawsuit, my photo has been broadcasted
in the news and across several media outlets.
4. I am aware that the Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies are now investigating more than a
dozen new threats against school administrators in Oxford. As a result of being improperly
named in Fieger’s lawsuit, I am now afraid for my own safety, and afraid for the safety of
my family.
6. As a result of being improperly named in Fieger’s lawsuit, I was forced to install new locks
to protect my family.
7. As a result of being improperly named in Fieger’s lawsuit, I removed my kids from school
early for their safety.
10. As a result of being improperly named in Fieger’s lawsuit, I have experienced a significant
increase in emotional stress during an already traumatic time for the Oxford Community,
that has negatively impacted all aspects of my daily life.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. (28 U.S.C.
1746).
Executed on: