The Appeals Court has thrown out what must be one of the last remaining cases from the COVID-19 era.
According to court documents, Rayan Toby was grocery shopping at Stop & Shop in 2021 when he saw several patrons and employees disregarding the CDC’s social-distancing guidelines.
Rayan allegedly took out his cellphone and began recording the store’s guideline malfeasance.
At some point a security guard “removed” Rayan from the store. It’s unclear how the guard removed Rayan. Though the court notes that the guard was never criminally charged for his conduct.
Nevertheless, Rayan claimed that the incident caused him pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
Consequently, he filed a lawsuit against the security company Allied Universal Security Services (AUSS).
The first lawsuit, filed in 2021, was dismissed by a superior court after AUSS filed a motion for summary judgment.
In 2024 Rayan filed another lawsuit against AUSS citing the same facts litigated in 2021.
AUSS filed a new motion to dismiss that was again allowed by a superior court judge.
Rayan appealed the 2024 dismissal.
Citing res judicata, the Appeals Court affirmed the case’s dismissal:
Here, a Superior Court order, dated May 31, 2022, allowing summary judgment against the plaintiff satisfies all of these elements. The order, which dismissed the plaintiff’s charge of civil assault against the AUSS security guard at the center of his allegations, was a final judgment against the plaintiff and determined the exact issue underlying all the plaintiff’s claims here — whether an AUSS security officer assaulted the plaintiff. The judge concluded that “the evidence of record permits no reasonable inference that [the security officer officer] assaulted [the plaintiff] in any fashion cognizable under Massachusetts tort law,” which was dispositive of the plaintiff’s claim. Further, a review of the record demonstrates that in opposing summary judgment, the plaintiff had the opportunity to fully litigate the issue.
If that wasn’t bad enough for Rayan, the justices then allowed AUSS request for legal fees:
Asserting that this appeal is frivolous, the defendant has requested appellate attorney’s fees and costs. We agree.
The full text of the slip opinion is attached below.