Alpha III, Inc. v. City of San Diego
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Appellants (collectively, “Alpha III”) appeal the district court’s order dismissing their amended complaint with prejudice. We affirm.
The district court held that most of Alpha Ill’s claims were untimely, and that the Noerr-Pennington doctrine immunized the appellees from liability for the remaining claims. The district court therefore granted the appellees’ motions to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).
We conduct de novo review of the district court’s dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). Ventura Mobilehome Cmtys. Owners Ass’n v. City of San Buenaventura, 371 F.3d 1046, 1050 (9th Cir. 2004). We limit our review to the operative complaint, documents to which the complaint refers, and judicially noticeable facts. United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 2003). We accept all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint as true, and take all inferences from those allegations in the light most favorable to Alpha III. Watson v. Weeks, 436 F.3d 1152, 1157 (9th Cir. 2006).
We first conclude that the district court properly applied the Noerr-Pennington doctrine to claims arising from Boston Capital’s state court lawsuit against Alpha III. Alpha III alleges that Boston Capital brought the suit in retaliation for Alpha Ill’s attempt to develop low-income housing at Fox Hollow. In White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214, 1232 (9th Cir. 2000), a panel of this court considered the scope of NoerrPennington immunity from an FHA claim, and held that a lawsuit “amount[s] to a discriminatory housing practice” only if, among other things, it is “objectively baseless.” We take judicial notice of the state court’s written opinions and final judgment, which reveal that Boston Capital prevailed on virtually all of its claims against Alpha III. The state court’s rulings establish, as a matter of law, that Boston Capital’s lawsuit was not “objectively baseless.” Alpha Ill’s appeal of the state court lawsuit does not lead us to a different conclusion.
Having dispensed with the possibility that liability arose from the state court lawsuit, the district court correctly concluded that Alpha Ill’s remaining allegations were untimely. Alpha III brought this action on March 4, 2004. To plead an FHA violation within the two-year statute of limitations, Alpha III needed to allege the “occurrence or the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice” on or after March 4, 2002. 42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A). It did not.
The core acts for which Alpha III seeks damages undisputedly occurred more than two years before it sued. By the end of the summer of 2001, Alpha III was no longer a member of the Fox Hollow partnership. Even crediting Alpha Ill’s allegations that the City and Boston Capital violated the FHA in removing it from the partnership and in the acts leading up to that removal, Alpha III did not sue in time.
We also reject Alpha Ill’s attempt to resuscitate its untimely allegations by recasting them as a “continuing violation” or as a “pattern-or-practice” of discrimination. The Supreme Court’s decision in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, establishes the contours of such claims under the FHA. 455 U.S. 363, 380-81, 102 S.Ct. 1114, 71 L.Ed.2d 214 (1982).
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and may not be cited to or by the courts of this circuit except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
. The district court considered Alpha Ill's "continuing violation" theory under National
. Although Alpha III alleges that it continued to suffer injury during the limitations period, its allegations establish that its injuries resulted either from the state court lawsuit or from conduct preceding the limitations period.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ALPHA III, INC., a California Corporation v. CITY OF SAN DIEGO
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published