Curto v. Edmundson
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff-Appellant Patricia J. Curto appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Frederick J. Scullin, Jr., Chief Judge) dismissing her amended complaint against the Cornell defendants, and denying Curto’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of a complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) or 12(b)(1). Jaghory v. New York State Dep’t of Educ., 131 F.3d 326, 329 (2d Cir. 1997). Such dismissal is appropriate only if “it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
We affirm the District Court’s dismissal of Curto’s claims for the reasons stated by the District Court.
To the extent that Curto’s complaint can be read to allege an independent Title IX claim based on discriminatory grading of the 1997 exam, we agree with the District Court that such a claim is
Curto attempts to change this result by arguing that the time-barred events in 1997 were part of a continuing pattern of discrimination. Even were the 1997 events part of a continuing pattern of discrimination, the only injury Curto suffered was her expulsion from the Veterinary College in 1998. This argument gets Curto only so far as introducing the facts concerning the 1997 exam as relevant “background evidence in support of [the] timely claim [based on the 1998 expulsion].” Petrosino v. Bell Atlantic, 385 F.3d 210, 220 (2d Cir. 2004) (noting that termination claims under Title VII are discrete claims, but that evidence of previous promotion denials outside the limitations period may be relevant background evidence).
Finally, we conclude that the District Court did not exceed its allowable discretion in denying Curto’s motion for sanctions against the Cornell defendants. See Morley v. Ciba-Geigy Corp., 66 F.3d 21, 24 (2d Cir. 1995).
. The District Court previously dismissed Cur-to's claims against the State of New York, the State University of New York, Mills, and the New York State Education Department. Cur-to previously appealed the dismissal of her ADA and Title DC claims against these defendants, and we affirmed the district court by summary order. Doe. v. Anonymous Unnamed Sch. Employees & Officials of Cornell Univ. Coll. of Veterinary Med., 87 Fed.Appx. 788 (2d Cir. 2004). The remaining defendants-appel-lees are collectively known as the Cornell defendants.
. We reject Curto’s argument that her pendent state law claims were improperly dismissed by the District Court. Curto included these claims in her amended complaint, in violation of the District Court’s order, and they were thereafter dismissed by order of the District Court, pursuant to its authority under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
. “Because the statutes share the same goals and because Title IX mirrors the substantive provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, courts have interpreted Title IX by looking to the body of law developed under Title VI, as well as the caselaw interpreting Title VII.” Yusuf v. Vassar Coll., 35 F.3d 709, 714 (2d Cir. 1994) (internal citations omitted).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Patricia J. CURTO v. Dr. Katherine EDMUNDSON, Dr. Hunter Rawlings, III, Cornell University, Richard P. Mills, Jane/John Doe, NYS Education Department, Dr. Donald Smith, Nelson Roth, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published