Rhodes v. Superior Court of the D.C.
Rhodes v. Superior Court of the D.C.
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint With Prejudice (ECF No. 12). For the reasons discussed below, the Court will grant the motion in part and deny it in part.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff, who is visually impaired, held the position of Deputy Clerk in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("Superior Court") from March 25, 2002 until his termination on September 2, 2016. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 3. According to plaintiff, defendants *2discriminated against him because of his visual disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"),
ADA Claim
Plaintiff has a visual impairment, see Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, and informed his employer of his disability in 2002,
Plaintiff filed an EEOC complaint on September 13, 2016.
I was hired by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in February 2002 as a courtroom clerk but actually worked as a deputy clerk. I requested an accommodation due to my disability several months after I began which I was granted until approximately Fall of 2015, in the form of larger font on my monitor. Around Fall of 2015 however, everyone received new monitors, and my computer monitor was no longer configured to have the larger font I had prior. I attempted to rectify this several times, however my monitor was never reconfigured to accommodate me after this point despite numerous requests. Due to no longer having my requested accommodation, I struggled in my regular duties and was given negative evaluations. In August 2016 I was notified that I will soon be terminated.
I believe I was discriminated against based on my disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended.
Hatch Act Claim
Plaintiff held an elected position as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. See Am. Compl. ¶ 17. According to plaintiff, his supervisor "harassed [him] and told [him] that [he] needed to stop [his] political activity as an [ANC C]ommissioner."
Plaintiff demands reinstatement, the promotion he was denied in 2009, benefits, *3back pay, and monetary damages of $10 million.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Dismissal Under Rule 12(b)(6)
Defendants move to dismiss plaintiff's amended complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the ground that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. A Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint. See Browning v. Clinton ,
A complaint survives a Rule 12(b)(6) motion if it contains " 'a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,' " such that defendants have " 'fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.' " Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly ,
B. Plaintiff's Amended Complaint Adequately States a Timely ADA Claim
"No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment."
Defendants first move to dismiss on the ground that plaintiff "does not specifically allege that he made ... requests [for accommodation] to his employer ." Defs.' Mem. at 4-5 (emphasis in original). Instead, plaintiff alleges that he asked the person(s) who installed the computer to reconfigure it, and according to defendants, a request "directed to IT staff members or computer hardware installers ... do[es] not discharge the employee's burden to request an accommodation." Id. at 5. Plaintiff responds by asserting that "requests to representatives of the IT department [were] sufficient to put [his former] employer on notice that [he] had a continuing request for reasonable accommodation." Pl.'s Resp. to Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss Pl.'s Am. Compl. & Mem. in Support of Pl.'s Resp. ("Pl.'s Opp'n") at 1.
Missing from defendants' submissions is legal authority to support their position that the complaint not only must identify the particular individual(s) "train[ed] on the ADA's requirements," Defs.' Mem. at 5, but also must allege that plaintiff's requests for accommodation were directed to that individual. Nothing in the current record of this case describes the procedure by which, according to defendants, plaintiff should have made his request, and there is no basis from which the Court can conclude that plaintiff's requests to IT personnel would not suffice.
Next, defendants contend that the amended complaint fails to "hint[ ] at a causal nexus" between plaintiff's visual impairment, defendants' awareness of the visual impairment since 2002, and plaintiff's termination in 2016. Defs.' Mem. at 5. Not so, plaintiff responds. See Pl.'s Opp'n at 1. He refers to the first sentence of the amended complaint, see id. , which reads: "I was terminated on September 2, 2016, from my job as a Deputy Clerk with the Superior Court because of my visual impairment in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act[,]" Am. Compl. ¶ 1. And now, defendants deem "[p]laintiff's bare statement too conclusory," arguing that the amended complaint still fails to "allege specific facts showing the ... causal link between [plaintiff's] visual impairment and his termination." Id. at 2.
The Court is mindful of its obligation to construe a pro se pleading liberally. See Richardson v. United States ,
*5Plaintiff's amended complaint adequately puts defendants on notice of a plausible claim of discrimination based on plaintiff's visual impairment under the ADA. Accordingly, the Court denies defendants' motion to dismiss the ADA claims.
C. Plaintiff's Hatch Act Claim Is Dismissed
According to plaintiff, his "superiors" discriminated against him in violation of the Hatch Act "because of [his] political activity," Am. Compl. ¶ 16, in his role as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, id. ¶ 17. The alleged discriminatory actions occurred in 2009 when plaintiff was denied a promotion, id. ¶ 18, and in 2012 when a supervisor knowingly placed plaintiff in a position, the duties of which plaintiff could not perform, id. ¶ 19. Defendants argue that the Hatch Act, if it even applies, does not protect plaintiff from alleged retaliation for ANC-related activities. See generally Defs.' Mem. at 6.
Pursuant to Fox v. Strickland ,
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint [12] is GRANTED IN PART and the Hatch Act claim is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The motion is also DENIED IN PART, and plaintiff's ADA claim may go forward. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that defendants shall file an answer to plaintiff's amended complaint by April 30, 2018.
SO ORDERED.
Plaintiff does not state the specific date in November 2015 that the alleged discriminatory action(s) occurred. It is possible that events giving rise to his ADA claim occurred prior to November 18, 2015, and if so, the claim would be untimely. The Court rejects defendants' suggestion, see Reply at 2-3, that dismissal of the ADA claim with prejudice is warranted at this early stage of proceedings, when the parties have yet to engage in discovery.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Edward RHODES v. SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
- Status
- Published