Richardson v. Sauls
Richardson v. Sauls
Opinion of the Court
Edward Richardson, a former employee of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, sues eleven current and former Board employees pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics ,
I. BACKGROUND
A. Amended Complaint in this Action
Because the facts of this case have been summarized repeatedly in this and related actions, see Richardson v. Yellen ,
Mr. Richardson worked as a conditional employee for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) in its Law Enforcement Unit (LEU) from June 8, 2009 to June 7, 2010, when his employment was terminated. Am. Compl. for Damages (Am. Compl.) [Dkt. 21] ¶¶ 3, 21-22. He is an African-American male and a former military police officer who served in Iraq in 2003. Mr. Richardson previously alleged that his termination was illegal, stemming from race-based and disability discrimination, see generally Richardson I ,
Mr. Richardson brings eleven counts by which he alleges constitutional torts stemming from discriminatory harassment, improper tampering with documents and personnel records, lying about his termination, and undermining his administrative complaints, among other trespasses. Count One charges that Defendants Jones, Coble, Dublin, May, Sauls, Bakale, and O'Malley violated Mr. Richardson's Fourth Amendment rights when they allegedly "conspired with one another to remove protected medical records from Plaintiff's personnel file that ... should not have been in the defendants['] possession." Id. ¶ 168.
Counts Two and Five allege violations of Mr. Richardson's rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, respectively, based on the claim that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant illegally obtained Mr. Richardson's cell phone records "knowing the information used to obtain those records to be falsified and [a] misrepresentation of facts," and that they "willfully released" his phone records to other people. Id. ¶¶ 83-84, 92, 178, 214-15.
Counts Three and Six allege that Mr. May violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, respectively, when he "searched Plaintiff's personnel file[,] retrieving only documents that would be most character damaging to Plaintiff," and "searched through Plaintiff's ongoing EEO activity file, removing specific documents, including his own EEO affidavit and converted those documents to his personal use" by improperly mailing them to JaCina Stanton of the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission. Id. ¶¶ 188-89, 229-30.
Count Four alleges that Ms. Shanks and Messrs. Sauls, Bakale, Coble, Jones, Dublin, *59and O'Malley violated Mr. Richardson's Fifth Amendment rights and are liable for wrongful termination because they "intentionally and callously remov[ed] 22 medical documents" from Mr. Richardson's personnel file; the absence of these medical records allegedly deprived Mr. Richardson of the ability to document his medical "call-offs" when requested; and his termination resulted. Id. at 28-30.
Count Seven alleges that Messrs. Bakale, Dublin, Jones, May, Sauls, Coble, and O'Malley violated Mr. Richardson's First Amendment rights by retaliating against him due to his protected speech and, specifically, that Mr. Bakale "harass[ed]" Mr. Richardson when confronted about the alleged removal of medical documents and asked Mr. Richardson why he planned to "tak[e] the illegal removal of medical documents public and to the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs." Id. ¶¶ 238-240.
Count Eight alleges that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant violated Mr. Richardson's First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for engaging in protected speech following his termination: Mr. Richardson claims that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant "attempted to establish a falsified investigation against Plaintiff and further attempt[ed] [to] have Plaintiff wrongfully prosecuted by 4 separate law enforcement agencies," in retaliation for Mr. Richardson's "public disclosures" concerning the removal of his medical documents. Id. ¶¶ 247-49. Also in Count Eight, Mr. Pleasant is alleged to have investigated another employee for wrongful behavior, who had not engaged in protected activities and who received a lesser discipline than Mr. Richardson. Id. ¶¶ 250-52.
Count Nine alleges that Mses. Hargo and Shanks and Messrs. Jones, Sauls, O'Malley, Bakale, Dublin, Coble, and May violated Mr. Richardson's rights under the First and Fifth Amendments by conspiring to retaliate against him and to deny his appeal of his termination. The crux of count's allegations is that Ms. Shanks's purported reason for upholding Mr. Richardson's termination-that he had accumulated too many "tardies"-was pretextual and a "malicious fabrication of evidence." Id. ¶¶ 259-60. Mr. Richardson contends that Mr. May had informed him that he was being terminated for failing to provide supporting documentation for medical call-offs. Id. ¶ 262.
In Count Ten, Mr. Richardson complains of unequal treatment in violation of his Fifth Amendment due process rights. See id. ¶ 280. Count Ten alleges that Mses. Shanks and Hargo and Messrs. O'Malley, Jones, Sauls, Bakale, Dublin, Coble, and May failed to consider prior misconduct of two white employees, Rocco Christoff and Darren Harris, when terminating Mr. Richardson for comparable reasons in June 2010. Id. ¶¶ 273-78.
Finally, Count Eleven charges Mr. Smith, a senior EEO specialist with the Board, with violations of Mr. Richardson's rights under the First and Fifth Amendments for allegedly failing to provide EEO counseling when Mr. Richardson submitted an administrative complaint of discrimination in 2016, several years after his discharge. Id. ¶¶ 284-90. Specifically, Mr. Smith allegedly deprived Mr. Richardson of his "right to free speech" by denying him adequate investigation of his EEO claims and related counseling. Id. ¶¶ 286-87. Mr. Richardson also contends that Mr. Smith violated the Fifth Amendment by denying him the opportunity "to be heard and to bring his claims before an administrative judge or this Court." Id. ¶ 288. He asserts that Mr. Smith improperly forwarded new EEO charges filed by Mr. Richardson to Board senior counsel Joshua Chadwick and that Messrs. Smith and Chadwick together "prevented Plaintiff's *60newly filed claims from moving forward" in the EEO process. Id. ¶ 156. Mr. Richardson contends that Mr. Chadwick presented a "fabricated" EEO form to Mr. Richardson's EEO investigator, thus undermining his claim. Id. ¶ 162. He alleges that the failure to "conduct EEO counseling ... and a limited inquiry into Plaintiff's new claims of discrimination" violated his constitutional rights to due process and free speech. Id. ¶ 157. Related to this claim, Defendants filed with the Court an exhibit, of which they ask the Court to take judicial notice, which is a letter dated February 2, 2017, in which Mr. Smith informed Mr. Richardson that his complaint was dismissed in accord with EEO regulations. See Mot. to Dismiss, Ex. 1, 2/2/2017 Letter to Mr. Richardson (2017 Letter) [Dkt. 34-1] (citing
The Board moved to dismiss. See Mot. to Dismiss (Mot.) [Dkt. 34]. Mr. Richardson opposed. Mem. in Opp'n to Mot. to Dismiss (Opp'n) [Dkt. 37]. Defendants replied. Reply to Opp'n to Mot. to Dismiss (Reply) [Dkt. 39]. The motion is ripe for review.
B. Richardson I
Mr. Richardson sued the Board and Messrs. May, Sauls, Jones, Coble, Bakale, Dublin, and Pleasant in a previous, related case. See Richardson I ,
The Board moved to dismiss the Richardson I complaint as to all claims except those brought under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under *61Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) challenges the adequacy of a complaint on its face. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint must be sufficient "to give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly ,
III. ANALYSIS
A. Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel
Defendants argue that Counts One through Ten are barred under the doctrine of res judicata or the related doctrine of collateral estoppel, because the claims at issue in those counts have been litigated fully in Richardson I . For purposes of clarity when comparing Richardson I to the instant matter, this case will be referred to as Richardson III .
1. Res Judicata
"Under the doctrine of res judicata , or claim preclusion, a subsequent lawsuit will be barred if there has been prior litigation (1) involving the same claims or cause of action, (2) between the same parties or their privies, and (3) there has been a final, valid judgment on the merits, (4) by a court of competent jurisdiction." Smalls v. United States ,
"[R]es judicata (claim preclusion) bars relitigation not only of matters determined in a previous litigation but also ones that a party could have raised." Nat. Res. Defense Council v. EPA ,
a. Prior Litigation Involving the Same Claim or Cause of Action
Mr. Richardson argues that res judicata does not foreclose the claims at issue because he did not, in Richardson I , "allege a Bivens claim," and that Defendants' arguments fail because "simply naming several of the current Defendants[ ] under a Title VII cause of action does not preclude Plaintiff from asserting his constitutional violation claims." Opp'n at 4. Mr. Richardson is incorrect to the extent that he believes res judicata does not foreclose new legal theories, not previously argued, arising from the same fact pattern (or patterns). The question is whether "the facts surrounding the transaction or occurrence which operate to constitute the cause of action" have already been litigated-not whether the litigant relies on a different legal theory the second time around. Capitol Hill Group ,
Many of Mr. Richardson's allegations in the Richardson III Amended Complaint are derived from the same "nucleus of facts" presented in Richardson I and thus constitute an impermissible attempt to relitigate "the same claim or cause of action" that has been dismissed. Smalls ,
Counts Two and Five here allege violations of Mr. Richardson's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, respectively, based on the claim that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant illegally obtained Mr. Richardson's cell phone records "knowing the information used to obtain those records to *63be falsified and misrepresentation of facts," and that they "willfully released" the records to other people. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 83-84, 92, 178, 214-15. Richardson I alleged that Mr. Pleasant "unlawfully accessed Mr. Richardson's cell phone records by using Mr. Pleasant's investigation [into Mr. Richardson's background] as a pretext," and improperly "displayed" their contents. Richardson I ,
Counts Three and Six in the present action allege that Mr. May violated Mr. Richardson's rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, respectively, when he "searched Plaintiff's personnel file[,] retrieving only documents that would be most character damaging to Plaintiff," and "searched through Plaintiff's ongoing EEO activity file, removing specific documents, including his own EEO affidavit and converted those documents to his personal use" by improperly mailing them to JaCina Stanton of the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 188-89, 229-30. Mr. Richardson made functionally identical allegations in Richardson I :
Kevin May engaged in prohibited personnel practices by removing my Board separation letter, Board Separation appeal letter, and his EEO investigative affidavit, from my personnel file, and the [investigation report] from the Board's property, and unlawfully converting the documents to his personal use.... JaCina Stanton, Esq. of the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland mailed me the package containing May's statement and documents, as he mailed it to her, using his home address.
Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 51-53. Counts Three and Six have been litigated fully in Richardson I .
Count Four in Richardson III alleges that Ms. Shanks and Messrs. Sauls, Bakale, Coble, Jones, Dublin, and O'Malley are liable for wrongful termination in violation of Mr. Richardson's Fifth Amendment rights because they "intentionally and callously remov[ed] 22 medical documents" from Mr. Richardson's personnel file, so that he could not document his medical absences and was terminated. Am. Compl. at 28-30. As described above, Richardson I included the same allegations that Defendants improperly removed medical documents from Mr. Richardson's file. See, e.g., Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 212, 235-38, 243. As here, in Richardson I , Mr. Richardson specifically linked the alleged removal of medical documents to his allegations that Defendants lied about the number of Mr. Richardson's "unexcused call-offs," or absences, and lied about whether he had submitted required medical documents. Id. ¶¶ 218, 221. The allegations in Richardson III are certainly part of the same "nucleus of facts" as in Richardson I : they "are related in time, space, origin" and alleged motivation, and they would form a "convenient trial unit" because of their interrelatedness. Apotex ,
Count Seven alleges that Messrs. Bakale, Dublin, Jones, May, Sauls, Coble, and O'Malley retaliated against Mr. Richardson after he engaged in protected speech and thereby violated his First Amendment rights. The alleged retaliation involved comments relating to the missing medical documents substantiating his absences. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 238-240. As discussed above, that issue has been litigated fully. See Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 212, 235-38, 243. Further, Richardson I claimed "whistleblower retaliation" when Mr. Jones failed to investigate the removal of medical documents, and Mr. Bakale harassed and threatened to terminate Mr. Richardson after he reported the removal of the documents from the file. Id. ¶ 245. The similar allegations in Richardson III are part of the same "nucleus of facts" and have already been litigated in Richardson I .
Count Eight in this action alleges that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant retaliated against Mr. Richardson for his protected speech after his termination: Mr. Richardson claims that Messrs. Sauls and Pleasant "attempted to establish a falsified investigation against Plaintiff and further attempt[ed] [to] have Plaintiff wrongfully prosecuted by 4 separate law enforcement agencies," in retaliation for Mr. Richardson's "public disclosures" concerning the removal of his medical documents from his personnel file. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 247-49. Additionally, Mr. Pleasant is alleged to have investigated another employee, who had not engaged in protected activities, but imposed a more lenient punishment than was imposed on Mr. Richardson. Id. ¶¶ 250-52. The same allegations have already been litigated in Richardson I. See, e.g., Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 233 ("Pleasant, with no probable cause, presented falsified documentation to 4 law enforcement agencies for prosecutorial consideration against me"), 238 ("Sauls and Pleasant knowingly and willingly engaged in a conspiracy to defame my character to promote malicious prosecution, evidenced in Pleasant's report."). Mr. Richardson likewise raised the investigation of the other employee as a comparator in Richardson I. See id. ¶¶ 162-64 ("I allege that [the other employee] had no prior EEO activity against the Board; therefore, Pleasant did not seek prosecutorial consideration against [him] ... as he attempted to do with ... myself.... I also allege that [the other employee], to my knowledge possessed no known recorded disabilities, had not previously requested a reasonable accommodation, and had no previous on-going EEO activity."). These facts have been litigated.
Count Nine in Richardson III alleges that Mses. Hargo and Shanks and Messrs. Jones, Sauls, O'Malley, Bakale, Dublin, Coble, and May conspired to retaliate against Mr. Richardson and to deny his 2010 termination appeal, in violation of his rights under the First and Fifth Amendments. The crux of Mr. Richardson's charge is that Ms. Shanks's purported reason for upholding Mr. Richardson's appeal of his termination, that he had accumulated too many "tardies," was pretextual and thus a "malicious fabrication of evidence." Am. Compl. ¶¶ 259-60. Mr. Richardson asserts that Mr. May informed him that he was being terminated for failing to provide supporting documentation for medical call-offs (i.e. , the documentation that had been allegedly improperly removed from his file). Id. ¶ 262. The complaint in Richardson I included allegations that Mr. Bakale stated that Mr. Richardson's "tardies" were a reason for switching Mr. Richardson to a different shift. Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 68, 69, 71, 80, 182.
*65Richardson I also included allegations that Mr. Richardson's appeal was improperly denied. Id. ¶ 238. However, the distinct claim that Mr. Richardson was given a "fabricated" reason for the denial was not previously litigated in Richardson I . Count Nine will not be dismissed due to res judicata .
Count Ten in this action alleges that Mses. Shanks and Hargo and Messrs. O'Malley, Jones, Sauls, Bakale, Dublin, Coble, and May failed to consider prior misconduct of two white employees, Rocco Christoff and Darren Harris, when Mr. Richardson was terminated in June 2010 for reasons he believes to have been comparable. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 273-78. The allegations raised in Count Ten of Richardson III are distinct from allegations made in Richardson I , in which Mr. Richardson alleged "disparate treatment" and claimed that he was "of a protected group and was treated less favorably ... than all other LEU officers," but did not mention background investigations or evidence of misconduct in prior employment. Notably, Messrs. Christoff and Harris are not mentioned in the Richardson I complaint. Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶¶ 256-58. Count Ten will not be dismissed on res judicata grounds.
b. Same Parties or Their Privies
Seven of the eleven defendants named in Mr. Richardson's Amended Complaint in Richardson III -Billy Sauls, Albert Pleasant, Larence Dublin, Marvin Jones, Kevin May, Robert Bakale, and Tyson Coble-were also named in Richardson I . For those seven original defendants, the present action obviously involves the same parties.
c. Final Judgment on the Merits
The final requirement to find that a claim is barred by res judicata is that there must have been a final, valid judgment on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction in the earlier litigated claim. Neither party challenges that this is a court of competent jurisdiction.
Counts Two, Three, Five, Six, and Eight in the instant Complaint will be dismissed in full as barred by res judicata .
2. Collateral Estoppel
Defendants argue that collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, applies to all of Mr. Richardson's claims against Mses. Shanks and Hargo and Mr. O'Malley, and all such claims should be dismissed. See Mot. at 8-9.
Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, bars "successive litigation of an issue of fact or law actually litigated and resolved in a valid court determination essential to the prior judgment." Taylor v. Sturgell ,
*67Issue preclusion here would not "work a basic unfairness" to Mr. Richardson. Canonsburg Gen. Hosp. ,
Counts One, Four, and Seven will be dismissed in full on res judicata and collateral estoppel grounds.
B. Timeliness of Claims Under Bivens
Counts Nine and Ten remain. Each is a claim under Bivens and Defendants argue that they are all untimely. "When a federal action contains no statute of limitations, courts will ordinarily look to analogous provisions in state law as a source of a federal limitations period." Hampton v. Comey , No. 14-cv-1607,
Mr. Richardson's amended complaint in Richardson I , in which he named some (but not all) of the individual defendants in this action, was filed on March 20, 2015.
*68Thus the date of the alleged constitutional violations at issue in Richardson I must have been, at the earliest, March 20, 2012. Count Nine in this matter alleges that Ms. Shanks gave Mr. Richardson a "fabricated" reason for his termination on June 7, 2010, Am. Compl. ¶ 262, and Count Ten alleges, also in 2010, that Defendants improperly considered allegations of prior misconduct in deciding to terminate Mr. Richardson.
Mr. Richardson contends that the statute of limitations for his Bivens claims should be tolled because "much of the constitutional trespass violations were not to Plaintiff's knowledge" earlier. Opp'n at 10-11. However, Mr. Richardson alleges that he learned some elements of the violations alleged in Counts Nine and Ten during contemporaneous meetings he attended with Defendants. See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 262, 277. Moreover, Mr. Richardson fails to specify the date on which he asserts he learned the necessary facts or what period of time should be tolled. In the absence of admissible evidence, the Court cannot accept Mr. Richardson's broad and conclusory statement that he only learned of relevant details after the statute of limitations had passed. Counts Nine and Ten will be dismissed as time-barred.
C. Qualified Immunity (Count Eleven)
Defendants urge the Court to dismiss Count Eleven because Mr. Smith, the only defendant named therein, is protected by qualified immunity due to Mr. Richardson's failure to allege, with supporting facts, any violation of a clearly established constitutional right.
Count Eleven alleges that Mr. Smith, a senior EEO specialist with the Board, violated Mr. Richardson's rights under the First and Fifth Amendments by failing to provide EEO counseling in response to an administrative complaint of discrimination Mr. Richardson submitted after his termination. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 284-90. Mr. Richardson asserts that in November 2016 he became aware of new information supporting a claim of race-based discrimination, and in December 2016 he contacted Mr. Smith about the new EEO complaint he wished to file. See
Mr. Richardson also alleges that Mr. Smith "collu[ded]" with another Board employee, senior counsel Joshua P. Chadwick, to prevent newly alleged discrimination claims from progressing administratively. Opp'n at 14-15. Mr. Richardson asserts that Mr. Smith forwarded the new EEO claim to Mr. Chadwick, and that Mr. Smith and Mr. Chadwick together "prevented Plaintiff's newly filed claims from moving forward" in the EEO process. Am. Compl. ¶ 156. Finally, Mr. Richardson alleges that Mr. Chadwick presented a "fabricated" EEO form to Mr. Richardson's EEO investigator, thus undermining Mr. Richardson's EEO charge.
Defendants acknowledge that Count Eleven is neither time-barred under the applicable Bivens statute of limitations, nor res judicata. See Mot. at 5-6, 16. Instead, they argue that the Court should dismiss Count Eleven for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, on the grounds that Mr. Smith is protected by qualified immunity because no constitutional violations occurred, much less any "clearly established" violation of Mr. Richardson's constitutional rights.
Government officials are protected "from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald ,
Defendants argue that Mr. Smith did not violate any clearly established right of Mr. Richardson's. Rather, they contend, Mr. Smith was following EEO regulations when he determined that Mr. Richardson's claim should be denied and, moreover, that failure properly to process an EEO complaint cannot amount to a constitutional violation. See Mot. at 30.
Regardless, accepting all of Mr. Richardson's allegations as true and *70construing his claims liberally, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), (f), Mr. Richardson has not plausibly alleged any constitutional violation. As Defendants argue, other Judges in this Court have found that alleged improper handling of an EEO complaint does not give rise to a constitutional violation. Defendants cite a line of cases that stand for the proposition that a district court does not sit to review the administrative handling of EEO complaints. See, e.g., Coulibaly v. Kerry ,
The allegations against Mr. Smith do not plausibly allege any constitutional violation of a right that was "clearly established." Mr. Smith is entitled to qualified immunity. Count Eleven of Mr. Richardson's complaint does not state a claim upon which relief may be granted and will be dismissed without prejudice.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons explained in this Memorandum Opinion, Counts One through Ten of Mr. Richardson's Amended Complaint will be dismissed with prejudice, and Count Eleven will be dismissed without prejudice. A memorializing Order will accompany this Memorandum Opinion.
The Court finds that it has jurisdiction over Mr. Richardson's allegations of constitutional violations. See Bivens ,
Mr. Richardson argues that res judicata may not be raised in a motion to dismiss. See Opp'n at 9-10. As defendants point out, this is not the case; the D.C. Circuit has affirmed not only granting summary judgment but also dismissing a complaint on res judicata grounds. See, e.g., Sheptock v. Fenty ,
Defendants incorrectly characterize their argument as one based upon the theory of "offensive collateral estoppel," under which a defendant may not relitigate identical issues already lost against another plaintiff. See Jack Faucett Assocs., Inc. v. AT & T ,
In at least one instance, the Richardson I complaint explicitly grouped Mr. O'Malley with the defendants named in that case. See Richardson I Am. Compl. ¶ 186 ("[T]here is no evidence that any Defendant, including O'Malley, made any effort to ascertain the legitimacy of my disability condition ... all while harassing me for call-offs that I had provided medical documentation for.").
Separately, in Count Nine, Mr. Richardson raises allegations about this alleged fabrication of a reason for his termination, which the Court has found to be distinct from the issues litigated in Richardson I .
As requested by Defendants, see Mot. at 30 n.7, the Court takes judicial notice of the 2017 Letter from Mr. Smith, which Mr. Richardson also referenced in his Amended Complaint. See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 156-58, 284-89.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Edward RICHARDSON v. Billy J. SAULS
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published