Adams v. Montgomery College

834 F. Supp. 2d 386, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70583, 2011 WL 2610493
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJune 30, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. DKC 09-2278
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 834 F. Supp. 2d 386 (Adams v. Montgomery College) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. Montgomery College, 834 F. Supp. 2d 386, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70583, 2011 WL 2610493 (D. Md. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DEBORAH K. CHASANOW, District Judge.

Presently pending and ready for resolution in this action is the motion to dismiss filed by Defendants Montgomery College, Debra Hayer, and Monica Brown. (ECF No. 20). The issues are fully briefed and the court now rules pursuant to Local Rule 105.6, no hearing being deemed necessary. For the reasons that follow, Defendants’ motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Plaintiff Sherri Adams’s amended complaint alleges the following facts in relation to her September 25, 2008 fall on the campus of Defendant Montgomery College (the “College”). Plaintiff, a resident of Maryland, was a student at the College in Fall 2008. (ECF No. 18 ¶¶ 1, 8). Plaintiff suffers from multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis, and back and heart problems, and has difficulty walking for long distances. (Id. ¶ 7). Plaintiff informed the College’s Office of Disability Support Services of her condition. (Id. ¶ 9).

In September 2008, the College was undergoing construction. (Id. ¶ 10). During this period, the College failed to provide sufficient handicap parking and Plaintiff could not park near her assigned classes. (Id.). The campus shuttle was not handicap accessible. (Id.). At Plaintiffs request, on September 22, 2008, College Dean Monica Brown advised Plaintiff that College security would drive Plaintiff from her vehicle to classes and back until the College could otherwise accommodate her disability. (Id. ¶¶ 11-12). On September 25, 2008, College security drove Plaintiff to [389]*389her class, but after class informed her that they would not drive her back to her vehicle and would not provide future transportation. (Id. ¶ 12). While walking back to her vehicle, Plaintiff fell, was injured, and was taken to Shady Grove Hospital. (Id. ¶ 13).

Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed a complaint against the College and individual employees Brian K. Johnson, President of the College, Dean Monica Brown, and Debra Hayer, campus security director on August 28, 2009. (ECF No. I).1 This court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss on July 15, 2010, 2010 WL 2813346, but gave Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 14). Plaintiffs amended complaint, filed on August 27, 2010, asserts three claims against all Defendants: (1) discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 504; (2) negligence; and (3) breach of contract. (ECF No. 18 ¶¶ 6-26). Plaintiff seeks “compensatory damages against all individual Defendants,” “injunctive relief,” and “such other relief as is just and proper.” (Id.).

On December 20, 2010, Defendants filed the pending motion to dismiss Plaintiffs amended complaint. (ECF No. 20).

II. Standard of Review

The purpose of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) is to test the sufficiency of the plaintiffs complaint. See Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir.1999). Except in certain specified cases, a plaintiffs complaint need only satisfy the “simplified pleading standard” of Rule 8(a), Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 513, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002), which requires a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” Fed. R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). Nevertheless, “Rule 8(a)(2) still requires a ‘showing,’ rather than a blanket assertion, of entitlement to relief.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 n. 3, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). That showing must consist of more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action” or “naked assertion[s] devoid of further factual enhancement.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal citations omitted).

In its determination, the court must consider all well-pled allegations in a complaint as true, Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 268, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994), and must construe all factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, see Harrison v. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., 176 F.3d 776, 783 (4th Cir.1999) (citing Mylan Labs., Inc. v. Matkari, 7 F.3d 1130, 1134 (4th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1197, 114 S.Ct. 1307, 127 L.Ed.2d 658 (1994)). The court need not, however, accept unsupported legal allegations, Revene v. Charles County Comm’rs, 882 F.2d 870, 873 (4th Cir.1989), legal conclusions couched as factual allegations, Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950, or conclusory factual allegations devoid of any reference to actual events, United Black Firefighters v. Hirst, 604 F.2d 844, 847 (4th Cir.1979); See also Francis v. Giacomelli, 588 F.3d 186,193 (4th Cir.2009). “[Wjhere the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged, but it has not ‘show[n] ... that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950 [390]*390(quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2)). Thus, “[d]etermining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id.

Finally, while courts generally should hold pro se pleadings “to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers,” they may nonetheless dismiss complaints that lack a cognizable legal theory or that fail to allege sufficient facts under a cognizable legal theory. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972); Turner v. Kight, 192 F.Supp.2d 391, 398 (D.Md.2002), aff'd, 121 Fed.Appx. 9 (4th Cir.2005) (unpublished).

III. Analysis

Defendants ask the court to dismiss Plaintiffs amended complaint for two primary reasons: (1) Plaintiff fails to plead properly a federal cause of action under the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act as to any Defendant; and (2) because Plaintiff has failed to state a federal claim, her state law negligence and contract claims should also be dismissed. (See ECF No. 20 ¶¶ 6-8).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
834 F. Supp. 2d 386, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70583, 2011 WL 2610493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-montgomery-college-mdd-2011.