Albra v. U.S. Dep't of Educ.

308 F. Supp. 3d 292
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedApril 16, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17–1397 (JEB)
StatusPublished

This text of 308 F. Supp. 3d 292 (Albra v. U.S. Dep't of Educ.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Albra v. U.S. Dep't of Educ., 308 F. Supp. 3d 292 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

JAMES E. BOASBERG, United States District Judge

Pro se Plaintiff Sami Albra, who describes himself as disabled, believes that the State of Nevada's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Pima Medical College have discriminated against him on the basis of such unspecified disability. Instead of suing those entities, however, he has brought this action under the Administrative Procedure Act against the U.S. Department of Education, its Office of Civil Rights, and an OCR regional director for failing to sufficiently investigate the discriminatory conduct. Now moving to dismiss, Defendants point out that no APA suit can succeed where Albra could obtain relief by suing the Nevada entities directly. Agreeing, the Court will dismiss the case.

I. Background

Although the Court must assume at this stage that the facts set forth in the Complaint are true, parsing such facts is no easy matter. While the context is opaque, Albra alleges that the State of Nevada's Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services discriminated against him concerning disability benefits. See Compl. at 3-4. In addition, Pima Medical College also engaged *293in disability discrimination when it denied him admission. Id. at 4-5. At some point, Albra filed a complaint with the Seattle OCR against Nevada's Office of VR Services. Id. at 2. "OCR Seattle rejected this complaint ... stating that OCR does not handle disability discrimination charges against a State's Vocational Rehabilitation Services." Id. Plaintiff believes that this is not actually the policy. Id. In fact, after he appealed, OCR Seattle informed Albra that it "does handle discrimination cases against State VR agencies" and would investigate. Id. at 3. Albra also "submitted a different and unrelated complaint for disability discrimination to OCR Seattle against Pima." Id. at 4. The Court infers from his causes of action set out below that the Department of Education did not satisfactorily resolve his complaints.

After explaining that both the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit discrimination by state entities and private colleges that receive federal funding, id. at 10-11, Plaintiff sets out his four counts, all under the APA. The first asserts that OCR "unlawfully withheld action against the State of Nevada" and Pima. Id. at 11-12. The second alleges that OCR acted arbitrarily and capriciously in not investigating those entities. Id. at 12. The third makes out a due-process claim against the Education Department for the same reason, id. at 13, and the fourth decries OCR's failure to follow its Case Processing Manual in pursuing the discriminating bodies. Id. at 13-14. Defendants now move to dismiss.

II. Legal Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) provides for the dismissal of an action where a complaint fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." When the sufficiency of a complaint is challenged under Rule 12(b)(6), the factual allegations presented in it must be presumed true and should be liberally construed in plaintiff's favor. See Leatherman v. Tarrant Cty. Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit, 507 U.S. 163, 164, 113 S.Ct. 1160, 122 L.Ed.2d 517 (1993). Although "detailed factual allegations" are not necessary to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), "a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal quotation omitted). A plaintiff must put forth "factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. Though a plaintiff may survive a 12(b)(6) motion even if "recovery is very remote and unlikely," Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974) ), the facts alleged in the complaint "must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Where the action is brought by a pro se plaintiff, the Court must construe her filings liberally and hold the complaint to "less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers." Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972) ; see also Schnitzler v. United States, 761 F.3d 33, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2014).

III.

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Related

Haines v. Kerner
404 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Scheuer v. Rhodes
416 U.S. 232 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
West v. Spellings
480 F. Supp. 2d 213 (District of Columbia, 2007)
Aaron Schnitzler v. United States
761 F.3d 33 (D.C. Circuit, 2014)
Albra v. Bd. of Trs. of Miami Dade Coll.
296 F. Supp. 3d 181 (D.C. Circuit, 2018)
Perry Capital LLC v. Mnuchin
864 F.3d 591 (D.C. Circuit, 2017)
Cottrell v. Vilsack
915 F. Supp. 2d 81 (D.C. Circuit, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
308 F. Supp. 3d 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/albra-v-us-dept-of-educ-cadc-2018.