Bailey-El v. Housing Authority Of Baltimore City

CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJuly 3, 2019
Docket1:15-cv-02063
StatusUnknown

This text of Bailey-El v. Housing Authority Of Baltimore City (Bailey-El v. Housing Authority Of Baltimore City) 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
Bailey-El v. Housing Authority Of Baltimore City, (D. Md. 2019).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND * RONALD G. BAILEY-EL, * Plaintiff, * v. Civil Action No. RDB~-15-2063

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY, ef a, * Defendants. * * * * * * * * * * * x * * MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaindff Ronald G, Bailey-El (“Plaintiff’ or “Bailey-EI"), pro se, in forma pauperis, 1s a serial litigant in this Court.’ In this acdon—one of many which he has filed in this court—he has sued Defendants Housing Authority of Baltimore City (SHABC” or the “Housing Authority”), Ms. Green,? Regional Director of the HABC; Kimberly Graham, former HABC Director of Human Resources; Carla Walton, current HABC Director of Human Resources; Odyssey Johnson, HABC Manager; AFSCME Local 647; and Anthony Coates, President of AFSCME Local 647 (“Local 647”),? alleging retaliation and violations of his First Amendment rights (Count One); violations of his “fifth amendment due process rights” (Count Two); and

! Bailey-El’s litigation history is quite voluminous and spans several decades. See, ¢¢., Batly-E/v. City of Baltimore, ef af (1:02-cv-02113-WMN)}, Batley-E/ », United States (1:01-cv-01836-CCB); Batiey-El v. Prison Healthcare (1:00- cv-00319-WMN); Batiey-E/ et af v. Corcoran, et al. (1:00-cv-00699-FNS); Batfey-Eiv, Corcoran, et af. (1:00-cv-00803- DKC); Bazley-E/ v. Talbot Co. Dep't, et al (1:00-cv-01645-WMN); Bazley-E/ v. Prison Healthcare (1:98-cv-01510- WMN); Bailey-E/ ». PHP Ine. (1:97-cv-02535-WMN), Batley-E/ v, Baltimore City (1:97-cv-3414-WMN), Batley-E/ v. State of Maryland, et al, (1:95-cv-00567-WMN). ? Ms. Green’s full name is not identified in the Complaint. 3 As previously indicated, only HABC has been served in this action. See Basey-E/ Housing Auth, of Baltimore City, 185 F. Supp. 3d 661, 673-74 (D. Md. 2016).

violations of additional constitutional rights, including “procedural and substantive due

process rights” (Count Three). (First Am. Compl. at 1, ECF No. 16.) In a prior Memorandum Opinion and Order, this Court construed all of Plaintiff's claims as arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and dismissed them as untimely and for failure to state a claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). See Batley-E/ v. Housing Auth. of Baltimore City, 185 F. Supp. 3d 661 (May 9, 2016). The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. Batley-E/v. Housing Auth. of Baltimore City, 686 F. App’x 228 (4th Cir. 2017). In its Opinion, the Fourth Circuit affirmed this Court’s dismissal of Bailey-El’s First Amendment claim, but found that he could pursue his procedural due process claim on a narrow theory of recovery. Id.

On remand, this Court afforded Bailey-El a third opportunity to amend his Complaint and further develop his procedural due process claim. Subsequently, HABC moved to dismiss the case as a sanction for Bailey-El’s complete failure to engage in discovery. (ECF No. 45.) Noting Bailey-El’s pro se status, this Court denied the Motion and afforded him an additional Opportunity to engage in orderly discovery proceedings. (ECF No. 49.) He has failed to do so. Now pending before this Court are three motions: Bailey-El’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel (ECF No. 50), which is the third of its kind (See ECF Nos. 6, 40}; HABC’s Motion Requesting an Extension of Time to File a Motion Related to Plaintiffs Discovery Failures

(ECF No. 53, the “Motion for Extension of Time”); and HABC’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss

as Sanctions for Plaintiffs Failure to Provide Complete Answers to Interrogatories and Respond to Requests for Production and Certification of Good Faith Efforts (ECF No. 55,

the “Renewed Motion to Dismiss”). The parties’ submissions have been reviewed and no hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the reasons stated herein, Bailey- El’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel (ECF No. 50) is once again DENIED; HABC’s Motion for Extension of Time (ECF No. 53) is GRANTED; and HABC’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 55) is GRANTED. Bailey-El’s Second Amended Complaint (ECF No. 38), which is the operative complaint, is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. BACKGROUND The facts of this case have been discussed previously in an opinion of this Court and in an opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. See Batiey-E/ ». Housing Auth. of Baltimore City, 185 F. Supp. 3d 661 (D. Md. 2016), aff'd in part, vacated in part, and remanded, 686 F. App’x 228 (per curiam). Because Plaintiff is proceeding pr se, this Court affords his pleadings a liberal construction. See Enckson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). In his Original and First Amended Complaint, Bailey-El generally alleged that the Housing Authority unfairly terminated his employment as a maintenance worker in violation of the First Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Bat/ey-E/ 185 F. Supp. 3d at 668-69. He particularly complained of the Housing Authority’s failure to conduct an arbitration hearing before terminating his employment in 2012. Id. at 668. On May 9, 2016, this Court dismissed Bailey-El’s claims, holding that they were untimely under the applicable statute of limitations and that he had failed to state a claim for First and Fourteenth Amendments violations. Id. at 670-78. On April 27, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. Judgment of United States Court of Appeals for the

Fourth Circuit, ECF No. 31.) Specifically, the Fourth Circuit affirmed this Court’s dismissal of Bailey-El’s First Amendment claims but vacated this Court’s dismissal of his procedural due process claim. (Id. at 4.) Although acknowledging that Bailey-El did not have a right to

an arbitration hearing, see Jackson v. Long, 102 F.3d 722, 729 (4th Cir. 1996), the Fourth Circuit noted that Bailey-El’s collective bargaining agreement may have provided him with a possessory interest in continued employment requiring post-termination process. (Id. at 5.) The Fourth Circuit instructed this Court to provide Bailey-El with an additional opportunity to amend his complaint to “clarify whether he had a property interest in continued employment under the collective bargaining agreement and, if so, to specify the process that he was given related to his termination.” (/¢) On remand, this Court granted Bailey-E] twenty- eight days to file an amendment to the Complaint. (ECF No. 33.) The deadline to file an amendment was subsequently extended. (ECF No. 36.) Despite the courtesies extended to Bailey-El by the Fourth Circuit and this Court, he has continued to fail to clarify his Complaint. Eleven months after the remand to this Court, on March 30, 2018, Bailey-El filed a handwritten Second* Amended Complaint, which purports to comply with the Fourth Circuit’s instructions to clarify the nature of his property interest in continued employment under the collective bargaining agreement. (ECF No. 38.) Bailey-El appears to assert that his procedural due process rights were violated when Defendants “deliberately and intentionally denied the Plaintiff his arbitration hearing by claiming that they could not find [him].” Gd.

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

Related

Erickson v. Pardus
551 U.S. 89 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Leroy Cook v. V. Lee Bounds, Com. Dept. Corrections
518 F.2d 779 (Fourth Circuit, 1975)
Jimmie Lee Branch v. Charles Ray Cole
686 F.2d 264 (Fifth Circuit, 1982)
Jackson v. Long
102 F.3d 722 (Fourth Circuit, 1996)
Mitra Rangarajan v. Johns Hopkins University
917 F.3d 218 (Fourth Circuit, 2019)
Bailey-El v. Housing Authority of Baltimore City
185 F. Supp. 3d 661 (D. Maryland, 2016)
LeCompte v. Manekin Construction, LLC
573 B.R. 187 (D. Maryland, 2017)
Camper v. Home Quality Management Inc.
200 F.R.D. 516 (D. Maryland, 2000)
Whisenant v. Yuam
739 F.2d 160 (Fourth Circuit, 1984)
Sadler v. Dimensions Health Corp.
178 F.R.D. 56 (D. Maryland, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Bailey-El v. Housing Authority Of Baltimore City, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bailey-el-v-housing-authority-of-baltimore-city-mdd-2019.