Campbell v. Swedish Club Cultural Center

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided June 13, 2025·No. 2:24-cv-00816·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE

9 10 ELIZABETH A. CAMPBELL, CASE NO. C24-0816JLR 11 Plaintiff, ORDER v. 12 SWEDISH CLUB CULTURAL 13 CENTER, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 I. INTRODUCTION 16 Before the court is a motion to stay or dismiss this action filed by Defendants 17 Swedish Club Cultural Center (the “Swedish Club”) and Elizabeth M. Norgren. (MTS 18 (Dkt. # 28); MTS Reply (Dkt. # 31).)1 Pro se Plaintiff Elizabeth A. Campbell opposes 19 20 1 Because Defendants do not include specific argument and authority concerning their 21 request for a stay, and because they rely primarily upon arguments that the court should dismiss this action (see generally MTS; MTS Reply), the court treats Defendants’ motion as a motion to 22 dismiss. 1 the motion. (See MTS Resp. (Dkt. # 30).) Both parties have filed supplemental briefing. 2 (Def. Br. (Dkt. # 35); Pl. Br. (Dkt. # 37); see also 5/13/24 Order (Dkt. # 33) at 17-18 3 (ordering supplemental briefing).) The court has considered the parties’ submissions, the

4 relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law. Being fully advised,2 the court 5 GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants’ motion to stay or dismiss. 6 II. DISCUSSION3 7 In their motion, Defendants raise, in pertinent part, two arguments: (1) Ms. 8 Campbell’s claims are barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion; and (2) Ms. Campbell’s

9 complaint lacks sufficient facts to state a claim against Ms. Norgren. (MTS at 6-10; Def. 10 Br. at 5-11.) The court addresses each argument in turn. 11 A. Claim Preclusion 12 Claim preclusion, also referred to as res judicata, “bars litigation in a subsequent 13 action of any claims that were raised or could have been raised in the prior action.”

14 Owens v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc., 244 F.3d 708, 713 (9th Cir. 2001) (citation 15 omitted); see also Weaver v. City of Everett, 450 P.3d 177, 186 (Wash. 2019) (“[U]nlike 16 collateral estoppel, which precludes relitigation of specific issues, res judicata precludes 17 entire claims when those claims either were brought or could have been brought in a prior 18 action.”) In applying the claim preclusion doctrine, federal courts must give preclusive

20 2 The parties do not request oral argument, and the court concludes that oral argument is not necessary to decide Defendants’ motion. See Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(b)(4). 21 3 The court discussed the factual and procedural background of this action in its prior order and does not repeat that discussion here. (See 5/13/24 Order at 2-6.) The court relies upon 22 the defined terms in its prior order. 1 effect to state-court judgments to the same extent that those judgments would have 2 preclusive effect under the law of the state in which they were rendered. Holcombe v. 3 Hosmer, 477 F.3d 1094, 1097 (9th Cir. 2007). In Washington, a prior proceeding cannot

4 have preclusive effect unless it culminates “in a judgment on the merits[.]” See Weaver, 5 450 P.3d at 185. 6 Defendants assert that two judgments from the Lucas action have preclusive 7 effect here.4 See Campbell v. Lucas, et al., No. 23-2-2519-4 SEA (King Cnty. Super. 8 Ct.). First, the Superior Court entered an order dismissing certain of Ms. Campbell’s

9 claims against, in pertinent part, the Swedish Club. (Tatistcheff Decl. (Dkt. # 36) ¶ 4, 10 Ex. B (“Lucas Dismissal Order”).) Second, the Superior Court granted Ms. Norgren’s 11 motion for summary judgment in the Lucas case. (Id. ¶ 6, Ex. D (“Lucas SJ Order”).) 12 The court addresses each in turn. 13 1. Lucas Dismissal Order

14 Dismissals without prejudice do not have preclusive effect in Washington, see 15 Estate of Rose v. Fritz, 15 P.3d 1062, 1064 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001), and Defendants 16 acknowledge that the Superior Court’s dismissal order in Lucas was entered without 17 prejudice (see Def. Br. at 5; see also Lucas Dismissal Order (declining to state whether 18 the dismissal was with or without prejudice)); Wash. Civil Rule 41(a)(4) (“Unless

4 Defendants also reference authority concerning the doctrine of issue preclusion, 20 sometimes referred to as collateral estoppel. (See MTS at 7.) As the court explained in its prior order (5/13/24 Order at 13 n.5), Defendants’ motion conflates the concepts of claim and issue 21 preclusion (see, e.g., MTS at 7). In their reply and supplemental brief, Defendants clarify that they make only a claim preclusion argument. (See MTS Reply at 4-5; Def. Br. at 5-8.) 22 Accordingly, the court does not further address issue preclusion. 1 otherwise stated in the order of dismissal, the dismissal is without prejudice[.]”). 2 Accordingly, the court denies Defendants’ motion to dismiss as to claim preclusion based 3 upon the Lucas dismissal order.

4 2. Lucas Summary Judgment Order 5 In Washington, “[a] grant of summary judgment at a prior proceeding is 6 considered a final judgment on the merits.” Emeson v. Dep’t of Corr., 376 P.3d 430, 436 7 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). A party seeking to invoke the doctrine of res judicata in a later 8 proceeding, however, must also establish “concurrence of identity” between the earlier

9 and later proceeding in terms of: (1) subject-matter; (2) cause of action; (3) persons and 10 parties; and (4) “the quality of the persons for or against whom the claim is made.” 11 Weaver, 450 P.3d at 185. The court’s analysis of these elements as to the Lucas 12 summary judgment order differs by time period. 13 a. Conduct by Ms. Norgren up to and Including the Termination of Ms. Campbell’s Membership with the Swedish Club 14 Although Ms. Campbell’s allegations here focus on the period after the Swedish 15 Club sent Ms. Campbell a letter, on March 9, 2023, terminating her membership and 16 barring her from the Swedish Club (see, e.g., Compl. at 11, 14-15), Ms. Campbell’s 17 claims also encompass the time when she was a member of the Swedish Club. 18 Specifically, Ms. Campbell includes allegations that Ms. Norgren wrongfully terminated 19 Ms. Campbell’s employment with the Swedish Club and terminated or attempted to 20 terminate Ms. Campbell’s membership. (Id at 8, 11, 13-14, 22.) As the court explains 21 below, the doctrine of claim preclusion bars these claims against Ms. Norgren. 22 1 First, these claims are wholly subsumed within the Lucas action. In Lucas, 2 Ms. Campbell’s 390-page, 84-count operative complaint included extensive allegations 3 and claims concerning the time before and including March 9, 2023, including (1) the

4 termination of Ms. Campbell’s Swedish Club membership and whether it was effective 5 (e.g., Rhodes Decl. (Dkt. # 15) ¶ 2, Ex. A (“Lucas Compl.”) at 35-37, 189-90, 345); 6 (2) the denial of membership benefits to Ms. Campbell (e.g., id. at 53-54, 287-95, 345, 7 368-69, 382-84, 386); and (3) alleged discrimination against Ms. Campbell related to her 8 employment, prospective employment, and termination of employment with the Swedish

9 Club (e.g., id. at 143, 287-95 345-46, 368-69, 377-79). 10 Second, Ms. Campbell, in effect, simply reasserts the same causes of action 11 against Ms. Norgren here that she already asserted in the Lucas action. To determine 12 whether causes of action have a concurrence of identity under Washington law, courts 13 consider whether: (1) rights or interests established in the prior judgment would be

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