Colleton v. Charleston Water System

225 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2015 WL 9255325, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39782
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedMarch 25, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 2:15-2321-RMG
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 225 F. Supp. 3d 362 (Colleton v. Charleston Water System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colleton v. Charleston Water System, 225 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2015 WL 9255325, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39782 (D.S.C. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Richard Mark Gergel, United States District Court Judge

This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, recommending that the Court grant Defendant Charleston Water System’s (“CWS”) motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 28) and Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 45). For the below reasons, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation in part, denies Defendant CWS’s motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 28) as moot, grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 45) in part and denies it in part, dismisses Defendants Cliff Brown, Allan Clum (name misspelled as Allen in the case caption), Jim Meeks, and Dana Am-brose from this action, and recommits this matter to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings.

I. Background

CWS employed Plaintiff Abraham Colle-ton as a truck driver from June 2002 to January 15, 2015. (R. & R. 2, Feb. 29, 2016, Dkt. No. 52.) Plaintiff alleges that on January 14, 2015, Defendants Cliff Brown, Plaintiffs supervisor, Allan Clum, the CWS plant manager, instructed him not to stop for any reason, including restroom breaks, while operating a CWS truck. (Id.) The following day, Plaintiff “stopped for an emergency restroom stop ... after defecating in his underwear” at a Shell gaso[366]*366line station when Defendant Dana Am-brose, the CWS plant secretary, saw his truck parked at the station and sent a photograph of it to Mr. Clum. (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 24-29, Nov. 25, 2015, Dkt. No. 39.) Plaintiff avers that Mr. Clum and Mr. Brown then retrieved the CWS truck Plaintiff had been driving while he was still using the restroom, leaving him stranded, and that they fired him later that day. (Id. ¶ 30.) Plaintiff alleges that Mr. Clum and Mr. Brown often directed racial slurs at him, that the “no restroom stops” policy was enforced against him but not against white truck drivers, and that he was terminated in retaliation for participation in an activity protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VH”). (Id. ¶¶ 19, 38-42, 48.)

After filing a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and receiving a “right to sue” letter, Plaintiff filed the present action pro se. (R. & R. 3.) Shortly thereafter, counsel for Plaintiff appeared and filed an amended complaint. (Id.) The amended complaint asserted two Title VII claims: race discrimination and retaliation. (Id.) It also asserted state-law claims of defamation and negligent supervision. (Am. Compl. 43-55.) CWS, the only Defendant at that time, filed responsive pleadings and a motion to dismiss all claims except for the claim of Title VII race discrimination.

After briefing completed on the motion to dismiss, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint, which added the individual Defendants. (R. <⅞ R. 3.) It is unclear which causes of action are asserted against which individual Defendants, except that there appear to be no claims against Defendant Jim Meeks at all, who is never mentioned in the second amended complaint’s factual allegations or asserted causes of action. (See generally 2d Am. Compl.) CWS and the individual Defendants filed responsive pleadings to the second amended complaint and a motion to dismiss. (Id.) Plaintiff filed no response to the second motion to dismiss. On February 29, 2016, the Magistrate Judge recommended that Defendants’ motions for dismissal be granted. Plaintiff filed no objections to the Report and Recommendation.

II. Legal Standard

The Magistrate Judge makes only a recommendation to this Court. The recommendation has no presumptive weight, and the responsibility for making a final determination remains with this Court. Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 270-71, 96 S.Ct. 549, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). This Court is charged with making a de novo determination of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which specific objection is made. Additionally, the Court may “accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). This Court may also “receive further evidence or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.” Id. Where the plaintiff fails to file any specific objections, “a district court need not conduct a de novo review, but instead must only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation,” see Diamond v. Colonial Life & Accident Ins. Co., 416 F.3d 310, 315 (4th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation omitted), and this Court is not required to give any explanation for adopting the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, Camby v. Davis, 718 F.2d 198 (4th Cir. 1983).

Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits the dismissal of an action if the complaint fails “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Such a motion tests the legal sufficiency of [367]*367the complaint and “does not resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of the claim, or the applicability of defenses.... Our inquiry then is limited to whether the allegations constitute ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ” Republican Party of N.C. v. Martin, 980 F.2d 943, 952 (4th Cir. 1992) (quotation marks and citation omitted). In a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court is obligated to “assume the truth of all facts alleged in the complaint and the existence of any fact that can be proved, consistent with the complaint’s allegations.” E. Shore Mkts., Inc. v. J.D. Assocs. Ltd. P’ship, 213 F.3d 175, 180 (4th Cir. 2000). However, while the Court must accept the facts in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, it “need not accept as true unwarranted inferences, unreasonable conclusions, or arguments.” Id.

To survive a motion to dismiss, the complaint must state “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Although the requirement of plausibility does not impose a probability requirement at this stage, the complaint must show more than a “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A complaint has “facial plausibility” where the pleading “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id.

III. Analysis

Currently before the Court are two motions to dismiss: CWS’s motion to dismiss the first amended complaint (Dkt. No. 28) and all Defendants’ motion to dismiss the second amended complaint (Dkt. No. 45).

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Bluebook (online)
225 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2015 WL 9255325, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colleton-v-charleston-water-system-scd-2016.