Coulibaly v. Pompeo

318 F. Supp. 3d 176
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJuly 17, 2018
DocketCivil Action No.: 17-291 (RC)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 318 F. Supp. 3d 176 (Coulibaly v. Pompeo) 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
Coulibaly v. Pompeo, 318 F. Supp. 3d 176 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

This is one case in a series of actions filed by pro se Plaintiff Dr. Tiemoko Coulibaly related to his employment with and termination from the U.S. Department of State ("State Department"). Dr. Coulibaly asserts eleven counts against the Secretary of State, the State Department's Office of the Inspector General ("OIG"), and twenty-one current or former employees of the State Department. Specifically, Dr. Coulibaly brings claims pursuant to Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983 ; and tort law. In some of the counts, Dr. Coulibaly asks this Court to consider claims that he previously attempted to bring in a rejected proposed amended complaint filed in an earlier suit. Defendants move to dismiss Dr. Coulibaly's complaint, arguing that it is barred by the rule against claim-splitting and that, in any event, Dr. Coulibaly has failed to state claims upon which relief may be granted. For the reasons explained below, this Court grants Defendants' motion to dismiss.

*180II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This Court presumes familiarity with its prior Opinions in Dr. Coulibaly's related litigation in Coulibaly v. Kerry , 14-cv-189 (D.D.C.) ("Coulibaly I "), and the Court takes judicial notice of the docket in that case. Dr. Coulibaly is an African American originally from Ivory Coast. See Coulibaly v. Kerry , 213 F.Supp.3d 93, 105 (D.D.C. 2016). In 1999, he was contracted as a French language instructor at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute ("FSI"). Id. In June 2011, FSI hired him as an employee for a two-year term. Id. at 108-09. From his time as a contractor to his termination in 2012, Dr. Coulibaly was involved in numerous conflicts with his supervisors, some of which led him to file Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") complaints alleging discrimination and retaliation. See id. at 106-19. In the months after filing these complaints, Dr. Coulibaly's relationship with his supervisors deteriorated even further. See id. at 115-19. Dr. Coulibaly alleged that workplace discrimination had caused him to become ill. Id. at 119. At the direction of his doctor, Dr. Coulibaly took leave from work between mid-February and late March 2012. Id.

After his leave of absence, Dr. Coulibaly returned to work only briefly. See id. In April 2012, FSI terminated him. Id. The termination letter cited Dr. Coulibaly's "inappropriate interactions with [his] supervisors, and [his] failure to follow established procedures for requesting leave." Id. at 119 ; Letter from Catherine Russell to Tiemoko Coulibaly (Apr. 2, 2012), Pl.'s Resp. Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss Ex. 6, at 25, No. 14-cv-189 (D.D.C.), ECF No. 36-2.

Dr. Coulibaly subsequently filed two actions in this Court against the Secretary of State and other State Department-affiliated individuals in connection with the aforementioned events. See generally Coulibaly I , 14-cv-189 (D.D.C.); Coulibaly v. Kerry , 14-cv-712 (D.D.C.). Most relevant to the present action is Coulibaly I , in which Dr. Coulibaly pursued claims against the United States, the Secretary of State, and other current or former employees of the State Department, the Merit Systems Protection Board ("MSPB"), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for alleged discrimination and retaliation; and violations of the First Amendment, tort law, contract law, and various federal and District of Columbia statutes. See Coulibaly , 213 F.Supp.3d at 121-22, 132-33, 152, 154, 158. Dr. Coulibaly also requested leave to file a fourth amended complaint to incorporate additional counts, including claims of violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act; 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983 ; and civil conspiracy. See id. at 160 ; Proposed Fourth Am. Compl. ¶¶ 375-94, 541-42, 14-cv-189 (D.D.C), ECF No. 36-1. In a lengthy opinion, this Court dismissed or granted summary judgment on most of Dr. Coulibaly's claims.2 See Coulibaly , 213 F.Supp.3d at 104.

This Court also denied Dr. Coulibaly's motion for leave to amend the complaint, explaining that "many counts of Dr. Coulibaly's proposed amended complaint duplicate counts in the current complaint that the Court deems cannot proceed." Id. at 160. Furthermore, this Court noted that many of the proposed amendments would be futile, that some of Dr. Coulibaly's proposed *181claims appeared to be based on entirely unrelated facts and on distinct legal theories, and that Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
318 F. Supp. 3d 176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coulibaly-v-pompeo-cadc-2018.