Hardesty v. Waterworks District No. 4 of Ward Four

954 F. Supp. 2d 461, 2013 WL 3198185, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87793
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedJune 21, 2013
DocketNo. 2:13-CV-293-PM-KK
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 954 F. Supp. 2d 461 (Hardesty v. Waterworks District No. 4 of Ward Four) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hardesty v. Waterworks District No. 4 of Ward Four, 954 F. Supp. 2d 461, 2013 WL 3198185, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87793 (W.D. La. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM RULING

PATRICIA MINALDI, District Judge.

Before the court is a Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 2], filed by the defendants, Waterworks District No. 4 of Ward Four, Occie Norton, Kenny Cochran, and Ollie L. “Johnny” Johnson, III. The plaintiff, Keith Hardesty, filed an opposition [Doc. 5] and the defendants filed a reply [Doc. 6]. For the foregoing reasons, the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This lawsuit was originally instituted in the Fourteenth Judicial District Court in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, on January 15, 2013.1 The plaintiff, Keith Hardesty, brings claims stemming from a January 16, 2012 Board of Commissioners meeting, in which his employment as Superintendent of Waterworks District No. 4 of Ward Four (“District 4”), was terminated by a Board vote of three to one.2 In addition to suing District 4, the plaintiff also brings claims against the three individual Board members who voted to terminate him, which includes Occie Norton, Kenny Cochran, and Ollie L. “Johnny” Johnson, III (collectively “the individual defendants”).3

The plaintiff alleges before the vote, the individual defendants, acting within their scope of employment, communicated electronically and at various times and places to discuss and agree upon a course of action to vote to terminate him.4 Allegedly, the individual defendants wished to terminate the plaintiff because of: (1) contrary opinions he had expressed on District 4’s management policies, goals and missions, long-term plans, and best business practices; (2) his “reasonable disagreement” with the Board members; and (3) his alignment with the one board member, Richard Herbert, who would later vote against his termination.5 A couple of weeks before the vote, on January 3, 2012, Henry G. Glass, past Board President of District 4, personally informed the plaintiff of the defendants’ plan.6 Glass communicated to the plaintiff that he had tendered his resignation to District 4 due to disagreement with defendants’ announced plan to dismiss the plaintiff at the January 16, 2012, meeting.7

On January 16, 2012, the plaintiff was formally discharged by a vote of three to one by the Board of Commissioners.8 As noted supra, the individual defendants voted in favor of dismissal and Richard Hebert voted against dismissal of the plain[466]*466tiff.9

After the plaintiff filed this lawsuit, the defendants timely removed the action to this court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1331.10 The defendants now move to dismiss all of the plaintiffs claims.

RULE 12(B)(6) STANDARD

A motion filed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure challenges. the sufficiency of a plaintiffs allegations. Fed.R.CivP. 12(b)(6). When ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion, the court accepts the plaintiffs factual allegations as true, and construes all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the plaintiff or nonmoving party. Gogreve v. Downtown Develop. Dist., 426 F.Supp.2d 383, 388 (E.D.La.2006).

To survive a motion to dismiss, “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, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads the factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged . . . Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief ... [is] a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. at 1950. Although the court must accept as true all factual allegations set forth in the complaint, the same presumption does not extend to legal conclusions. Id. Courts will not accept as true “conclusory allegations, unwarranted factual inferences, or legal conclusions.” Ferrer v. Chevron Corp., 484 F.3d 776, 780 (5th Cir.2007) (quoting Plotkin v. IP Axess Inc., 407 F.3d 690, 696 (5th Cir.2005)); see also Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 664, 129 S.Ct. at 1940 (“While legal conclusions can provide the complaint’s framework, they must be supported by factual allegations.”)

In the Fifth Circuit case Lormand v. U.S. Unwired, Inc., 565 F.3d 228 (5th Cir.2009), the court held that neither Twombly nor Ashcroft created a heightened pleading standard for complaints, and that these cases instead only “explicate” Rule 8(a)(2), particularly because Twombly recognized that pleading requirements could only be changed through amendment of the Federal Rules. Id. at 258-59 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 569, 127 S.Ct. at 1973 n. 14). Accordingly, Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2) still only requires a “ ‘short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ Specific facts are not necessary; the statement need only ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’ ” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 2200, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (citations omitted). This standard is met by the “reasonable inference” the court must make that, with or without discovery, the facts set forth a plausible claim for relief under a particular theory of law, provided there is a “reasonable expectation” that “discovery will reveal relevant evidence of each element of the claim.” Lormand, 565 F.3d at 257, Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. at 1965.

LAW & ANALYSIS

This action calls into question the legality of the January 16, 2012, vote that took [467]*467place in Executive Session of District 4, which ended in the dismissal of the plaintiffs employment as District 4’s Superintendent. The defendants request dismissal of all claims brought by the plaintiff. The undersigned will address each argument in turn.

I. Open Meetings Law Claim

In his petition, the plaintiff first argues that some time before the meeting in question, the individual defendants communicated both electronically and in person at different times and places in direct violation of the Open Meetings Law, La.Rev. Stat. ann. § 42:14, thus nullifying their subsequent vote to terminate him.11 In response to this claim, the defendants argue that the plaintiffs Open Meetings Law claim is statutorily perempted.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
954 F. Supp. 2d 461, 2013 WL 3198185, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87793, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hardesty-v-waterworks-district-no-4-of-ward-four-lawd-2013.