Jackson v. Texas Southern University

31 F. Supp. 3d 884, 2014 WL 3511012, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95113
District Court, S.D. Texas·Decided July 14, 2014·No. Civil Action No. H-11-4092·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MELINDA HARMON, District Judge.

Pending before the Court in the above referenced cause is Defendants Texas Southern University (“TSU”), Sunny E. Ohia, Barbara E. Hayes, Inyang N. Ose-mene, and Cyril V. Abobo’s renewed motion to dismiss Plaintiff Lewis E. Jackson’s 1 common-law assault claim against Defendant Abobo (instrument # 54), the sole remaining claim in this action.

In an Opinion and Order dated February 3, 2014 (# 52),2 the Court granted Defendants’ ' motions to dismiss all other claims in Plaintiffs second amended complaint.3 The Court asked for a supplemental pleading from Plaintiff so that it could determine whether the assault claim against Defendant Abobo took place while he was acting within the general scope of his employment as a faculty member at Texas Southern University; if so, the claim would be barred by Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 101.106.4 The [886]*886Court specifically stated, “If the assault occurred while Abobo and Plaintiff were proctoring an exam, in the scope of their job duties, § 101.106(f) would extend sovereign immunity protection to him and foreclose the claim against him in his individual capacity.” 997 F.Supp.2d at 649, 2014 WL 496653 at *26.

Plaintiff Jackson’s First Supplemental Complaint (# 53)

On or about February 26, 2013 Dr. Jackson and Dr. Abobo were proctoring examinations in different rooms for different groups of students when Dr. Abobo, acting “solely on his own purposes and motivation, without provocation, and without any relation to his general or specific duties as a University faculty member ... physically assaulted Dr. Jackson ....”# 53 at p. 2, ¶¶ 4.5H.52. The supplemental complaint, # 53 at pp. 4-5, further states,

4.60 Dr. Abobo’s conduct toward Dr. Jackson was in no way related to his duties as a faculty member of the University and did not directly or indirectly further the business and educational mission of the University.
4.61 Dr. Abobo’s conduct toward Dr. Jackson was motivated solely by personal and professional dislike and animosity of Dr. Jackson....
4.63 Nothing in the circumstances would permit a conclusion that Dr. Abobo acted in behalf of furtherance of the business of the University to the extent that Dr. Jackson could present an assault claim against the University under the doctrine of respondeat superior.
4.64 The University neither acquiesced, nor adopted, the conduct of Dr. Abobo, but instead caused an investigation of the incident to be conducted by law enforcement officers ' of the University and/or the municipality.

Standard of Review

The Court incorporates the relevant portion of the Standard of Review from its earlier Opinion and Order (997 F.Supp.2d at 621-22, 2014 WL 496653 at *2-3). It particularly emphasizes here that when a district court reviews a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), it must construe the complaint in favor of the plaintiff and take all well-pleaded facts as true. Randall D. Wolcott, MD, PA v. Sebelius, 635 F.3d 757, 763 (5th Cir.2011), citing Gonzalez v. Kay, 577 F.3d 600, 603 (5th Cir.2009). The plaintiffs legal conclusions are not entitled to the same assumption. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“The tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.”), citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); Hinojosa v. U.S. Bureau of Prisons, 506 Fed.Appx. 280, 283 (5th Cir.2013).

Defendants’ Renewed Motion to Dismiss the Assault Claim (# 54)

Defendants urge that because it is clear that the alleged assault occurred when Dr. Abobo and Dr. Jackson were proctoring an examination as part of their official duties, a task lawfully assigned to them by TSU, the assault was within the general scope of their employment and § 101.106(f) of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code fore[887]*887closes liability against Dr. Abobo. Legal conclusions, such as Dr. Abobo’s statement that his conduct “was in no way related to his duties as a faculty member of the University and did not directly or indirectly further the business and educational mission of the University,” need not be accepted as true unless supported by specific factual allegations that make a plausible claim. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Such factual allegations are lacking here. Nor does Plaintiffs statement, “Dr. Abobo’s conduct toward Dr. Jackson was motivated solely by personal and professional dislike and animosity of Dr. Jackson,” have any factual support. Furthermore, personal motives do not take an employee’s actions outside the general scope of employment., Anderson v. Bessman, 365 S.W.3d 119, 125-26 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2011, no pet.) (“An official acts within the scope of her authority if she is discharging duties generally assigned to her.... So long as it falls within the duties assigned, an employee’s conduct is ‘within the scope of employment,’ even if done in part to serve the purposes of the employee or a third person.”).5

Plaintiff Jackson’s “Reply” (# 55)

Plaintiff insists that TSU is not liable for the tort of assault because assault is not within the scope of an employee’s authority unless the employee is employed in a job requiring use of force, such as law enforcement or guarding property.6 See Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Hagenloh, 151 Tex. 191, 247 S.W.2d 236, 239 (Tex.1952) (“It is not ordinarily within the scope of a servant’s authority to commit an assault on a third person. And the cases in which liability has been imposed upon the master for assault by his servant are relatively few. Usually, assault is the expression of personal animosity and is not for the purpose of carrying out the master’s business.”); Galveston, H & S.A. Railway Co. v. Currie, 100 Tex. 136, 142, 96 S.W. 1073, 1074 (1906) (“The case is controlled, in our opinion, by the proposition, in which all authority agrees, that when the servant turns aside, for however short a time, from the prosecution of the master’s work to engage in an affair wholly his own, he ceases to act for the master, and the responsibility for that which he does in pursuing his own business or pleasure is upon him alone.”) (cited and quoted by Hagenloh, 247 S.W.2d at 241). Thus Dr. Abobo is liable'for his own conduct. At the very least there are issues of fact with regard to his conduct that preclude disposition of the motion as a matter of law.

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Jackson v. Texas Southern University, 31 F. Supp. 3d 884, 2014 WL 3511012, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95113 (S.D. Tex. 2014).

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