Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 17, 2024 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court GANIYU AYINLA JAIYEOLA,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. No. 23-3174 (D.C. No. 2:20-CV-02068-EFM-ADM) GARMIN INTERNATIONAL, INC., (D. Kan.)
Defendant - Appellee. _________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________
Before MATHESON, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________
We previously upheld the district court’s order prohibiting Mr. Jaiyeola from
filing any further pleadings in District of Kansas Case No. 20-CV-2068 without court
authorization. Jaiyeola v. Garmin Int’l, Inc., No. 22-3245, 2023 WL 4417480, at *2
(10th Cir. July 10, 2023). After the filing restrictions became effective, Mr. Jaiyeola
sought permission from the district court to file two Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 motions. The
district court denied him permission and ordered that the pleadings not be filed but
* After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 2
that they instead be returned to Mr. Jaiyeola. He now appeals from that order.1
Mr. Jaiyeola asks us to (1) construe his appeal as a petition for a writ of mandamus;
(2) order the district court to file his motions; and (3) order that a new district court
judge be assigned to this case on remand. We will treat his appeal as a petition for a
writ of mandamus, but we otherwise deny the requested relief.
BACKGROUND
We previously summarized the procedural history of this case as follows:
Mr. Jaiyeola sued Garmin in February 2020, alleging it discriminated against him in violation of several federal statutes when it failed to hire him. The district court, however, ultimately dismissed Mr. Jaiyeola’s suit as a sanction for his abusive litigation conduct. This court affirmed the dismissal. See Jaiyeola v. Garmin Int’l, Inc., Nos. 21-3114, 21-3169, 2022 WL 1218642, at *1 (10th Cir. Apr. 26, 2022). Mr. Jaiyeola filed a petition for panel and en banc rehearing, which this court denied. After the dismissal and this court’s affirmance of the same, Mr. Jaiyeola filed a motion for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) in which he argued the judgment against him was void. The district court denied that motion. Mr. Jaiyeola filed a motion to reconsider that denial, which the district court also denied. Mr. Jaiyeola then filed a motion to reconsider the denial of his motion for reconsideration. The district court denied that motion and also imposed filing restrictions on Mr. Jaiyeola. Jaiyeola, 2023 WL 4417480, at *1 (record citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
The filing restrictions that we upheld require Mr. Jaiyeola to “mail or
otherwise deliver his submissions to the Clerk of the Court, who shall forward them
to a judge of this Court for determination whether the motion or other filings is
lacking in merit, duplicative, frivolous, or malicious.” R., vol. IV at 173. The order
1 Mr. Jaiyeola proceeds pro se, so “we liberally construe his filings, but will not act as his advocate.” James v. Wadas, 724 F.3d 1312, 1315 (10th Cir. 2013). 2 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 3
further provides that “[t]he Court will either allow the filing or issue an Order
denying it.” Id.
In September 2023, Mr. Jaiyeola mailed two motions to the district court.
These motions sought leave to file (1) a Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) motion challenging
the district court’s order in this case dated September 29, 2022, denying
Mr. Jaiyeola’s motion to reconsider; and (2) a Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(d)(3) motion
challenging the district court’s memorandum and order of June 24, 2021, dismissing
this action with prejudice. The district court rejected these filings and returned them
to Mr. Jaiyeola. It concluded that “[a]s the dismissal of this case had twice been
affirmed by the Tenth Circuit, and several times had a motion seeking some form of
reconsideration of such orders [been] denied, yet two other attempted bites at the
apple were frivolous and vexatious, and merited the invocation of the filing
restrictions previously filed and affirmed.” R., vol. V at 33.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Jaiyeola asks us to construe his notice of appeal as a petition for a writ of
mandamus. We have construed challenges to the district court’s enforcement of
filing restriction orders as seeking mandamus relief. See Werner v. Utah, 32 F.3d
1446, 1447 (10th Cir. 1994). But Mr. Jaiyeola has failed to show his entitlement to a
writ of mandamus.
Mandamus relief is appropriate where a petitioner has established a “clear
abuse of discretion or conduct amounting to usurpation of judicial power,” which can
include circumstances “when a petitioner is effectively excluded from federal court.”
3 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 4
Id. But no such abuse of discretion or usurpation of power has occurred in this case.
Notably, “the right of access to the courts is neither absolute nor unconditional.”
Tripati v. Beaman, 878 F.2d 351, 353 (10th Cir. 1989). “There is strong precedent
establishing the inherent power of federal courts to regulate the activities of abusive
litigants by imposing carefully tailored restrictions under the appropriate
circumstances.” Landrith v. Schmidt, 732 F.3d 1171, 1174 (10th Cir. 2013) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
We previously upheld the district court’s order restricting Mr. Jaiyeola’s
filings. Jaiyeola, 2023 WL 4417480, at *2. This order was imposed due to his
abusive litigation practices in district court. He fails to show that under the terms of
the order “the district court so clearly abused its discretion or usurped its power in
refusing to file [his motions] that mandamus relief would be appropriate,” Werner, 32
F.3d at 1448.
In reaching this conclusion, we have examined the proposed filings and
Mr. Jaiyeola’s appellate arguments concerning them. As for Mr. Jaiyeola’s proposed
Rule 60(b)(4) filing, we note the district court previously entertained numerous
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 17, 2024 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court GANIYU AYINLA JAIYEOLA,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. No. 23-3174 (D.C. No. 2:20-CV-02068-EFM-ADM) GARMIN INTERNATIONAL, INC., (D. Kan.)
Defendant - Appellee. _________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________
Before MATHESON, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________
We previously upheld the district court’s order prohibiting Mr. Jaiyeola from
filing any further pleadings in District of Kansas Case No. 20-CV-2068 without court
authorization. Jaiyeola v. Garmin Int’l, Inc., No. 22-3245, 2023 WL 4417480, at *2
(10th Cir. July 10, 2023). After the filing restrictions became effective, Mr. Jaiyeola
sought permission from the district court to file two Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 motions. The
district court denied him permission and ordered that the pleadings not be filed but
* After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 2
that they instead be returned to Mr. Jaiyeola. He now appeals from that order.1
Mr. Jaiyeola asks us to (1) construe his appeal as a petition for a writ of mandamus;
(2) order the district court to file his motions; and (3) order that a new district court
judge be assigned to this case on remand. We will treat his appeal as a petition for a
writ of mandamus, but we otherwise deny the requested relief.
BACKGROUND
We previously summarized the procedural history of this case as follows:
Mr. Jaiyeola sued Garmin in February 2020, alleging it discriminated against him in violation of several federal statutes when it failed to hire him. The district court, however, ultimately dismissed Mr. Jaiyeola’s suit as a sanction for his abusive litigation conduct. This court affirmed the dismissal. See Jaiyeola v. Garmin Int’l, Inc., Nos. 21-3114, 21-3169, 2022 WL 1218642, at *1 (10th Cir. Apr. 26, 2022). Mr. Jaiyeola filed a petition for panel and en banc rehearing, which this court denied. After the dismissal and this court’s affirmance of the same, Mr. Jaiyeola filed a motion for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) in which he argued the judgment against him was void. The district court denied that motion. Mr. Jaiyeola filed a motion to reconsider that denial, which the district court also denied. Mr. Jaiyeola then filed a motion to reconsider the denial of his motion for reconsideration. The district court denied that motion and also imposed filing restrictions on Mr. Jaiyeola. Jaiyeola, 2023 WL 4417480, at *1 (record citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
The filing restrictions that we upheld require Mr. Jaiyeola to “mail or
otherwise deliver his submissions to the Clerk of the Court, who shall forward them
to a judge of this Court for determination whether the motion or other filings is
lacking in merit, duplicative, frivolous, or malicious.” R., vol. IV at 173. The order
1 Mr. Jaiyeola proceeds pro se, so “we liberally construe his filings, but will not act as his advocate.” James v. Wadas, 724 F.3d 1312, 1315 (10th Cir. 2013). 2 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 3
further provides that “[t]he Court will either allow the filing or issue an Order
denying it.” Id.
In September 2023, Mr. Jaiyeola mailed two motions to the district court.
These motions sought leave to file (1) a Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) motion challenging
the district court’s order in this case dated September 29, 2022, denying
Mr. Jaiyeola’s motion to reconsider; and (2) a Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(d)(3) motion
challenging the district court’s memorandum and order of June 24, 2021, dismissing
this action with prejudice. The district court rejected these filings and returned them
to Mr. Jaiyeola. It concluded that “[a]s the dismissal of this case had twice been
affirmed by the Tenth Circuit, and several times had a motion seeking some form of
reconsideration of such orders [been] denied, yet two other attempted bites at the
apple were frivolous and vexatious, and merited the invocation of the filing
restrictions previously filed and affirmed.” R., vol. V at 33.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Jaiyeola asks us to construe his notice of appeal as a petition for a writ of
mandamus. We have construed challenges to the district court’s enforcement of
filing restriction orders as seeking mandamus relief. See Werner v. Utah, 32 F.3d
1446, 1447 (10th Cir. 1994). But Mr. Jaiyeola has failed to show his entitlement to a
writ of mandamus.
Mandamus relief is appropriate where a petitioner has established a “clear
abuse of discretion or conduct amounting to usurpation of judicial power,” which can
include circumstances “when a petitioner is effectively excluded from federal court.”
3 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 4
Id. But no such abuse of discretion or usurpation of power has occurred in this case.
Notably, “the right of access to the courts is neither absolute nor unconditional.”
Tripati v. Beaman, 878 F.2d 351, 353 (10th Cir. 1989). “There is strong precedent
establishing the inherent power of federal courts to regulate the activities of abusive
litigants by imposing carefully tailored restrictions under the appropriate
circumstances.” Landrith v. Schmidt, 732 F.3d 1171, 1174 (10th Cir. 2013) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
We previously upheld the district court’s order restricting Mr. Jaiyeola’s
filings. Jaiyeola, 2023 WL 4417480, at *2. This order was imposed due to his
abusive litigation practices in district court. He fails to show that under the terms of
the order “the district court so clearly abused its discretion or usurped its power in
refusing to file [his motions] that mandamus relief would be appropriate,” Werner, 32
F.3d at 1448.
In reaching this conclusion, we have examined the proposed filings and
Mr. Jaiyeola’s appellate arguments concerning them. As for Mr. Jaiyeola’s proposed
Rule 60(b)(4) filing, we note the district court previously entertained numerous
post-judgment motions in this proceeding, including his prior Rule 60(b)(4) motion
asserting that its judgment was void. Mr. Jaiyeola now asserts he has discovered an
error in the order denying reconsideration from Rule 60(b)(4) relief that makes that
order “void” under Rule 60(b)(4) as well. Aplt. Br. at 22. We discern no abuse of
discretion in the district court’s rejection of this proposed filing. Mr. Jaiyeola has
had ample opportunity to litigate this matter and to present his arguments, including
4 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 5
arguments about the Rule 60(b)(4) order. Notably, we previously affirmed the
district court’s order denying Mr. Jaiyeola’s second motion for reconsideration from
the order denying Rule 60(b)(4) relief. See Jaiyeola, 2023 WL 4417480, at *2. This
new filing merely launches a further, successive attack on that post-judgment motion
and seeks to needlessly prolong this dispute.
As for Mr. Jaiyeola’s proposed Rule 60(d)(3) filing, it seeks to challenge the
order entered in June 2021 dismissing this action with prejudice as a sanction. As
grounds for his attack, Mr. Jaiyeola argues that Garmin’s in-house attorney directed a
manager at Garmin to change Mr. Jaiyeola’s job interview record, thus committing a
“fraud on the Court.” Aplt. Br. at 24.2 But the district court did not dismiss this
action based on Mr. Jaiyeola’s job interview record. It dismissed the action because
Mr. Jaiyeola violated its order against filing further frivolous motions, including
successive motions seeking to disqualify the district court judge and a magistrate
judge. See R., vol. III at 277-87. The district court did not abuse its discretion or
usurp its power by declining to file the proposed Rule 60(d)(3) motion.
To the extent Mr. Jaiyeola attempts to collaterally challenge the district court’s
underlying filing restrictions order of November 9, 2022, as overbroad, burdensome,
and unconstitutional, see Aplt. Br. at 18-19, he could have raised such a challenge in
2 The proposed motion also mentions other statements Garmin’s counsel made to the court that Mr. Jaiyeola characterizes as “lies.” R., vol. V at 84-85. But Mr. Jaiyeola focuses his appellate argument on the job interview record, and in any event these other alleged “lies” are not directly relevant to the district court’s reasons for dismissing this case. 5 Appellate Case: 23-3174 Document: 010111033460 Date Filed: 04/17/2024 Page: 6
his previous appeal, and we will not consider it in this enforcement proceeding. See
Werner, 32 F.3d at 1448 (if a petitioner disagrees with the district court’s filing
restrictions, he should file an appeal from the order establishing the restrictions, not
seek to raise objections in a later mandamus petition challenging their enforcement).
Finally, we note that Mr. Jaiyeola’s successive, meritless post-judgment filings
concerning this litigation, and his appeals from their denial, are an abuse of the
federal judicial system. Because his repetitive filings must come to an end, we warn
him that any additional meritless and repetitive appellate filings concerning this case
may result in the imposition of filing restrictions in this court.
CONCLUSION
We deny Mr. Jaiyeola’s request for mandamus relief. We deny as moot his
request to assign a different district court judge to preside over this case on remand.
Entered for the Court
Carolyn B. McHugh Circuit Judge