Jordan v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedApril 28, 2025
Docket3:23-cv-01258
StatusUnknown

This text of Jordan v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services (Jordan v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jordan v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services, (M.D. Tenn. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE

MARCIA JORDAN ) ) v. ) Case No. 3:23-cv-01258 ) (Consolidated with TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF ) Case No. 3:24-cv-00834) CHILDREN’S SERVICES )

TO: Honorable Aleta A. Trauger, United States District Judge R E P O R T A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N These consolidated pro se lawsuit is on referral to the Magistrate Judge for pretrial proceedings. See Order entered June 17, 2024 (Docket Entry No. 20) in Case No. 3:23-cv-01258 (“2023 Case”).1 Pending before the Court is the motion (Docket Entry No. 29)2 of Defendant Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to partially dismiss Plaintiff’s third amended complaint. The motion is opposed by Plaintiff. For the reasons set out below, the undersigned respectfully recommends that the motion be GRANTED. I. BACKGROUND Marcia Jordan (“Plaintiff”) is a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, and is a former employee of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (“Defendant” or “TNDCS”). Plaintiff began working for Defendant in 2007 and was separated from her employment on or about October 19, 2022. Plaintiff maintains that she suffered various forms of discrimination, retaliation, and other

1 See also Order entered August 12, 2024 (Docket Entry No. 11) in Case No. 3:24-cv-00834 (“2024 Case”).

2 Unless otherwise noted, all references herein to Docket Entry Nos. are to docket entries in the 2023 Case. unlawful activity beginning in 2021 and continuing until her separation from employment. Prior to filing her lawsuit, Plaintiff filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”) on August 23, 2022 (Charge # 494-2022-02008), and November 3, 2022 (Charge #494-2023-00297), alleging wrongful discrimination and retaliation, and she received a

Determination and Notice of Rights (“right-to-sue letter”) on or about September 8, 2023. Plaintiff then initiated the instant litigation against Defendant by filing the 2023 Case, with a complaint and an application to proceed in forma pauperis that were filed on November 29, 2023. Upon initial review of the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), the Court found that Plaintiff’s allegations failed to demonstrate plausible claims of unlawful discrimination or retaliatory discharge based on the actual legal claims that were asserted in complaint (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5 et seq. (“Title VII”); 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and § 50-1-304 of the Tennessee Code), but the Court granted Plaintiff leave “to amend in order to clarify whether she intended to claim retaliatory discharge and seek appropriate relief under the FMLA or another federal statute” instead of dismissing the lawsuit. See Memorandum and Order entered January 23, 2025 (Docket

Entry No. 5). Plaintiff thereafter filed an amended complaint (Docket Entry No. 8), as well as a number of evidentiary exhibits. (Docket Entry Nos. 6-7, 9-12), but the amended complaint both failed to cure the deficiencies of the original complaint and failed to otherwise assert a plausible claim under federal law. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the lawsuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim, see Memorandum Order entered April 17, 2024 (Docket Entry No. 13), and judgment was entered against Plaintiff. See Docket Entry No. 14. Plaintiff made several post-judgment filings, including a second amended complaint (Docket Entry No. 17), which the Court construed as a request for relief from the judgment under Rule 59 of

2 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Memorandum and Order entered June 17, 2024 (Docket Entry No. 20). Although the Court found that the second amended complaint continued to lack allegations that were sufficient to support a plausible claim under Title VII, the Court found that the amendment contained allegations that were sufficient to state a plausible claim of disability

discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12102, et seq. (“ADA”), and, in the interest of justice and in consideration of Plaintiff’s pro se status, the Court re-opened the case and directed Plaintiff to return a completed service packet for Defendant to the Clerk’s Office so that process could issue in the case. Id. at 4-5. Despite the Court’s clear and simple instruction, however, on July 10, 2024, Plaintiff presented the Clerk’s Office with a different complaint than the second amended complaint that had been filed in the 2023 Case and paid a filing fee. The Clerk’s Office opened the 2024 Case as a second and separate case and a summons was issued that day in the 2024 Case only. Some weeks later, Plaintiff provided the Clerk’s Office with a completed service packet for the 2023 Case, and a summons and the second amended complaint in that case were promptly served upon Defendant.

Upon the filing of several motions by the parties about confusion caused by the two separate but seemingly the same cases, the Court consolidated the two cases in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a), denied without prejudice Defendant’s then pending motion to dismiss the 2024 Case, and directed that: Plaintiff shall file a new, single amended complaint that will become the operative pleading in the consolidated cases. Plaintiff should take to clearly set out all of her claims and allegations in the new amended complaint because further amendments by her will not be permitted without a showing of exceptional cause and circumstance.

See Order entered October 25, 2024 (Docket Entry No. 25).

3 Plaintiff thereafter filed a third amended complaint (Docket Entry No 26) that is now the operative pleading in this lawsuit.3 Seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief, Plaintiff states that she brings causes of action for “Employment Discrimination Based on Age, Disability and Retaliation.” (Id. at 1.) In her jurisdictional statement, she

specifically relies on the ADA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq. (“ADEA”), and the Fourteenth Amendment as the basis for her federal claims, and she refers to the Tennessee Human Right Act, Tenn.Code.Ann. §§ 4-21-101 et seq. (“THRA”) and Section 501- 1-304 of the Tennessee Code when asserting supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims. (Id. at ¶¶ 1-2.) In a manner that is still somewhat confusing,4 Plaintiff sets out the following as her claims: 1. disability and age discrimination, harassment, and infliction of emotional distress (id. at ¶¶ 7-10); 2. failure to accommodate (id. at ¶¶ 12-17); 3. retaliatory discharge (id. at ¶¶ 18-22); 4. age and disability discrimination in violation of the equal protection and due process

clause of the 14th Amendment (id. at ¶¶ 23-27); 5. discrimination in violation of the ADA (id. at ¶¶ 28-31); 6. retaliation in violation of T.C.A. § 50-1-304 (id. at ¶¶ 32-35); and 7. negligent hiring retention, and supervision (id. at ¶¶ 36-39).

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Bluebook (online)
Jordan v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jordan-v-tennessee-department-of-childrens-services-tnmd-2025.