Khatri v. Dearborn Public School District

District Court, E.D. Michigan·Decided August 20, 2025·No. 4:23-cv-12930·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

AZAZHUSEN KHATRI ESTATE, Case No. 23-cv-12930 et al., Hon. F. Kay Behm Plaintiffs, United States District Judge v. Hon. Anthony P. Patti DEARBORN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, U.S. Magistrate Judge et al.,

Defendants. ___________________________ /

OPINION AND ORDER ACCEPTING AND ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S JULY 31, 2025, REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION (ECF No. 31) AND OVERRULING PLAINTIFFS’ OBJECTIONS (ECF No. 32)

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY This matter is before the court on Magistrate Judge Patti’s report and recommendation (R&R), recommending the court grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ third amended complaint (TAC) (ECF No. 31). Plaintiffs Azazhusen Khatri and Ghazala Khatri (or their “estates”) bring this action primarily related to events surrounding their minor child “Anna.” There is, notably, another case by almost the same plaintiffs, but related to events surrounding their other minor child, “Alma.” See Case No. 23-cv-12874. Plaintiffs’ complaints across the two sister cases are largely similar in language, substance, and

format, and suffer from similar deficiencies. The R&Rs, therefore, are almost identical. However, the objections to the R&Rs are slightly different, and so the court enters two separate orders with slightly

different analysis. The court finds the objections to be without merit and finds there is no need for a response or reply. For the reasons explained, the court

ACCEPTS and ADOPTS the report and recommendation and DISMISSES the case. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The relevant facts on this review are limited; the questions are not whether Plaintiffs’ allegations manage to clear the bar of Rule 12(b)(6), but address more basic issues of standing, representation, compliance

with Rule 8, and compliance with the court’s orders. The court will not needlessly expend resources rehashing what Magistrate Judge Patti has said already, in detail, summarizing the TAC, and the court

assumes familiarity with his order. See ECF No. 31. It is enough to say here that the TAC broadly alleges instances of harassment by other students against Plaintiffs’ minor daughter “Anna” (pseudonym) at Dearborn Public Schools, as well as allegations about her parents’

subsequent treatment by school officials and those officials’ alleged failure to respond to other students’ behavior as to Anna. This case was ostensibly brought (in the second amended complaint) by “Azazhusen

Khatri, Estate Co-Personal representatives Azazhusen Khatri and Ghazala Khatri, individually; and Azazhusen Khatri as biological Father and General Guardian of Anna Doe, a Minor,” but was only

signed by Azazhusen Khatri, purportedly on behalf of all the Plaintiffs. See ECF No. 23, PageID.374. However, a non-lawyer cannot litigate claims on another’s behalf, and no lawyer appeared on behalf of

Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs were warned about several deficiencies in their second amended complaint, in particular regarding how they named the Plaintiffs in this case. Specifically, parents cannot litigate cases pro se

on behalf of their minor children, nor may the parents litigate this case on behalf of their “estates,” whatever those might be. See ECF No. 23, PageID.381. Accordingly, when Defendants brought a motion to

dismiss, the court denied that motion without prejudice, and gave Plaintiffs a chance to replead and cure the deficiencies identified. The court also adopted the Magistrate Judge’s finding that the

second amended complaint failed to follow ordinary pleading requirements and was confusing to follow. See, e.g., ECF No. 23, PageID.385 (“In amending his pleading, Plaintiff AK (or any of the

others) must avoid lumping together multiple statutes, claims and theories in each count, as it is extraordinarily difficult to discern what the claims are under any given count in the existent pleading, and

pleading in this manner again risks dismissal for failure to state a claim.”). The court warned that counsel must appear on behalf of Plaintiffs in order to litigate the minor child’s claims or any claims on

behalf of the “Estates,” or risk dismissal. ECF No. 24, PageID.392. No attorney appeared, but Plaintiffs then filed a Third Amended Complaint (TAC) (ECF No. 25), and Defendants once again filed a

motion to dismiss (ECF No. 26). This report and recommendation (ECF No. 31) followed the briefing on that motion. The R&R made a few key findings: first, that the Plaintiffs now consist only of the “estates” of

A.K. and G.K., and A.K. and G.K. on behalf of Anna (their minor child), second, that the parents (and their “estates”) cannot proceed pro se on behalf of their minor child, third, that the parents cannot proceed “pro se” on behalf of their “Estates,” and fourth, even assuming the TAC can

be construed to include claims brought pro se by the parents on their own behalf, the complaint fails to follow Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, not to mention the court’s prior orders (see ECF No. 23,

24) and therefore merits dismissal under Rule 8 or Rule 41. Therefore, all claims that the parents cannot litigate pro se, including those of their minor child, must be dismissed, and any remaining claims were,

in one way or another, not properly pled and must be dismissed. ECF No. 31, PageID.641. III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party may object to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation on dispositive motions, and a district judge must resolve proper objections under a de novo standard of review. 28 U.S.C.

§ 636(b)(1)(B)-(C); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(1)-(3). This court “may accept, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” Id. “For an objection to be proper,

Eastern District of Michigan Local Rule 72.1(d)(1) requires parties to ‘specify the part of the order, proposed findings, recommendations, or report to which [the party] objects’ and to ‘state the basis for the objection.’” Pearce v. Chrysler Grp. LLC Pension Plan, 893 F.3d 339,

346 (6th Cir. 2018). Objections that dispute the general correctness of the report and recommendation are improper. Miller v. Currie, 50 F.3d 373, 380 (6th Cir. 1995).

Moreover, objections must be clear so that the district court can “discern those issues that are dispositive and contentious.” Id. (citing Howard v. Sec’y of Health and Human Servs., 932 F.2d 505, 509 (6th

Cir. 1991)); see also Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 147 (1985) (explaining that objections must go to “factual and legal” issues “at the heart of the parties’ dispute”). In sum, the objections must be clear and specific

enough that the court can squarely address them on the merits. See Pearce, 893 F.3d at 346. And, when objections are “merely perfunctory responses . . . rehashing . . . the same arguments set forth

in the original petition, reviewing courts should review [a Report and Recommendation] for clear error.” Ramirez v. United States, 898 F.Supp.2d 659, 663 (S.D.N.Y. 2012); see also Funderburg v. Comm’r of

Soc. Sec., No. 15-10068, 2016 WL 1104466, at *1 (E.D. Mich. Mar.

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