Martin v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

273 F. Supp. 2d 114, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18629, 2003 WL 21675313
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedApril 3, 2003
DocketNo. CIV.A.02-851 RMC
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 273 F. Supp. 2d 114 (Martin v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 273 F. Supp. 2d 114, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18629, 2003 WL 21675313 (D.D.C. 2003).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLYER, District Judge.

George A. Martin applied for a position as a part-time bus driver with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) on February 2, 2002. His application was initially denied and he was accepted in June 2002 only after he protested. He sues for alleged irregularities in the hiring process that deprived him of approximately 14 weeks of work as a bus driver. Pending before the Court is WMATA’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies this motion, but dismisses Count II of the amended complaint sua sponte for lack of jurisdiction.

I. BACKGROUND

There is little dispute about the relevant facts, which are taken from the amended complaint. Mr. Martin applied for the position of part-time bus operator on February 2, 2002. He sat for a written examination, required of all applicants, on February 2, 2002, and received a passing score. In his amended complaint, he alleges that the examination was not proctored to prevent cheating and, in fact, numerous test takers exchanged answers or sat in a group to answer the examination collectively. He reported for an interview, as required of all applicants, on February 16, 2002, and on- March 2, 2002, he provided a urine sample to a WMATA representative. This process, together with significant paperwork (including a birth certificate, high school certificate, and proof that an applicant had passed a commercial drivers’ license learning test), was approximately the same for all applicants except for the observed cheating on the written exam.

By letter dated March 21, 2002, Mr. Martin was advised that his application was rejected “in favor of another candidate whose qualifications more closely matched the position requirements.” See Am. Compl. ¶ 13; Exhibit A. By letter received by WMATA on April 16, 2002, Mr. Martin protested the rejection of his employment application. On that date, he also filed an application with this Court to proceed with this suit informa pauperis. Granting that application, the Court appointed counsel to represent and assist Mr. Martin in prosecuting his lawsuit. Thereafter, by letter from WMATA dated May 2, 2002, Mr. Martin was informed that his urine sample was not “sufficient” to complete the urine test but that he would be permitted to retest. This was the first indication to Mr. Martin that there was any problem with his urine test and it was inconsistent with the donor record he received on the date he actually provided the initial sample. See id. ¶ 15; Exhibit B. Mr. Martin was re-tested and successfully completed all requirements for the position. He reported for orientation on June 12, 2002, and commenced training on June 17, 2002.

II. ANALYSIS

A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will be denied unless the plaintiff “can prove no set of facts in support of [his] claim which would entitle [him] to relief.” Kowal v. MCI Communications Corp., 16 F.3d 1271, 1276 (D.C.Cir.1994). “[A]t this stage in the proceedings, the Court accepts as true all of the [c]om-[117]*117plaint’s factual allegations.” Tripp v. DOD, 219 F.Supp.2d 85, 89 (D.D.C.2002). Unless unsupported by the facts set forth in the complaint, all inferences are drawn in favor of the plaintiff. See Kowal, 16 F.3d at 1276.

Mr. Martin first claims that WMA-TA breached a contract with him, as well as the duty of good faith and fair dealing that is implied in every contract, when it failed to follow its “published hiring procedures.” Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim (“Opposition”) at 1. These procedures are alleged to constitute an offer by WMATA to give Mr. Martin’s application “fair and consistent consideration according to announced criteria.” Id. at 3. Mr. Martin states that he accepted WMATA’s offer by submitting an employment application and participating in the application process. To support his claim that published hiring procedures can give rise to contractual obligations, Mr. Martin cites Sisco v. GSA Nat’l Capital Fed. Credit Union, 689 A.2d 52 (D.C.1997). In that case, an employer’s policy manual was found to impose contractual limitations on its right to discharge employees. Mr. Martin argues that “[t]here is no legal or logical reason why the same rule should not apply to applicants for employment who submit applications according to WMATA’s prescribed set of rules.” Opposition at 2; see also Rinck v. Ass’n of Reserve City Bankers, 676 A.2d 12 (D.C.1996) (finding that an at-will employment relationship may take on characteristics of a contractual relationship under proper conditions); United States ex rel. Yesudian v. Howard University, 153 F.3d 731, 745 (D.C.Cir.1998) (holding that it is a jury question whether an employer handbook created a contract).

Mr. Martin also claims that, even if there were no contract, WMATA breached its oral and written assurances that it would follow its published hiring procedures. He asserts that he relied on these assurances to his detriment by expending substantial time and effort participating in WMATA’s application process.

In its motion to dismiss, WMATA argues that it was not legally required to contract with Mr. Martin and he, likewise, possessed no common law rights that it was bound to respect.1 WMATA notes that, if Mr. Martin were an “at will” employee, he could have been “hired, fired, transferred, [or] demoted without regard to any rights save those provided by statute or a union contract, neither of which are present here.” Opposition at 2. These arguments, however, misunderstand Mr. Martin’s claims. He does not allege that WMATA had a contractual obligation to hire him or even that it owed him a common law duty to enter into a contract to follow its published hiring procedures. Instead, Mr. Martin claims that WMATA chose to bind itself to follow these procedures in exchange for Mr. Martin’s participation in its application process. Although it is certainly possible that WMATA’s published hiring procedures did not actually constitute an offer, the Court does not yet possess enough information to make that determination. On a motion to dismiss — without the benefit of the text of WMATA’s alleged published hiring procedures — the Court draws this inference in favor of Mr. Martin. Similarly, the viability of Mr. Martin’s claim that WMATA made oral and written assurances upon which he reasonably relied is conditioned on the specific assurances allegedly made by WMATA. Consistent with notice pleading standards, [118]

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

Related

Darian McKinney v. DC
142 F.4th 784 (D.C. Circuit, 2025)
Battles v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
272 F. Supp. 3d 5 (District of Columbia, 2017)
Delta Engineering, Inc.
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, 2014
Banneker Ventures, LLC v. Graham
20 F. Supp. 3d 184 (District of Columbia, 2013)
Howell v. Gray
843 F. Supp. 2d 49 (District of Columbia, 2012)
Lizzi v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
845 A.2d 60 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
273 F. Supp. 2d 114, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18629, 2003 WL 21675313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-washington-metropolitan-area-transit-authority-dcd-2003.