Muhammad v. United States

300 F. Supp. 3d 257
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 7, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 16–1079 (TJK)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 300 F. Supp. 3d 257 (Muhammad v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Muhammad v. United States, 300 F. Supp. 3d 257 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

TIMOTHY J. KELLY, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Raheem Muhammad, appearing pro se , has brought this action against the United States and several officials and employees of the U.S. Postal Service (the "USPS") (collectively, for purposes of this motion, the "United States"),1 as well as the District of Columbia, for alleged injuries he suffered when he slipped and fell on a sidewalk outside a Post Office located in the District of Columbia. ECF No. 1 ("Compl."). Muhammad seeks $1 million in compensatory damages. Id. at 13. The District of Columbia has moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ECF No. 9 ("DC Mem."). The United States has moved to dismiss all counts under Rule 12(b)(6), as well as Count Two under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ECF No. 16-1 ("US Mem."). For the reasons explained below, the Court will (1) grant the District of Columbia's motion in its entirety, (2) grant the United States' motion in part and deny it in part, and (3) deny Muhammad's pending motions to vacate certain minute orders and transfer the case.2

*261I. Background

The Court accepts as true the facts as pled in Muhammad's complaint. On the afternoon of June 5, 2014, Muhammad slipped and fell on the "public sidewalks and ... curbs that were directly adjacent to ... 5636 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C." Compl. ¶¶ 16-17. The USPS operates a Post Office at that address. Id. ¶ 2. Muhammad suffered "major injuries to his head, shoulder, ribcage and etcetera." Id. ¶ 18. The fall "caused a hole" in his forehead, which resulted in "a massive amount" of bleeding. Id. ¶ 19. A passerby helped Muhammad enter the Post Office. Id. ¶ 20. Once inside, Muhammad asked "Defendant [Jane] Doe and/or ... anyone else ... to immediately call '911.' " Id. ¶ 22. However, Doe refused both this request and Muhammad's request to use the Post Office's bathroom. Id. ¶ 23. Doe instead instructed Muhammad to use the bathroom of a grocery store "located down the street." Id. As a result, he was "compelled to seek out 'public transportation' for his severe head injuries in order to seek immediate medical treatment." Id. ¶ 24. Muhammad attributes his injuries to Defendants' negligence in failing to maintain the sidewalk, as well as to "racism and apathy." See id.

In the complaint, Muhammad asserts the following claims, each against all Defendants:

• Count One: Negligence for failure to maintain the "postal facility's adjoining sidewalks; walkways and curbs, free of defects and ... hazardous conditions," and for failure to warn "Postal Patrons and/or Postal Visitors of potentially dangerous public sidewalks and/or public sidewalks' curbs." Id. ¶¶ 26-27.
• Count Two: Violations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for failure "to provide adequate and meaningful safeguards for people with physical disabilities within ... Post Office Facilities," which caused Muhammad "to suffer major and permanent physical and/or mental injuries." Id. ¶¶ 42-43.
• Count Three: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ("IIED") that caused Muhammad to "suffer[ ] and continue[ ] to suffer severe mental anguish and emotional and physical distress." Id. ¶ 50.
• Count Four: Violations of the Fourteenth Amendment through the actions of Defendant Jane Doe, who allegedly "deliberately and intentionally and unconstitutionally discriminated against Plaintiff ... on the basis of his Islamic Religious Beliefs and/or his Physical *262Disabilities and/or his Race, so as to deny him equal protection of the law." Id. ¶ 53.

II. Legal Standard

A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. See Gen. Motors Corp. v. EPA , 363 F.3d 442, 448 (D.C. Cir. 2004) ("As a court of limited jurisdiction, we begin, and end, with an examination of our jurisdiction."). The law presumes that "a cause lies outside [the Court's] limited jurisdiction" unless the party asserting jurisdiction establishes otherwise. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am. , 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994) ; see also Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife , 504 U.S. 555, 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (the burden is on the party asserting jurisdiction to establish the court's subject matter jurisdiction). "As a general matter, courts should consider Rule 12(b)(1) challenges to its subject matter jurisdiction before assessing the legal sufficiency of a claim under Rule 12(b)(6)." Lempert v. Rice , 956 F.Supp.2d 17, 27 (D.D.C. 2013). "Because subject-matter jurisdiction focuses on the court's power to hear [a] claim," the plaintiff's factual allegations are given "closer scrutiny" than required in deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim. Grand Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police v. Ashcroft , 185 F.Supp.2d 9, 13 (D.D.C. 2001).

B. Failure to State a Claim

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6)"tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint." Browning v. Clinton , 292 F.3d 235, 242 (D.C. Cir. 2002). The motion does not test a plaintiff's ultimate likelihood of success on the merits, but only requires the court to determine whether a plaintiff has properly stated a claim. ACLU Found. of S. Cal. v. Barr , 952 F.2d 457, 467 (D.C. Cir. 1991).

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300 F. Supp. 3d 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/muhammad-v-united-states-cadc-2018.