Mveng-Whitted v. Virginia State University

927 F. Supp. 2d 275, 2013 WL 653333, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24028
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedFebruary 21, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 3:11-cv-00842-JAG
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 927 F. Supp. 2d 275 (Mveng-Whitted v. Virginia State University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mveng-Whitted v. Virginia State University, 927 F. Supp. 2d 275, 2013 WL 653333, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24028 (E.D. Va. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR., District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the motion for reconsideration filed by the defendants, Thomas LaRose (“LaRose”) and Virginia State University. In its previous [276]*276Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court declined to dismiss the plaintiffs race discrimination claim against LaRose, brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Instead, the Court directed the plaintiff, Brenda Mveng-Whitted (“Mveng-Whitted”), to elect whether to proceed with either (1) an equal protection claim pursuant to § 1983 or (2) a § 1981 claim. The plaintiff elected to proceed under § 1981.

The choice of theory raises an important legal question: which statute of limitations applies in this case? The defendants contend that § 1983’s two-year statute of limitations applies;1 Mveng-Whitted urges the Court to follow the four-year limitation set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1658. If the two-year limitation applies, Mveng-Whitted’s claim is time barred. If the longer limitation applies, Mveng-Whitted’s case survives.2 The defendants now ask the Court to dismiss the case based on § 1983’s two-year limitation. The Court holds, however, that the four-year statute of limitations applies to this claim, because Mveng-Whitted’s claim arises under the 1991 amendments to § 1981. The 1991 amendments create Mveng-Whitted’s legal right in this case, so, as discussed below, § 1658 supplies a four-year limitations period.

Subsection (b) of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 was adopted in 1991, overturning Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 171, 109 S.Ct. 2363, 105 L.Ed.2d 132 (1989). In Patterson, the Supreme Court had held that “racial harassment related to the conditions of employment is not actionable under § 1981.” Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 541 U.S. 369, 383, 124 S.Ct. 1836, 158 L.Ed.2d 645 (2004) (citing Patterson, 491 U.S. at 171, 109 S.Ct. 2363). After the amendments, § 1981 now outlaws discrimination not only in the making of contracts, but also after formation of the contract. Id. Since Mveng-Whitted claims various forms of harassment on the job (post-formation discrimination), her suit necessarily relies on the 1991 amendments to § 1981.

28 U.S.C. § 1658 provides a four-year statute of limitations for any cause of action “arising under an Act of Congress enacted” after December 1, 1990. Thus, ordinarily a claim under the 1991 amendments would have a four-year limitation.

Because LaRose is a state actor, however, the question in this case takes on additional complications. Section 1983 provides the exclusive damages remedy for deprivations of constitutional rights under § 1981 by state actors, such as the defendants here. Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 735,109 S.Ct. 2702, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989); Dennis v. Cnty. of Fairfax, 55 F.3d 151, 156 (4th Cir.1995). Thus, a plaintiff must bring suit under § 1983 to enforce her rights under § 1981; § 1983 provides the vehicle for each of the plaintiffs possible claims, but the amendment to § 1981 creates the plaintiffs legal right. In short, the issue is whether the statute of limitations depends on the remedy (§ 1983) or the underlying right (as defined in § 1981(b)).

[277]*277Neither the Supreme Court nor the Fourth Circuit has ruled on this issue. A footnote in a Supreme Court decision, however, provides some guidance. In City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, 544 U.S. 113, 125 S.Ct. 1453, 161 L.Ed.2d 316 (2005), the plaintiff tried to bring a claim for damages under § 1983 to enforce a right created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“TCA”). Because Congress enacted the TCA after 1990, the Court acknowledged that a question might arise whether the § 1983 limitation or the § 1658 limitation governed the case. In dictum,3 the Court said:

The statute of limitations for a § 1983 claim is generally the applicable state-law period for personal-injury torts. On this basis, the applicable limitations period for respondent’s § 1983 action would presumably be one year. It may be, however, that this limitations period does not apply to respondent’s § 1983 claim. In 1990, Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a), which provides a 4-year, catchall limitations period applicable to “civil action[s] arising under an Act of Congress enacted after” December 1, 1990. In Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., we held that this 4-year limitations period applies to all claims “made possible by a post-1990 [congressional] enactment.” Since the claim here rests upon violation of the post-1990 TCA, § 1658 would seem to apply.

Id. at 123 n. 5, 125 S.Ct. 1453 (citations omitted). In short, Rancho Palos Verdes indicates that for claims “made possible” by an enactment after 1990, the four-year limitation applies, regardless of the procedural vehicle used to enforce the right.

Admittedly, Rancho Palos Verdes’s dictum, “ § 1658 would seem to apply,” is not a ringing endorsement for application of the four-year limitation in the context of this case. But Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Inc., supra, which discussed the Congressional intent of 28 U.S.C. § 1658, provides additional support. There, the Court found that one purpose was to provide uniformity in limitations on federal claims by eliminating case-by-case analysis of whether to “borrow” a limitation from state law. Along these same lines, the Court observed that § 1658 eliminated complicated choice-of-law questions, and inconsistent results, when venue lies in more than one state. See Jones, 541 U.S. at 378-79, 124 S.Ct. 1836. The Court indicated, furthermore, that § 1658 should be read broadly. “The history that led to the enactment of § 1658 strongly supports an interpretation that fills more rather than less of the void that has created so much unnecessary work for federal judges.” Id. at 380, 124 S.Ct. 1836. Consistent with these purposes, Jones instructs courts on how to analyze § 1658’s applicability to new enactments. “What matters is the substantive effect of an enactment — the creation of new rights of action and corresponding liabilities — not the format in which it appears in the Code.” Id. at 381, 124 S.Ct. 1836.

Neither Jones nor

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Bluebook (online)
927 F. Supp. 2d 275, 2013 WL 653333, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mveng-whitted-v-virginia-state-university-vaed-2013.