Myers v. Simpson

831 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 6140864, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141821
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedDecember 9, 2011
DocketNo. 1:11CV552 (LMB/JFA)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 831 F. Supp. 2d 945 (Myers v. Simpson) 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
Myers v. Simpson, 831 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 6140864, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141821 (E.D. Va. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LEONIE M. BRINKEMA, District Judge.

Before the Court is defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint [Dkt. No. 18]. The issues have been adequately briefed by the parties, and oral argument will not aid the decisional process. For the reasons discussed below, defendants’ motion will be granted in all respects, except as to the trespass claim, which will be held in abeyance to allow the parties to brief the issue of whether the trespass notice is overbroad.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff pro se Edward Myers (“plaintiff’ or “Myers”) has filed an amended complaint naming as defendants Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (“Simpson”), Deputy James Spurlock (“Spurlock”), and Loudoun County Sheriffs Office employee Audra Vogel (“Vogel”), individually and in their official capacities. See Am. Compl. at 1, Against each of the three defendants, Myers seeks damages and prospective injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. See Am. Compl. at l.1 He [948]*948also seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against Simpson in his official capacity for alleged violations of the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act (“Title IX”), 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (“Safe Streets Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c). See Am. Compl. at 1. 2 Myers also claims that defendants fraudulently received federal grants in violation of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. Id. at 2. Finally, he seeks declaratory relief invalidating what he alleges is an overbroad trespass notice issued by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office (“LCSO”) that prevents him from being present at the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy in Ashburn.

The facts alleged in the complaint and not in dispute are that, on multiple occasions, Myers was denied access to LCSOsponsored “training workshops,” which are reserved for women. Compl. ¶ 5.2 3 The programs to which Myers seeks access are the various “Women’s Self-Defense Workshop[s],” free classes that are open to all female Loudoun County residents over age 14 “to educate women on sexual assault issues and rape awareness.” Id. ¶ 6 (quoting from LCSO email announcement for the “33rd Women’s Self-Defense Workshop”). Myers tried to attend a class held on May 18, 2010, for which his wife was registered, but was prevented from doing so by LCSO employees, including defendant Vogel. Id. ¶¶ 6-7.

On November 9, 2010, Myers attempted to attend another “[w]omen only, [ijnformational class” called “Personal Safety for Women.” Id. ¶ 10. He was informed by defendant Spurlock that he could not attend because the class was exclusively for women. Id. In April 2011, Myers received an announcement for the “35th Women’s Self-Defense Workshop” on sexual assault and rape prevention and attempted to register by leaving a voicemail for Vogel. Id. ¶ 12. He also “communicated [to Sheriff Simpson via an LCSO employee] his expectation that he would be allowed to attend the class,” Id. On April 26, 2011, when Myers attempted to enter the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy, which is where all these classes [949]*949were held, Simpson met him at the door and “delivered a trespass notice.” Id. ¶ 13, Ex. C. Myers was told he would not be permitted to enter the Academy because “women, some of which [sic] might have been raped, would be uncomfortable with men in the classroom.” Id. Myers alleges that he informed defendants that as recipients of federal funds, they were violating federal laws that prohibit sex discrimination. Id. ¶ 8.

Myers has received notice of the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh women’s self-defense workshops. See Compl. ¶ 14; Am. Compl. at 3-4. He alleges that defendants “continue to discriminate against men in general and Plaintiff in particular” by offering such classes only to women. See Am. Compl. at 3-4. Additionally, Myers claims that the trespass notice he received from Simpson on April 26, 2011 effectively prevents him from attending other public education events that are held at the same location as the women’s self-defense classes, He seeks a declaration that his civil rights have been violated, an award of filing fees and costs, money damages sufficient to deter future violations, and various monetary remedies for the alleged FCA violation. See id. at 4-5.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

Pleadings filed by a pro se party must be “liberally construed.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 2200, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (internal quotations marks omitted). Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the Court must accept all of the complaint’s well-pleaded allegations and view them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Smith v. Sydnor, 184 F.3d 356, 361 (4th Cir.1999). This requirement applies to facts alone and not to legal conclusions. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Nevertheless, “where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not shown — that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Id. at 1950 (internal quotation marks omitted). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right of relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all of the allegations in the complaint are true.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

Accordingly, the Supreme Court has held that to satisfy the pleading requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a), a complaint must include a plausible statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief and providing the defendant with fair notice of “what ... the claim is and the ground upon which it rests.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949. Rather, “only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss.” Id. at 1950.

B. Section 1983 Claim

Myers seeks “damages under ... [42 U.S.C] § 1983 via the due process and equal protection clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments ... against each defendant individually.” Am. Compl. at 1.

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Bluebook (online)
831 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 6140864, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141821, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/myers-v-simpson-vaed-2011.