Rose v. SMI Steel LLC

18 F. Supp. 3d 1317, 2014 WL 1765140, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60498
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedMay 1, 2014
DocketCase No. 2:14-cv-160-KOB
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 18 F. Supp. 3d 1317 (Rose v. SMI Steel LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rose v. SMI Steel LLC, 18 F. Supp. 3d 1317, 2014 WL 1765140, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60498 (N.D. Ala. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KARON OWEN BOWDRE, Chief Judge.

This case, asserting sexual harassment under Title VII and invasion of privacy under Alabama law, comes before the court on the “Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss” filed on January 29, 2013 (doc. 4), the same day the Defendant removed this case from the Circuit Court of Jefferson County to this court based on federal question jurisdiction (doc. 1). For the following reasons, the court finds that the Defendant’s motion to dismiss is due to be DENIED in part, and GRANTED in part. The court will DENY the motion as to the Title VII claim but GRANT it as to the invasion of privacy claim and will DISMISS that claim WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Procedural History

The Plaintiff Lesia Ann Rose originally brought this action under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and Alabama law on invasion of privacy. SMI Steel LLC d/b/a/ CMC Steel Alabama (“CMC”) filed its motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that Rose failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In its motion, CMC requested that this court “dismiss all of Plaintiffs claims with prejudice.” (Doc. 4, at 2). However, CMC’s Brief in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss did not address Plaintiffs Title VII claim. (See Doc. 5).

On April 10, 2014, during the Scheduling Conference, CMC indicated through counsel that it did not intend to include the Title VTI claim in its motion to dismiss. On April 14, 2014, after the Scheduling Conference, Rose filed an Amended Complaint (doc. 16), naming SMI Steel, LLC d/b/a CMC Steel Alabama as the proper Defendant and dropping the § 1983 claim.

Given the Amended Complaint deleting the § 1983, the court finds CMC’s motion to dismiss as to the § 1983 claim is MOOT. Because CMC neither intended to challenge Rose’s Title VII claim and did not address it in its brief, the court finds that CMC abandoned that claim and will DENY the motion to dismiss as to the Title VII claim. The court, however, will address CMC’s motion to dismiss as to the remaining invasion of privacy claim.

I. FACTS

On April 14, 2014, Rose filed an Amended Complaint in this action against CMC, alleging claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and under Alabama law for invasion of privacy, demanding appropriate declaratory relief, compensatory, and punitive damages. (Doc. 16).

According to the Amended Complaint, on or about February 22, 2012, Rose applied for a position with CMC. Curtis Hammond, an employee of CMC, informed Rose that, in light of her experience and education, he would be able to obtain a position for her with the company. Rose followed-up with Hammond several times regarding the status of her application.

Rose alleged that at some point around March 2012, Hammond began to send inappropriate sexual text messages to Rose and made inappropriate comments to her on the telephone, alluding to Rose’s hiring being conditioned upon her having sexual relations with Hammond. One of the text messages Hammond sent to Rose allegedly stated, “Need lovin u want that job.” After Rose refused to engage in sexual relations with Hammond, she was not hired by CMC.

Rose contends that, on or about May 21, 2012, she sent a letter to CMC detailing [1320]*1320the alleged sexual harassment that Hammond committed. Rose claims that after receiving this notice of the alleged sexual harassment, CMC refused to give her a second interview or to hire her.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss attacks the legal sufficiency of the complaint. Generally, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require only that the complaint provide “‘a short and plain statement of the claim’ that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiffs claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)). A plaintiff must provide the grounds of her entitlement, but Rule 8 generally does not require “detailed factual allegations.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Conley, 355 U.S. at 47, 78 S.Ct. 99). It does, however, “demand[ ] more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Pleadings that contain nothing more than “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action” do not meet Rule 8 standards nor do pleadings suffice that are based merely upon “labels or conclusions” or “naked assertions” without supporting factual allegations. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

The Supreme Court explained that “[t]o survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting and explaining its decision in Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). To be plausible on its face, the claim must contain enough facts that “allow[] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Although “[t]he plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ ” the complaint must demonstrate “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. “Where a complaint pleads facts that are merely consistent with a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

The Supreme Court has recently identified “two working principles” for the district court to use in applying the facial plausibility standard. The first principle is that, in evaluating motions to dismiss, the court must assume the veracity of well-pleaded factual allegations; however, the court does not have to accept as true legal conclusions even when “couched as [ ] factual allegation^]” or “threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. The second principle is that “only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Thus, under prong one, the court determines the factual allegations that are well-pleaded and assumes their veracity, and then proceeds, under prong two, to determine the claim’s plausibility given the well-pleaded facts. That task is “context-specific” and, to survive the motion, the allegations must permit the court based on its “judicial experience and common sense ... to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct.” Id. If the court determines that well-pleaded facts, accepted as true, do not state a claim that is plausible, the claim must be dismissed. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
18 F. Supp. 3d 1317, 2014 WL 1765140, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60498, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rose-v-smi-steel-llc-alnd-2014.