Schultz v. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation

District Court, N.D. California·Decided March 10, 2023·No. 3:20-cv-04058·Unknown

Opinion

BRENDAN SCHULTZ, Case No. 20-cv-04058-MMC

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND v. DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION, Re: Dkt. No. 58 Defendant. Before the Court is defendant Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation’s (“Foundation”) “Motion,” filed January 9, 2023, “to Dismiss Fourth Amended Complaint” (“FAC”). On January 23, 2023, plaintiff Brendan Schultz (“Schultz”) filed his “Response to Defendant’s Notice of Motion and Motion to Dismiss Fourth Amended Complaint,” to which the Foundation has replied. Having read and considered the parties’ respective written submissions, the Court rules as follows.1 BACKGROUND2 The Foundation is a federal agency that administers the Harry S. Truman Scholarship (“Scholarship”) program. (See FAC ¶ 5.) Schultz, as a third-year undergraduate student, sought and received a nomination from his college to apply for the Scholarship. (See FAC ¶ 6.) In his application, Schultz stated he is “a proud member of the Jewish . . . communit[y],” and provided examples of his “leadership” and “public service” wherein his Jewish identity played a role. (See FAC, Ex. 8, at 4, 6.) In that 1 By order filed February 10, 2023, the Court took the matter under submission. regard, Schultz described an incident that took place on his college campus, specifically, at a meeting “to discuss a proposal to suspend a study-abroad program in Israel due to Israeli laws banning entry for boycott leaders.” (See FAC, Ex. 8, at 4.) In particular, Schultz wrote that after a professor gave a “speech compar[ing] the Israeli State to Nazi Germany,” Schultz “knew [his] community needed a voice for unity” and raised his hand to speak on the “moral obligation to educate students on the experiences of oppressed groups and the necessity to have a standard that be applied uniformly.” (See id.) Based on his application, Schultz “advanced to finalist status” and, on March 18, 2019, underwent a finalist interview by the San Francisco Regional Review Panel. (See FAC ¶ 6.) At the interview, Schultz alleges, one panelist asked him “demeaning and inappropriate questions,” including, “Do you think that Jews are oppressed?” and “Are Jews . . . oppressed as racial minorities in the United States?” (see FAC ¶¶ 7c, 7f) and that, upon Schultz’s expressing a desire to run for elected office, another panelist laughed at him (see FAC ¶¶ 7g-h). Additionally, Schultz alleges that the only other Jewish finalist was asked about “how the oppression of Jews in America compared to Black Americans,” and that Schultz and said finalist were the only ones who were questioned about their ethnic or religious identity. (See FAC ¶ 8.) When he did not receive a Scholarship from the Foundation, and believing he faced discrimination on the basis of his “ethnic identity,” Schultz, on April 23, 2019, sent an email to the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Foundation “to request information pertaining to the Foundation’s civil rights grievance process,” to which the Deputy Executive Secretary responded that she would begin an investigation into his interview experience. (See FAC ¶ 12.) Thereafter, on May 8, 2019, Schultz sent another email “to ask for the . . . Foundation’s civil rights grievance procedure that he never received,” to which the Deputy Executive Secretary responded with the results of her “initial inquiry,” specifically, that the panelists’ recollection of his interview and materials was “generally positive,” but that “[t]he threshold for being selected as a Scholar . . . is much higher than in-depth investigation. (See FAC ¶¶ 13-14.) Ultimately, on July 12, 2019, the Deputy Executive Secretary “admitted that she had been ‘negligent’ in handling the investigation process,” after which the “newly-appointed Executive Secretary” began a second investigation into Schultz’s interview. (See FAC ¶ 15.) On August 14, 2019, the Executive Secretary emailed Schultz her findings from the second investigation. Although she described Schultz as “well qualified” for the Scholarship and “admitted that some members of the panel posed questions with ‘irreverence,’” she concluded “others presented themselves in both writing and in person as better fits for our organization and its mission.” (See FAC ¶ 16.) Schultz responded with “criticisms regarding the lack of due process and impartiality of the . . . investigation,” after which the Executive Secretary replied that the investigation would be turned over to the Foundation’s “outside legal counsel.” (See FAC ¶ 18.) Thereafter, Schultz, “[u]nconfident regarding the sincerity of the [Foundation’s] investigative process,” contacted a number of federal agencies as well as his Congressional representative, none of which, according to Schultz, provided satisfactory assistance. (See FAC ¶¶ 19-20.) Subsequently, on May 1, 2020, the Foundation’s outside legal counsel sent Schultz an email in which he stated his conclusion that the Foundation’s “belief in, and practice of, nondiscrimination ma[de] it highly unlikely that [Schultz’s] unsatisfactory interview experience resulted from personal animus by the interviewers.” (See FAC ¶ 22.) Based on the above allegations, Schultz asserts two Claims for Relief: (1) “Violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment,” and (2) “[V]iolation of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq.” (See FAC at 17:19, 23:7-8.)3 3 By order filed November 10, 2022 (see Order Granting Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss Third Am. Compl., Dkt. No. 52) (“November 10, 2022, Order”), the Court granted the Foundation’s motion to dismiss Schultz’s Fifth Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) claims as asserted in his Third Amended Complaint, finding Schultz had failed to plead sufficient facts to establish standing, specifically, facts demonstrating the Court could grant him the requested relief in light of eligibility requirements in the By the instant motion, the Foundation seeks, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, an order dismissing both of Schultz’s claims, for failure to state a claim. Additionally, the Foundation seeks, at a minimum, an order again dismissing Schultz’s requests for monetary damages (see Order Dismissing in Part Second Am. Compl. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (“December 2, 2021, Order”), at 5-7, Dec. 2, 2021, Dkt. No. 22 (dismissing Schultz’s Fifth Amendment and APA claims to the extent he sought damages)), as well as an order striking his jury demand. Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “can be based on the lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). Rule 8(a)(2), however, “requires only ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.’” See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)). Consequently, “a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations.” See id. Nonetheless, “a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than . . . a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” See id. (intern

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

Schultz v. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, (N.D. Cal. 2023).

Schultz v. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation (Schultz v. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Buckley v. Valeo
424 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Heckler v. Chaney
470 U.S. 821 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs v. Sanders
556 U.S. 396 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Pinnacle Armor, Inc. v. United States
648 F.3d 708 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Nl Industries, Inc. v. Stuart M. Kaplan
792 F.2d 896 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Haynie v. Veneman
272 F. Supp. 2d 10 (District of Columbia, 2003)
ASSE International, Inc. v. Kerry
803 F.3d 1059 (Ninth Circuit, 2015)
Gilbert Hyatt v. Office of Mgt. and Budget
908 F.3d 1165 (Ninth Circuit, 2018)
Pedro Perez Perez v. Chad Wolf
943 F.3d 853 (Ninth Circuit, 2019)
Safari Club International v. Debra Haaland
31 F.4th 1157 (Ninth Circuit, 2022)
Spencer Enterprises, Inc. v. United States
345 F.3d 683 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)