Sosa v. Hiraoka

714 F. Supp. 1100, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16502, 49 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 565, 1988 WL 156709
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedNovember 9, 1988
DocketCV-F-87-461 REC
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 714 F. Supp. 1100 (Sosa v. Hiraoka) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sosa v. Hiraoka, 714 F. Supp. 1100, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16502, 49 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 565, 1988 WL 156709 (E.D. Cal. 1988).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER RE MOTION TO DISMISS/STRIKE

COYLE, District Judge.

On October 17, 1988, the court heard defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and/or Strike Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint. Upon due consideration of the written and oral arguments of the parties, the court now enters its order granting defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

Defendants move, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to dismiss plaintiff’s action on the grounds that as a matter of law the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. In addition defendants move, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to dismiss on the grounds that plaintiff’s first amended complaint fails to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted. Also, defendants move pursuant to Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to strike from the plaintiff’s complaint any impertinent or immaterial matter.

I. Background.

This case originated when on or about December 13, 1985, plaintiff filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against defendant State Center Community College District. This charge alleged that plaintiff had been discriminated against on the basis of national origin and gave one example of such discrimination, i.e., that plaintiff was not appointed Department Head of the Sociology/Human Services and Women’s Studies Department. On or about November 21, 1986, the EEOC issued its determination regarding plaintiff’s charge and on or about May 19, 1987, the EEOC issued a right to sue notice to plaintiff.

Plaintiff filed his original complaint with this court on August 17, 1987, alleging a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On March 18, 1988 defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint or alternatively for judgment on the pleadings, which was granted in part with leave to amend on May 19, 1988. On April 4, 1988 plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint, which motion was granted on July 27, 1988. On August 23, 1988 plaintiff filed and served by mail on defendants the first amended complaint. The amended complaint purports to allege an action for employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., in an action for denial of equal rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981.

IÍ. Applicable Standard of Review.

The court noted in its May 19, 1988 ruling that the parties had not addressed the procedural issue raised when the defendants submitted as an exhibit to their motion to dismiss a copy of the EEOC determination. Generally, when external matters are included with a Rule 12(b)(1) or (b)(6) motion to dismiss, the motion is then treated as a summary judgment motion. But according to Rosales v. U.S., 824 F.2d 799 (9th Cir.1987), cited by this court, it may “make a finding of fact necessary to rule on the subject matter jurisdiction question ... if the jurisdictional facts are not intertwined with the merits.”

The jurisdictional question is whether or not the court has jurisdiction over claims and defendants not named in plaintiff’s EEOC charge. In order to determine whether the “jurisdictional issue and substantive claims are so intertwined that resolution of the jurisdictional question is dependent on factual issues going to the merits,” the court need not review the contents *1103 of the charge, attached to both parties’ pleadings, which gives rise to a number of factual disputes. The court need only look to the EEOC determination, submitted by defendants as Exhibit B, in order to determine the issue of jurisdiction. The existence of the determination is alleged in the amended complaint. The jurisdictional facts found in the determination are sufficient to establish the scope of this action and therefore the subject matter jurisdiction of this court with respect to the Title VII action.

Although the Ninth Circuit has held that a federal court has jurisdiction over incidents not listed in an EEOC charge, if they are “like or reasonably related to the allegations of the EEOC charge,” Oubichon v. North American Rockwell Corp., 482 F.2d 569 (9th Cir.1973), or are within the “scope of the EEOC investigation which can reasonably be expected to grow out of the charge of discrimination,” Serpe v. Four-Phase Systems, Inc., 718 F.2d 935 (9th Cir.1983), the investigation and discussion of the record and determination set the boundaries of the actual investigation which grew out of the charge of discrimination. Defendants present these facts merely to obtain a ruling on the subject matter jurisdiction question. Determining the scope of the EEOC investigation which could reasonably have been expected to grow out of the plaintiff’s charge is not dependent on the factual issues going to the merits. A resolution of this jurisdictional issue, therefore, does not involve determining whether the incidents described in the determination actually established discrimination by defendants, but only to what extent they establish the scope of the civil action. Accordingly, the court may review the determination and make findings of fact with respect to it in this motion to dismiss.

Other courts have considered the actual EEOC determination or investigation in ruling on whether claims which were never the subject of any discussion or investigation by the EEOC or the parties could be addressed in the civil action. Ferguson v. Mobil Oil Corp., 443 F.Supp. 1334 (S.D.N.Y.1978); see also Grant v. Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, 548 F.Supp. 1189 (S.D.N.Y.1982). Therefore, the determination certainly is relevant. The court need not consider any evidence outside the pleadings to make findings of fact in ruling on which defendants and claims are properly included. Since there is no factual dispute to decide with respect to this issue, as will be set forth in Section III-B of this order, the court finds that resolution of this issue does not require that the motion to dismiss be converted into a summary judgment motion.

III. 42 U.S.C. Section 1981.

A. Eleventh Amendment Immunity.

In Stones v. Los Angeles Community College District, 572 F.Supp. 1072, 1078 (C.D.Cal.1983), affirmed,

Related

Garus v. Rose Acre Farms, Inc.
839 F. Supp. 563 (N.D. Indiana, 1993)
Sosa v. Hiraoka
920 F.2d 1451 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)
Maddox v. County of San Mateo
746 F. Supp. 947 (N.D. California, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
714 F. Supp. 1100, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16502, 49 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 565, 1988 WL 156709, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sosa-v-hiraoka-caed-1988.