Swanson v. Howard University

249 F. Supp. 3d 255, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56766
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided April 13, 2017·No. Civil Action No. 16-2343 (ABJ)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

AMY BERMAN JACKSON, United States District Judge

On August 10, 2016, plaintiff Ruthie Michelle Swanson, proceeding pro se, initiated an action against Howard University, Inc. (“Howard”) and Prudential Insurance Company of America (“Prudential”) in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Swanson I, Def. Prudential’s Notice of Removal [No. 1:16-cv-01863, Dkt. # 1] (“Swanson I Notice”) ¶ 1; Ex. to Swanson I Notice [Dkt. # 1-1] (“Swanson I Compl.”) at 4. After defendant removed the lawsuit to this Court, plaintiff moved to remand it twice. See Swanson I, Mot. to Remand [Dkt. #8]; id., Second Mot. to Remand [Dkt. # 12]. Plaintiffs motions were denied because the case involved claims arising under federal law and was therefore properly before the Court, Swanson I, Order Denying Mot. to Remand [Dkt. # 11]; id., Min. Order Denying Mot. to Remand (Oct. 5, 2016), and eventually the case was dismissed. Id., Order [Dkt. # 13].

On October 3, 2016, plaintiff filed another lawsuit against Howard, alleging that it “illegally remanded [her] case from the Superior Court to the U.S. District Court” in an effort to “delay [her] court date.” Notice of Removal [No. 1:16-cv-02343, Dkt. # 2] (“Def.’s Notice”) ¶ 1; Ex. A to Def.’s Notice [Dkt. # 2-1] (“Compl.”).1 Defendant removed the second case to this Court on diversity grounds under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) on December 16, 2016. Def.’s Notice ¶¶ 1-4, 8.2

Now, defendant has moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that the complaint merely seeks to “challenge, yet again, the removal of earlier litigation,” an “issue that has already been heard twice, and denied by this Court,” and that the complaint is “simply indiscernible” and fails to state a claim. Def. Howard’s Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt. #8] (“Def.’s Mot.”); Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Def.’s Mot. [Dkt. # 8] (“Def.’s Mem.”) at 5-6. Plaintiff opposed the motion on February 1, 2017. Opp. to Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt. # 10] (“Pl.’s Opp.”).

Because plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the Court will grant defendant’s motion to dismiss.

[257]*257STANDARD OF REVIEW

“To survive a [Rule 12(b)(6)] 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.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted); accord Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). In Iqbal, the Supreme Court reiterated the two principles underlying its decision in Twombly: “First, the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.” 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. And “[sjecond, only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

A claim is facially plausible when the pleaded factual content “allows 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. “The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. A pleading must offer more than “labels and conclusions” or a “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action,” id., quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, and “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id.

When considering a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court is bound to construe a complaint liberally in the plaintiffs favor, and it should grant the plaintiff “the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged.” Kowal v. MCI Commc’ns Corp., 16 F.3d 1271, 1276 (D.C. Cir. 1994). Nevertheless, the Court need not accept inferences drawn by the plaintiff if those inferences are unsupported by facts alleged in the complaint, nor must the Court accept plaintiffs legal conclusions. See id.; see also Browning v. Clinton, 292 F.3d 235, 242 (D.C. Cir. 2002).

Where the action is brought by a pro se plaintiff, a district court has an obligation “to consider his filings as a whole before dismissing a complaint,” Schnitzler v. United States, 761 F.3d 33, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2014), citing Richardson v. United States, 193 F.3d 545, 548 (D.C. Cir. 1999), because such complaints are held “to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Haines, 404 U.S. at 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594.

ANALYSIS

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). This pleading standard “demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Here, plaintiffs complaint reads as follows:

Howard University illegally remanded my case from the Superior Court to the U.S. District Court illegally. Howard University is trying to delay my court date which is Nov. 15, 2016. I had to leave my home in Atlanta, GA, and travel 14 hrs. back to D.C to arrange my case be put back to the Superior Ct.

Compl.

Athough the Court is mindful that complaints filed by pro se litigants must be held to less stringent standards than those applied to formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, see Haines, 404 U.S. at 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, plaintiff does not identify any legal basis for her complaint. See Compl. Thus, [258]*258plaintiffs complaint lacks the necessary “statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2).

Even if one generously assumes that it was plaintiffs intent to allege some sort of abuse of process claim, see Def.’s Notice ¶ 5; Pl.'s Opp. at 2, she has also failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

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

Swanson v. Howard University, 249 F. Supp. 3d 255, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56766 (D.D.C. 2017).

249 F. Supp. 3d 255 (Swanson v. Howard University) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Whaleco Inc. v. Shein Technology LLC
District of Columbia, 2025
Swanson v. Howard University
249 F. Supp. 3d 259 (District of Columbia, 2017)