T.W. v. Hanover County Public Schools

900 F. Supp. 2d 659, 2012 WL 4507932, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140982
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedSeptember 28, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 3:12CV300
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 900 F. Supp. 2d 659 (T.W. v. Hanover County Public Schools) 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
T.W. v. Hanover County Public Schools, 900 F. Supp. 2d 659, 2012 WL 4507932, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140982 (E.D. Va. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HENRY E. HUDSON, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss filed by Hanover County (“Hanover MTD”) (ECF No. 25), Randolph Macon College (“RMC MTD”) (ECF No. 28), and Michael J. As-true (“Astrue MTD”) (ECF No. 37) (“Motions”). This action was brought by pro se Plaintiffs T.W. (Turfona Womack), A.J. (Aleiah Joyner), and M.J. (“Melody Joyner” or “Ms. Joyner”) (collectively “Plaintiffs”) against a multitude of defendants to recover damages, for alleged violations of a [661]*661variety of federal statutes. Ms. Joyner, as an interested party and Ms. Womack’s mother, filed all pleadings in the case, which include three incomprehensible complaints, dozens of motions, and hundreds of pages of incorrectly filed documents.

Defendants from Hanover County (“Hanover Defendants”), Randolph Macon College (“RMC Defendants”), and Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, moved to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint with prejudice under Rules 8(a), 12(b)(1), (5), and (6), and 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff filed an untimely response,1 which failed to respond to the grounds for dismissal raised by Defendants. Pis.’ Resp., ECF No. 41. The parties have not requested a hearing on this matter, and the Court finds that oral argument is unnecessary. See E.D. Va. Loe. Civ. R. 7(J). For the reasons set forth herein, Defendants’ motions to dismiss are GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

This case involves a procedural history important to the disposition of the defendants’ motions to dismiss. On April 19, 2012, suit was filed in this Court by Interested Party Melody Joyner, pro se, purportedly on behalf of her daughter Turfona Womack (“TW”).2 Compl. I,3 ECF No. 1. Ms. Joyner paid the filing fee necessary to initiate the suit. The filing listed Hanover County Public Schools, Randolph Macon College (“RMC”), and others as defendants, while indicating that other defendants were “to be determined.” Compl. at 1. Plaintiff also noted the current case is related to ten prior cases filed against similar defendants that were consolidated and dismissed by this Court on December 20, 2011. Compl. 1; Womack v. Hanover County Public Schools, 3:11cv769 (E.D.Va. Dec. 20, 2011).

The original complaint was largely incoherent and did not comply with Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requiring a short and plain statement of why the pleader is entitled to relief. Over the two weeks following the filing of the initial complaint, Ms. Joyner filed an amended complaint and numerous motions and addenda to her complaint. Many of these filing were made by fax, though Ms. Joyner was aware the Court does not accept filings via fax. See ECF No. 13 (May 11, 2012) [hereinafter May Order]. The later filings were similarly inscrutable and noncompliant with the Federal Rules’ requirements for filing and pleading.

On May 11, 2012, the Court issued an Order (“May Order”) responding to numerous motions and directing Plaintiff to file a second amended complaint within twenty days. Id. at 4. The Court further advised her to consolidate the pleadings into one document, provided specific instructions for how the complaint should be formatted, and explained the requirement that she lay out facts she believed sup[662]*662ported her claims for relief. Id. The Court further stated that it “looks unfavorably on the continuous disregard for, and failure to follow the Court’s instructions and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Id. at 5-6. The Court concluded by warning Plaintiff that “such conduct will result in adverse consequences.” Id. at 6.

Plaintiff did not file a second amended complaint in response to the May Order. Instead, she subsequently “faxed over 200 pages, and mailed over 60 pages, of documents to the Court ... none of which amounted to a legally cognizable claim.” See ECF No. 16 (June 26, 2012) [hereinafter June Order]. Out of an abundance of caution, the Court issued another order (“June Order”) containing a final warning the case would be dismissed if Plaintiff did not file a second amended complaint in compliance with the May Order within fourteen days. Id. at 1-2. In response, Plaintiff filed a sixty-two page document entitled “Addendum to Pleadings and Pleadings of Special Matters” on July 2, 2012. Second Am. Compl., ECF No. 16. Though the pleading did not comply with the requirements of the May Order, the Court construed this filing as the Second Amended Complaint and issued summonses to approximately fifty identifiable defendants.4

The Second Amended Complaint is nearly as impenetrable as the prior two complaints. As far as the Court can decipher, the complaint seeks relief for the alleged conduct of schools and governmental agencies, and their employees, in dealing with Ms. Womack, who is disabled. Second Am. Compl. at 4. Her disabilities are apparently linked to paralysis she suffered during childhood. Id. at 48. Ms. Womack attended Hanover County Public Schools and later Randolph Macon College for a period of time. Id. Though the legal claims are not specifically laid out, it appears Plaintiff seeks relief for claims involving the IDEA, ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 504”), and Social Security.5 The remainder of the complaint appears to allege personal harms committed by various people and entities, including the Clerk of this Court, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and numerous others. The complaint makes a multitude of demands, including $10 million from each defendant for each plaintiff, back payments from social security, for Randolph Macon College to readmit Ms. Womack, and a “life time job of choice [and] PHD from VCU” for Ms. Joyner. Id. at 51-52.

Since filing the Second Amended Complaint, Ms. Joyner has filed numerous motions and filed hundreds of pages of documents that she calls “addendums,” including a 123-page document providing a list of over 40 defendants (some differing from those included in the Second Amended Complaint), and consisting of largely the same substance as the Second Amended Complaint, and a 29-page document including yet another list of over 50 defendants and 20 “motions.” Hanover Defendants, RMC Defendants, and Mi[663]*663chael J. Astrue, moved to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint pursuant to Rules 8, 12(b)(1), (5)6 and (6), and 41(b). Each issue is discussed below.

II. DISCUSSION

A court must construe the pleadings of a pro se plaintiff liberally, see Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007), especially when the plaintiff alleges civil rights violations. Brown v. N.C. Dep’t of Corrections, 612 F.3d 720, 724 (4th Cir.2010); see also Gordon v. Leeke,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
900 F. Supp. 2d 659, 2012 WL 4507932, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140982, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tw-v-hanover-county-public-schools-vaed-2012.