Twum-Baah v. U.S. Dep't of Agric.

299 F. Supp. 3d 369
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedMarch 12, 2018
DocketCIVIL 16–2485CCC
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 3d 369 (Twum-Baah v. U.S. Dep't of Agric.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Twum-Baah v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 299 F. Supp. 3d 369 (usdistct 2018).

Opinion

CARMEN CONSUELO CEREZO, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Yaw Twum-Baah ("Twum-Baah"), appearing pro se , filed this action against the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") and United States Forest Service officers Aymat Verdejo, Derek Ortiz, and Christina Henderson in their official capacity (together with the USDA, the "Federal defendants") after numerous skirmishes with them at El Yunque National Forest ("El Yunque"). Before the Court is the Federal Defendants' Memorandum of Law in Support of their Motion to Dismiss (d.e. 13 ) filed on May 19, 2017, arguing plaintiff's claims should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failing to state a claim, and Twum-Baah's Opposition Memorandum to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (d.e. 18) filed on August 4, 2017. For the reasons set forth below, the Federal defendants' motion is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

Twum-Baah is a representative of the Waroyal Ministry who took his congregation to El Yunque as part of their worship. Together with his wife Selene Cardenas, he also started the tourism company Yotumba Tours, which offered guided tours in El Yunque.

In his amended complaint, Twum-Baah alleges that the Federal defendants conspired with the Tourism Company of Puerto Rico to persecute him for assembling his congregation to worship within El Yunque and/or provide tours in his capacity as a guide for Yotumba Tours. As part of this supposed conspiracy, Twum-Baah lists confrontations he had with the aforementioned USDA officials from April 2015 to April 2016. Although Twum-Baah asserts that the Federal defendants initiated these encounters without probable cause, the Federal defendants issued violation notices against him for infringing certain National Forest System regulations listed in 36 C.F.R. 261.10.

The Federal defendants understood that plaintiff used the premise of El Yunque without obtaining a special use authorization as required under 36 C.F.R. §§ 251.50(a), 261.10(k). Aggrieved by what he considered to be a governmental campaign against him, Twum-Baah filed an administrative complaint of discrimination with the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights on February 28, *3722016. Twum-Baah went through great lengths to provide detailed accounts of his encounters with the Federal defendants, but the Office dismissed his complaint because Twum-Baah concurrently filed identical claims in previous suits before this Court. Believing he had exhausted his administrative remedies, Twum-Baah commenced the instant suit on August 15, 2016 for alleged violations of his constitutional rights under the 1st Amendment and for claims sounding in tort. On May 19, 2017, the Federal defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the United States has not waived its immunity for 1st Amendment claims, that Twum-Baah has not fulfilled the administrative requirements to bring some of his tort claims under the FTCA, that the statute of limitations had run on others, and that he had failed to state a claim for harassment.

Twum-Baah filed a Motion to Amend his Complaint (d.e. 19 ) on August 4, 2017, which is GRANTED, the tendered amended complaint is authorized. It elaborates on the formation of the alleged governmental conspiracy, clarifies his claims are mostly based in tort, expounds on the damages he suffered, and arguably adds a claim of racial or ethnic discrimination. Since the amended complaint was filed three months after the motion to dismiss, the Federal defendants did not address the last of these potential claims. But because the rest of the claims in the amended complaint are identical to those asserted in the original complaint, the Court has considered the Federal defendants' arguments for dismissal in its analysis.

RELEVANT LEGAL STANDARDS

I. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6)

A motion to dismiss is used to evaluate the legal sufficiency of the plaintiff's complaint, not to test the merits of the underlying claims. When considering a motion to dismiss, the Court "must construe the complaint liberally, treating all well-pleaded facts as true and indulging all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Aversa v. United States , 99 F.3d 1200, 1210 (1st Cir. 1996). Given that Twum-Baah is a pro se litigant, the Court construes his pleadings more liberally and holds him to a less stringent standard than would apply to the average lawyer. See Velez-Villaran v. Carico Int'l, Inc. , 715 F.Supp.2d 250, 252 (D.P.R. 2010).

"A defendant may, in response to an initial pleading, file a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction over subject matter and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), respectively." Fernandez Molinary v. Industrias La Famosa, Inc. , 203 F.Supp.2d 111, 113-14 (D.P.R. 2002). "When faced with motions to dismiss under both 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), a district court, absent good reason to do otherwise, should ordinarily decide the 12(b)(1) motion first." Rosario-Gonzalez v. Seguros Multiples , No. CIV. 13-1079 JAF, 2013 WL 4045740, at *1 (D.P.R. Aug. 7, 2013), aff'd (June 11, 2014) (citing Northeast Erectors Ass'n of BTEA v. Secretary of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Admin. , 62 F.3d 37 (1st Cir. 1995) ). "It is not simply formalistic to decide the jurisdictional issue when the case would be dismissed in any event for failure to state a claim. Different consequences flow from dismissals under 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6): for example, dismissal under the former, not being on the merits, is without res judicata effect." Id. (citing Northeast Erectors , 62 F.3d at 39 ).

"If the Court determines that subject matter jurisdiction does not exist it must dismiss the case and not make any determination on the merits of the case." Fernandez Molinary ,

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Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 3d 369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twum-baah-v-us-dept-of-agric-usdistct-2018.