Williams v. Recovery School District

859 F. Supp. 2d 824, 2012 WL 893421, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34796
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedMarch 15, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 11-1588
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 859 F. Supp. 2d 824 (Williams v. Recovery School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Recovery School District, 859 F. Supp. 2d 824, 2012 WL 893421, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34796 (E.D. La. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER AND REASONS

SARAH S. VANCE, District Judge.

Defendant Recovery School District moves to dismiss plaintiff Joe E. Williams’s complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).1 For the following reasons, the Court DISMISSES Williams’s complaint in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

In August 2006, defendant Recovery School District (“RSD”) hired plaintiff Joe E. Williams as a math teacher.2 Williams’s last assignment was at Clark High School. On October 2, 2009, Williams submitted a request for extended sick leave due to extreme discomfort caused by spinal stenosis. Williams contends that he gave RSD extensive medical records documenting his condition. During the time he was applying for the leave, Williams, a 63-year-old African American, alleges that ‘White representatives of the Defendant on several occasions [told him] that he should ‘retire.’ ”3 After approving Williams’s extended leave request for the period from October 5, 2009 through November 2, 2009, Williams alleges that he received a letter on November 17, 2009 informing him that “he had been discharged for excessive use of sick leave and job abandonment.”4 Williams contends that as a result of this treatment, he was denied equal employment opportunities on the basis of his race, age, and disability.5

Williams also alleges that RSD subjected him to various retaliatory acts. Williams had filed EEOC Charge No. 461-2008-02016 against RSD on July 28, 2008, alleging that RSD had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it refused to rehire Williams after he experienced a flare-up of spinal stenosis.6 Williams withdrew the charge when RSD rehired him. After RSD rehired him, Williams alleges that he was subjected to several retaliatory acts by RSD, including failing to inform him when the 2009-2010 school year started, telling Williams he should retire, and investigating Williams for abuse of sick leave, despite Williams’s documentation verifying his condition.7

Williams filed this action on July 6, 2011, after securing a Right to Sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). William alleges violations based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000, et seq., Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111-12117, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-34. Williams also requests a permanent injunction ordering RSD to cease engaging in discriminatory employment practices and to institute policies that provide equal [828]*828employment opportunities for qualified individuals.8 On October 10, 2011, RSD filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule 12(b)(6).9 RSD contends (1) that it is not a juridical entity capable of being sued; (2) that Williams fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; (3) that Williams’s earlier charge is too remote in time to support a retaliation claim; and (4) that Williams fails to state a claim for injunctive relief. Williams then filed an amended complaint, which added as defendants the Louisiana Department of Education (“LDOE”) and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (“BESE”).10 Williams also elaborated on his discrimination claims. RSD maintains that Williams’s amended complaint suffers the same defects as his original complaint and that the ADA and ADEA claims against LDOE and BESE are barred by the Eleventh Amendment.11

II. STANDARD

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must plead enough facts “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1960, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff pleads facts that allow the court to “draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 1949. A court must accept all well-pleaded facts as true and must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Lormand v. U.S. Unwired, Inc., 565 F.3d 228, 239 (5th Cir.2009); Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 196 (5th Cir.1996). But the Court is not bound to accept as true legal conclusions couched as factual allegations. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.

A legally sufficient complaint must establish more than a “sheer possibility” that plaintiffs claim is true. Id. It need not contain detailed factual allegations, but it must go beyond labels, legal conclusions, or formulaic recitations of the elements of a cause of action. Id. In other words, the face of the complaint must contain enough factual matter to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of each element of the plaintiffs claim. Lormand, 565 F.3d at 257. If there are insufficient factual allegations to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, or if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that there is an insuperable bar to relief, the claim must be dismissed. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955; Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 215, 127 S.Ct. 910, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007); Carbe v. Lappin, 492 F.3d 325, 328 n. 9 (5th Cir.2007).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Recovery School District

At the outset, defendants argue that RSD is not a juridical person capable of being sued. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(b) provides in relevant part:

The capacity of an individual, other than one acting in a representative capacity, to sue or be sued shall be determined by the law of the individual’s domicile ... In all other cases capacity to sue or be sued shall be determined by the law of the state in which the district court is held....

Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(b). This Court will look to Louisiana law in order to determine the suability of the Recovery School District. Article 24 of the Louisiana Civil Code pro[829]*829vides in relevant part: “A juridical person is an entity to which the law- attributes personality, such as a corporation or a partnership.” La. Civ.Code Ann.

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859 F. Supp. 2d 824, 2012 WL 893421, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-recovery-school-district-laed-2012.