Student "B" v. Howard Cnty. Cmty. Coll.

• Decision Date: 08 January 2021
• Docket Number: Civil No. SAG-20-1820
• Citation: 512 F.Supp.3d 610
• Parties: STUDENT "B", Plaintiff, v. HOWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

512 F.Supp.3d 610

STUDENT "B", Plaintiff,

v.HOWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Defendant.

Civil No. SAG-20-1820

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

Signed January 8, 2021

Edward Nelson Griffin, Adelphi LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff.

Eric Charles Brousaides, Carney Kelehan Bresler Bennett and Scherr LLP, Columbia, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Stephanie A. Gallagher, United States District Judge

Student "B" ("Plaintiff")¹ filed an Amended Complaint against Defendant Howard County Community College ("HCC"), alleging breach of contract, violations of the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution, and deprivation of rights under the Maryland Declaration of Rights, and seeking monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief for himself and similarly situated individuals. ECF 16. HCC filed a Motion to Dismiss all counts under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), ECF 20. Plaintiff filed an opposition, ECF 21, and HCC filed a reply, ECF 26. No hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the reasons that follow, HCC's motion to dismiss will be granted.

I. Factual Background

The following factual allegations are derived from the Amended Complaint and are assumed to be true for purposes of this motion. Plaintiff is a full-time student at HCC who was enrolled in in-person classes during the Spring 2020 semester. ECF 16 ¶¶ 3, 18, 21. Although HCC also offers online instruction, Plaintiff chose to attend in-person courses, in part, to take advantage of the advertised benefits of the on-campus experience, including interaction with faculty and other students and access to classrooms, labs, and recreational facilities. Id. ¶¶ 12–18. In December 2019, Plaintiff paid $1,280 in tuition and $327.35 in mandatory fees for the Spring 2020 semester. Id. ¶ 20. Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, HCC suspended classes and closed the campus on March 14, 2020. Id. ¶¶ 24, 26. Seven days of classes were cancelled and never rescheduled. Id. ¶ 25. Classes resumed remotely on March 30, 2020, but Plaintiff and other students were not permitted back on campus for the remainder of the semester. Id. ¶¶ 25, 27. Plaintiff contends HCC should have refunded students who paid tuition and fees for in-person classes but were subsequently barred from campus in March and forced to complete the semester online. Id. ¶ 28.

Plaintiff asserts HCC's failure to provide the promised in-person, on-campus educational experience amounts to a breach of contract and taking of private property without compensation, and seeks monetary damages and declaratory and injunctive relief for himself and similarly situated students. Id. at 11–25.

II. Legal Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits a defendant to test the legal sufficiency of a complaint by way of a motion to dismiss. In re Birmingham , 846 F.3d 88, 92 (4th Cir. 2017) ; Goines v. Valley Cmty. Servs. Bd. , 822 F.3d 159, 165-66 (4th Cir. 2016) ; McBurney v. Cuccinelli , 616 F.3d 393, 408 (4th Cir. 2010) (Agee, J., concurring); Edwards v. City of Goldsboro , 178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir. 1999). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion constitutes an assertion by a defendant that, even if the facts alleged by a plaintiff are true, the complaint fails as a matter of law "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." See In re Birmingham , 846 F.3d at 92.

Whether a complaint states a claim for relief is assessed by reference to the pleading requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2). That rule provides that 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). The purpose of the rule is to provide the defendants with "fair notice" of the claims and the "grounds" for entitlement to relief. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555–56, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

To survive a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain facts sufficient to "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ; see Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 684, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ("Our decision in Twombly expounded the pleading standard for ‘all civil actions’ ...."); see also Willner v. Dimon , 849 F.3d 93, 112 (4th Cir. 2017). But, a plaintiff need not include "detailed factual allegations" in order to satisfy Rule 8(a)(2). Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Moreover, federal pleading rules "do not countenance dismissal of a complaint for imperfect statement of the legal theory supporting the claim asserted." Johnson v. City of Shelby , 574 U.S. 10, 11, 135 S.Ct. 346, 190 L.Ed.2d 309 (2014) (per curiam).

Nevertheless, the rule demands more than bald accusations or mere speculation. Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ; see Painter's Mill Grille, LLC v. Brown , 716 F.3d 342, 350 (4th Cir. 2013). If a complaint provides no more than "labels and conclusions" or "a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action," it is insufficient. Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Rather, to satisfy the minimal requirements of Rule 8(a)(2), the complaint must set forth "enough factual matter (taken as true) to suggest" a cognizable cause of action, "even if ... [the] actual proof of those facts is improbable and ... recovery is very remote and unlikely." Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal quotation marks omitted).

In reviewing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a court "must accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint" and must "draw all reasonable inferences [from those facts] in favor of the plaintiff." E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Indus., Inc. , 637 F.3d 435, 440 (4th Cir. 2011) ; see Semenova v. Md. Transit Admin. , 845 F.3d 564, 567 (4th Cir. 2017) ; Houck v. Substitute Tr. Servs., Inc. , 791 F.3d 473, 484 (4th Cir. 2015) ; Kendall v. Balcerzak , 650 F.3d 515, 522 (4th Cir. 2011). But, a court is not required to accept legal conclusions drawn from the facts. See Papasan v. Allain , 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986). "A court decides whether [the pleading] standard is met by separating the legal conclusions from the factual allegations, assuming the truth of only the factual allegations, and then determining whether those allegations allow the court to reasonably infer" that the plaintiff is entitled to the legal remedy sought. A Soc'y Without a Name v. Virginia , 655 F.3d 342, 346 (4th Cir. 2011).

III. Analysis

HCC asserts that Plaintiff's breach of contract claims are barred by sovereign immunity and further argues Plaintiff's claims must otherwise be dismissed because he fails to plead a cause of action that is factually plausible and legally cognizable under Maryland law or the United States Constitution. This Court ultimately agrees with HCC and will dismiss Plaintiffs Amended Complaint.

A. Sovereign Immunity for Contract Claims

Plaintiff and HCC agree that HCC is a government entity that qualifies for the protection of sovereign immunity, but the parties dispute whether immunity has been waived. See, e.g. , ECF 16 ¶¶ 7, 10; ECF 20-1 at 5–6; ECF 21 at 5–6; see also Williams v. Bd. of Trs. of Frederick Cmty. Coll. , No. Civ.A CCB03CV2123, 2004 WL 45517, at *4 (D. Md. Jan. 8, 2004) ("[A] Maryland community college and its board of trustees are state agencies."). In Maryland, sovereign immunity is waived in contract actions where the agreement at issue is "a written contract that an official or employee executed for the State." Md. Code Ann. State Gov't. § 12-201. The Maryland Court of Appeals has interpreted this provision to mean that the contract in dispute must be both "reduced to writing" and "signed by a person expressly authorized to execute the contract." Stern v. Bd. of Regents, Univ. Sys. Md. , 380 Md. 691, 720–22, 846 A.2d 996 (2004) (noting that a statutory waiver of qualified immunity must be read in a "narrow light"). Indeed, "[l]etterhead, a school stamp or a school insignia on a document will not suffice to waive the defense of sovereign immunity under § 12-201(a)." Id. at 723, 846 A.2d 996.

Plaintiff's Amended Complaint alleges that Plaintiff and HCC "had an express contract that called for the Plaintiff to fully pay demanded In-Person Tuition in exchange for Defendant's provision of in-person, in-classroom education," ECF 16 ¶ 40, and further attests that the "contract agreement was executed by an official with authority to bind [HCC]." Id. ¶ 41. Plaintiff argues that these vague assertions should be credited as true and are enough for the court to infer that a written contract exists. Plaintiff offers no other factual assertions to identify the alleged written contract. For example, Plaintiff does not allege what state or county official signed the contract, when the contract was written or executed, or how the terms of the contract were communicated to Plaintiff. Indeed, it appears Plaintiff does not actually know whether a written contract exists but "believes that [he] will, after appropriate discovery [in] this matter, be able to introduce binding tuition agreements that include all of the elements of contracts." ECF 21 at 7; see also id. at 13 n.5 ("Plaintiff requires discovery to determine whether a contractual agreement conforming with Maryland Code, State Government, Section 12-101(a) [sic] exists...."). In short, Plaintiff's Amended Complaint amounts to mere speculation that a written contract to provide in-person classes was created and breached, which does not constitute a plausible claim for relief. See Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (explaining that the "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief about the speculative level").

Though it may be true that a plaintiff need not "cite precise contractual provisions in order to state a claim for breach of contract," Class Produce Grp. LLC v. Harleysville Worcester Ins. Co. , No. ELH-16-3431, 2018 WL 1471682, at...