Davenport v. Maryland

• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland
• Writing for the Court: GEORGE L. RUSSELL, III, District Judge.
• Citation: Davenport v. Maryland, 38 F.Supp.3d 679 (D. Md. 2014)
• Decision Date: 06 August 2014
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. GLR–13–1249.
• Parties: Laurie DAVENPORT, Plaintiffs, v. State of MARYLAND, et al., Defendants.

38 F.Supp.3d 679

Laurie DAVENPORT, Plaintiffs

v.State of MARYLAND, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. GLR–13–1249.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

Signed Aug. 6, 2014.

Cary Johnson Hansel, III, Joseph Greenwald and Laake PA, Greenbelt, MD, for Plaintiffs.

Lisa O. Mara Arnquist, Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, Michael O. Connor Doyle, State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Pikesville, MD John Leo Walter, Law Offices of John Leo Walter LLC, Centreville, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GEORGE L. RUSSELL, III, District Judge.

This employment discrimination action is before the Court on Defendants State of Maryland (“State”), Sergeant Bruce Sutton, Captain Robert MacKenzie, Margaret Chippendale, and William Filbert's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff Laurie Davenport's Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 37). Also before the Court is Defendant William Blackiston's Motion to Dismiss¹ Amended Complaint. (ECF No. 38).² Davenport, a former employee of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (“DPSCS”), alleges the State committed numerous unlawful employment practices in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. (2012) and Maryland's Fair Employment Practices Act (“FEPA”), as amended, Md.Code. Ann., State Gov't §§ 20–601 et seq. (West 2014). She also alleges Defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) (2012)³ by conspiring to deprive her of equal protection of the law and committed numerous torts.

The Court, having reviewed the pleadings and supporting documents, finds no hearing necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D.Md. 2014). For the reasons outlined below, the Court will grant in part and deny in part Defendants' Motion.

I. BACKGROUND⁴

On or about June 30, 2006, Davenport began working for the DPSCS as a corrections officer at the Eastern Pre–Release Unit (“EPRU”) in Church Hill, Maryland. EPRU is a “pre-release” facility that houses inmates who are in the last three years of their sentences.

Blackiston was the facility administrator at EPRU and he served as Davenport's second-line supervisor. Hancock and Sutton were corrections officers at EPRU and they served as Davenport's direct supervisors. Blackiston directly supervised Sutton, Hancock, and MacKenzie. Chippendale served as Assistant Warden and Filbert served as Warden.

Davenport interacted with Blackiston, Hancock, and Sutton on a daily basis. Hancock and Sutton would give Davenport daily orders regarding her duties and responsibilities. Although her duties varied, she frequently performed searches of inmates and their lockers, cleaned the facility, and transported inmates to other facilities.

Davenport alleges Blackiston, Sutton, and Hancock made demeaning, threatening, and sexually suggestive comments to her during her employment at EPRU. She further alleges Hancock pulled her hair on several occasions while making sexually suggestive comments.

Exasperated by the conduct of Blackiston, Sutton, and Hancock, Davenport submitted a request to MacKenzie to work as part of the Road Crew.⁵ This assignment would require minimum interaction with Blackiston, Sutton, and Hancock. MacKenzie, however, denied this request and instead gave the position to a male officer who had less years of experience at the facility than Davenport.

At some point during her employment at EPRU, Davenport applied for a promotion to the rank of sergeant.⁶ When she advised Blackiston of her intent to apply, he told her, “don't bother, you're not ready.” Despite Blackiston's discouraging comments, Davenport applied. She alleges that despite being more qualified and having tested higher than all the other officers who applied for the position, she did not obtain an interview. When Davenport met with Blackiston to ask him why she did not obtain an interview, he said, “I told you, you weren't ready.”

On September 30, 2010, Blackiston sexually assaulted Davenport on the premises of EPRU. On that date, Davenport was working in the control room when another corrections officer asked that she process Blackiston through security. After walking through the scanner, Blackiston pushed Davenport against a table and grabbed her groin. Davenport immediately screamed and attempted to push Blackiston away. Due to Blackiston's large size, however, she was unable to free herself from his grasp. Blackiston groped her groin for approximately twelve seconds.

In October 2010, Davenport filed a formal complaint of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Division of the DPSCS. Along with the complaint, Davenport submitted a letter that detailed her interactions with Blackiston, Sutton, and Hancock. (Pl.'s Opp'n Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss [“Opp'n”] Ex. 1, ECF No. 45–2). On November 4, 2010, Blackiston was transferred out of EPRU. On that same date, Davenport alleges gunshots were fired at or near her residence.

On December 20, 2010, Davenport filed a formal Charge of Discrimination with the Baltimore field office of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Maryland Commission on Human Relations. (Opp'n Ex. 5, ECF No. 45–6). On January 4, 2011, Davenport returned to work at EPRU.⁷ When she attempted to clock-in, she discovered a threatening note on the back of her time card.

In October 2011, Blackiston pled guilty to two counts of second-degree assault of two female coworkers and was given a suspended sentence of one year by the Circuit Court of Queen Anne's County, Maryland. Blackiston entered an Alford plea, agreeing to a statement of facts that described his sexual assault of a contractual medical employee in May 2010. The statement also included an admission that on September 30, 2010, Blackiston pressed his body against Davenport and grabbed her groin.

On March 1, 2012, Davenport resigned from her position at EPRU. On January 29, 2013, she received a letter from the Baltimore EEOC dismissing her discrimination charge. (Opp'n Ex. 6, ECF No. 45–7).

Davenport filed the present action on April 26, 2013. (ECF No. 1). In her fifteen-count Amended Complaint, she alleges: battery (Count I); hostile work environment (Count II), quid pro quo sexual harassment (Count III), disparate treatment and disparate impact discrimination (Count IV), retaliation under Title VII (Count V); unlawful employment practices (Count VI); retaliation under FEPA (Count VII); conspiracy to deprive her of equal protection of the law (Count VIII); wrongful discharge (Count IX); gross negligence (Count X); general negligence (Count XI); intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count XII); civil conspiracy (Count XIII); negligent hiring and retention (Count XIV); and negligent training and supervision (Count XV). Davenport sues all individually named Defendants in their individual and official capacities. She seeks $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $2,000,000 in punitive damages.

The Defendants now move to dismiss each claim, with the exception of Count I, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and/or for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Davenport opposes the Motions with respect to Counts II–VII.⁸ (ECF Nos. 45 & 46).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

A motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). The plaintiff bears the burden of proving that subject matter jurisdiction properly exists in the federal court. See Evans v. B.F. Perkins Co., a Div. of Standex Int'l Corp., 166 F.3d 642, 647 (4th Cir.1999). In determining whether subject matter jurisdiction exists, the court may consider evidence outside the pleadings without converting the motion to one for summary judgment. Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. U.S., 945 F.2d 765, 768 (4th Cir.1991) (citing Adams v. Bain, 697 F.2d 1213, 1219 (4th Cir.1982) ). The court should grant a Rule 12(b)(1) motion “only if the material jurisdictional facts are not in dispute and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law.” Id. (citing Trentacosta v. Frontier Pac. Aircraft Indus., 813 F.2d 1553, 1558 (9th Cir.1987) ).

Conversely, a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is governed by Rule 12(b)(6). The purpose of Rule 12(b)(6) is to test the sufficiency of a complaint and not to resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses. Edwards v. City of Goldsboro,

178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir.1999) (quoting Republican Party v. Martin, 980 F.2d 943, 952 (4th Cir.1992) ).

To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the complaint must allege facts that, when accepted as true, “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) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ) (internal quotation marks omitted). A claim is plausible on its face when “the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). Legal conclusions or conclusory statements do not suffice and are not entitled to the assumption of truth. Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). Thus, the Court “must determine whether it is plausible that the factual allegations in the complaint are enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Monroe v. City of Charlottesville, 579 F.3d 380, 386 (4th Cir.2009) (quoting Andrew v. Clark, 561 F.3d 261, 266 (4th Cir.2009) ) (internal quotation marks omitted).

In determining whether to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the Court must examine the complaint as a whole, consider the factual allegations in the complaint as true, and construe the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Lambeth v. Bd. of Commis. of Davidson Cnty., 407 F.3d 266, 268 (4th...