Garnett v. Zeilinger, Case No. 17-cv-1757 (CRC)

• Citation: 323 F.Supp.3d 58
• Decision Date: 23 August 2018
• Docket Number: Case No. 17-cv-1757 (CRC)
• Parties: Shonice G. GARNETT et al., Plaintiffs, v. Laura ZEILINGER, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

323 F.Supp.3d 58

Shonice G. GARNETT et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Laura ZEILINGER, Defendant.

Case No. 17-cv-1757 (CRC)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed August 23, 2018

Chinh Q. Le, Chelsea C. Sharon, Jennifer F. Mezey, Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, Kaitlin Welborn, Peter R. Bisio, Susan Musser, Emily Goldman, Lance Murashige, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, DC, Marc Cohan, Travis England, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.

Conrad Z. Risher, Fernando Amarillas, Jessica N. Krupke, Amanda J. Montee, Esther Yong McGraw, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER, United States District Judge

Last year, a group of District of Columbia residents filed suit against Laura Zeilinger, director of the department that administers the District's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("SNAP"). They alleged that the District's administration of the program fails to adhere to statutory, regulatory, and constitutional requirements. Specifically, plaintiffs contend that the District (1) failed to process their SNAP benefit applications in a timely manner; (2) failed to send timely notices that their eligibility to receive benefits needed to be recertified; and (3) failed to provide any notice of benefit processing delays and the right to a hearing. The Court stayed the District's obligation to respond to the complaint pending resolution of the plaintiffs' motions on class certification and a preliminary injunction. Now that those motions have been resolved, the District has moved to dismiss the amended complaint. The Court will grant the motion in part and deny it in part, dismissing the third claim but keeping the remaining two.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The Court addressed the relevant factual and legal background at length in its prior opinions. See Garnett v. Zeilinger ("Garnett II"), 313 F.Supp.3d 147, 150–54 (D.D.C. 2018) (preliminary injunction opinion); Garnett v. Zeilinger ("Garnett I"), 301 F.Supp.3d 199, 203–04 (D.D.C. 2018) (class certification order). It will therefore provide only an abbreviated background here.

The SNAP program provides benefits to low-income households to help them purchase food. States that elect to participate in the program receive funding for benefits and 50% of administration costs from the federal government. 7 U.S.C. §§ 2013(a), 2025. In return, States must administer their programs in accordance with federal statutory and regulatory requirements. See 7 U.S.C. § 2020(e), 7 C.F.R. § 273.2 As relevant here, States must process applications for benefits—both initial applications and applications submitted to recertify eligibility, known as "recertification applications"—within specific timelines. 7 U.S.C. § 2020(e)(3), (9). They also must issue notices informing recipients of the need to recertify eligibility for benefits (known as "recertification notices") so as to allow recertification without a break in benefits. Id. § 2020(e)(4).

In August 2017, a group of District residents brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Laura Zeilinger alleging that the District was failing to administer its SNAP program in accordance with federal requirements by (1) not processing applications for benefits within the statutorily-mandated timeframes, (2) not timely issuing recertification notices prior to the expiration of benefits as required by statute, and (3) not providing notice of delays in processing applications and of the right to a hearing. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 171–73¹ They sought injunctive and declaratory relief to remedy these systemic violations. Id. at 31–32.

Contemporaneous with the complaint, plaintiffs filed a motion to certify two classes. See Garnett I, 301 F.Supp.3d at 204. Shortly thereafter, they moved for a preliminary injunction. See Garnett II, 313 F.Supp.3d at 154–55. The Court stayed the District's response to the complaint pending the resolution of the two motions. See Minute Order (Sept. 15, 2017). Following a status conference, a period of limited expedited discovery, a hearing on both motions, and additional rounds of briefing, the Court granted the motion for class certification on March 28, 2018 and partially granted the motion for a preliminary injunction on May 31, 2018. See Garnett I, 301 F.Supp.3d at 211–12 (certifying three classes); Garnett II, 313 F.Supp.3d at 150–51 (granting preliminary injunction). The Court entered the preliminary injunction simultaneously with this ruling. See Preliminary Injunction Order (Aug. 23, 2018).

In its May 31 ruling on the preliminary injunction request, the Court directed the District to respond to the complaint by July 2018. The District filed this motion to dismiss, which is now ripe for review.

II. Legal Standards

The District has moved to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). In addressing such a motion, "[t]he court assumes the truth of all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint and construes reasonable inferences from those allegations in the plaintiff's favor, but is not required to accept the plaintiff's legal conclusions as correct." Sissel v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 760 F.3d 1, 4 (D.C. Cir. 2014) ( Rule 12(b)(6) ); see also Jerome Stevens Pharm., Inc. v. FDA, 402 F.3d 1249, 1253 (D.C. Cir. 2005) ( Rule 12(b)(1) ). For a motion under Rule 12(b)(1), the Court may consider materials outside the pleadings. Jerome Stevens Pharma., 402 F.3d at 1253. In contrast, for a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court may consider only the facts in the complaint, documents attached to or incorporated into the complaint, or matters of which the Court may take judicial notice. See, e.g., EEOC v. St. Francis Xavier Parochial School, 117 F.3d 621, 624 (D.C. Cir. 1997).

III. Analysis

The District moves to dismiss each of the plaintiffs' three claims on the same three grounds: that the plaintiffs lack standing, that they have no cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and that, even if they met those threshold requirements, they have not stated a valid claim. The Court takes those arguments in turn.

A. Whether plaintiffs have standing

In challenging the plaintiffs' standing on all three claims, the District advances the same basic argument: that the individual plaintiffs have not shown (1) an ongoing injury that is (2) traceable to the challenged conduct. As to ongoing injury, the District notes that the named plaintiffs' specific complaints about their SNAP benefits have been resolved and all are now receiving the benefits they are legally due. Def.'s Mem. P. & A. Supp. Mot. Dismiss ("Def.'s MTD") at 11–12. As to traceability, the District argues that the named plaintiffs' delays were caused by idiosyncratic problems, not the District's challenged conduct. Def.'s Reply at 2–4. The plaintiffs respond that the District's arguments go to mootness, not standing, and that exceptions to mootness—primarily voluntary cessation, see Pls.' Opp'n Def.'s Mot. Dismiss ("Pls.' Opp'n) at 11–13, but also the inherently transitory exception, id. at 13 n.5—apply.

In fact, both issues are in play here: The District's argument that any injuries the plaintiffs suffered are not traceable to the challenged conduct goes to the plaintiffs' standing . "[S]tanding is assessed by considering the facts at the time the complaint was filed." Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. Export-Import Bank of the U.S., 85 F.Supp.3d 250, 260 (D.D.C. 2015). To establish standing, a plaintiff has the burden of showing that she "(1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision." Id. (citation omitted). Where a plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, the plaintiff must show either an ongoing injury or a future injury. See, e.g., Arpaio v. Obama, 797 F.3d 11, 19 (D.C. Cir. 2015). A future injury is sufficient to sustain standing only "if the threatened injury is certainly impending or there is a substantial risk that the harm will occur." Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 2334, 2341, 189 L.Ed.2d 246 (2014).

On the other hand, the District's contention that the named plaintiffs cannot invoke federal-court jurisdiction because they are now receiving benefits is really about mootness . Just as Article III requires that plaintiffs have standing when they initiate a lawsuit, they must retain a justiciable controversy throughout the litigation. See, e.g., Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 663, 669, 193 L.Ed.2d 571 (2016). If not, "the case must be dismissed as moot." McBryde v. Comm. to Review Circuit Council Conduct & Disability Orders of the Judicial Conference of U.S., 264 F.3d 52, 55 (D.C. Cir. 2001). But there are exceptions to this general rule: for instance, a case need not be dismissed when the case becomes moot due to the defendant's voluntary cessation of the challenged conduct. See, e.g., Nat'l Black Police Ass'n v. District of Columbia, 108 F.3d 346, 349 (D.C. Cir. 1997).

For each claim, then, the Court will start with whether the plaintiffs had standing at the initiation of the suit and will then address, as necessary, whether their current receipt of SNAP benefits moots the case and requires dismissal. Because these issues arise on a motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs need only "state a plausible claim" that the requirements of standing are met. Food & Water Watch, Inc. v. Vilsack, 808 F.3d 905, 913 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). In so determining, the Court "accept[s] the well-pleaded factual allegations" in the complaint "as true and draw[s] all reasonable inferences from those allegations in the plaintiff's favor." Arpaio v. Obama, 797 F.3d 11, 19 (D.C. Cir. 2015). The Court does not, however, "assume the truth of legal conclusions" nor will it "accept inferences that are unsupported by the facts set out in the complaint." Id. (citation omitted)....