Hollingsworth v. Duff, Civil Action No. 04-2209 (RMC).

• Decision Date: 02 August 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 04-2209 (RMC).
• Citation: 444 F.Supp.2d 61
• Parties: Sharon HOLLINGSWORTH, Plaintiff, v. James C. DUFF,<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

444 F.Supp.2d 61

Sharon HOLLINGSWORTH, Plaintiff, v. James C. DUFF,¹ Director, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 04-2209 (RMC).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

August 2, 2006.

Nicholas Woodfield, R. Scott Oswald, Employment Law Group, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

John C. Truong, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Civil Division, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLYER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Sharon Hollingsworth developed sick-building syndrome while working as a computer programmer in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building. During a period of declining health surrounding this diagnosis, her employer, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts ("AOUSC"), permitted her to work from home, but ultimately eliminated her position and terminated her, claiming that any alternative positions would require her presence in the Marshall Building, which her health precluded. Ms. Hollingsworth filed an administrative complaint with the AOUSC, claiming that she was discriminated against on the basis of her disability. That complaint was resolved against her in a Final Agency Decision issued on December 21, 2004.

Ms. Hollingsworth does not appeal the adverse decision. Instead, she sues James C. Duff, Director of the AOUSC, under the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 791 et seq. The AOUSC now moves to dismiss, asserting that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the AOUSC, as a judicial branch agency, is not within the purview of the Rehabilitation Act. The Court agrees and will grant the AOUSC's motion to dismiss.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Hollingsworth began working at the AOUSC as a Computer Programmer Analyst in January 1990. Compl. ¶ 7. In November 1992, shortly after the AOUSC moved to the Marshall Building, she began suffering from headaches and other environmental allergies, and was ultimately diagnosed with sick-building syndrome. Id. at ¶¶ 8-14, 17, 22. In mid-1994, after a period of deteriorating health, Ms. Hollingsworth stopped working in the Marshall Building, but continued to work from home under a Flexible Workplace Agreement. Id. at ¶¶ 18, 21. In early 1996, after the AOUSC claimed that it could not reassign her due to her health limitations, Ms. Hollingsworth filed her first administrative complaint; that charge was settled with an agreement that permitted Ms. Hollingsworth to work from home on a long-term basis. Id. at ¶¶ 25-26. In early 2000, in response to AOUSC management's repeated requests for further medical documentation, Ms. Hollingsworth filed a second administrative complaint, which was also settled. Id. at ¶ 34.

In November 2002, the AOUSC notified Ms. Hollingsworth that her position would be abolished. Id. at ¶ 35. Despite attempts to reassign Ms. Hollingsworth to another position in the AOUSC—efforts that Ms. Hollingsworth describes as inadequate—she was not accepted for employment in any other section, id. at ¶ 36-42, and, on April 10, 2003, she was terminated, Answer at ¶ 45. Ms. Hollingsworth then filed a third administrative complaint alleging disability discrimination. Def.'s Mot. Ex. A. In a Final Agency Decision issued on December 21, 2004, the AOUSC Director adopted the Administrative Judge's oral ruling that the AOUSC did not discriminate against Ms. Hollingsworth. Id.

That same day, Ms. Hollingsworth filed this action, which alleges a single count of discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Rehabilitation Act. The AOUSC's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, filed November 2, 2005, has been fully briefed and is now ripe for decision.

II. LEGAL STANDARDS

The AOUSC moves to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), which governs motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Generally, under Rule 12(b)(1), the Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the Court possesses jurisdiction. See Shekoyan v. Sibley Int'l Corp., 217 F.Supp.2d 59, 63 (D.D.C.2002); Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. U.S. Postal Serv., 27 F.Supp.2d 15, 19 (D.D.C.1998). It is well established that, in deciding a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, a court is not limited to the allegations set forth in the complaint, "but may also consider material outside of the pleadings in its effort to determine whether the court has jurisdiction in the case." Alliance for Democracy v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 362 F.Supp.2d 138, 142 (D.D.C.2005); see Lockamy v. Truesdale, 182 F.Supp.2d 26, 30-31 (D.D.C.2001).

III. DISCUSSION

Ms. Hollingsworth's claim stands or falls on the assertion that AOUSC employees, like herself, fall within the scope of the Rehabilitation Act. The parties agree, as does the Court, that the Rehabilitation Act does not, on its face, extend to judicial branch employees. Pl.'s Opp'n at 6-7; Def.'s Reply at 2. Ms. Hollingsworth instead argues that the Administrative Office of the United States Courts Personnel Act of 1990, Pub.L. 101-474, 104 Stat. 1097 (1990) ("AOUSC Personnel Act"), impliedly repealed and modified the Rehabilitation Act, extending its coverage to AOUSC employees. Pl.'s Opp'n at 6-7. She contends that because the AOUSC Personnel Act was intended to provide disability discrimination protections to AOUSC employees, and the Rehabilitation Act is the sole mechanism by which federal employees can pursue such claims in federal court, the AOUSC Personnel Act must have extended the protections of the Rehabilitation Act to AOUSC employees, else the statutes would irreconcilably conflict.

The Court finds, however, that the AOUSC Personnel Act did not amend the Rehabilitation Act to cover AOUSC employees, but created a separate—and complementary—administrative scheme with remedies similar to those available under the Rehabilitation Act. This administrative scheme, which Ms. Hollingsworth put to use, was her sole remedy, and this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over her independent Rehabilitation Act claim.

A. Statutory Background

The Rehabilitation Act provides that "[n]o otherwise qualified individual with a disability" may be discriminated against by certain federal agencies "solely by reason of his or her disability." 29 U.S.C. § 794(a); see Davis v. Ashcroft, 355 F.Supp.2d 330, 353 (D.D.C.2005). By its terms, the Rehabilitation Act applies only to "[e]ach department, agency, and instrumentality ... in the executive branch and the Smithsonian Institution." 29 U.S.C. § 791(b). While Congress has extended rights under the Rehabilitation Act to certain "covered employees" in the legislative branch, see Congressional Accountability Act, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1301-1348; cf. Collins v. James, 171 Fed.Appx. 859, 860, 2005 WL 3805371, at *1 (D.C.Cir.2005) (holding the Rehabilitation Act inapplicable to the Government Printing Office, a unit of the legislative branch), the Rehabilitation Act does not cover judicial branch agencies.

This does not, however, leave judicial branch employees with complaints of disability discrimination without a remedy. The AOUSC Personnel Act, which was enacted in 1990, mandates that the AOUSC establish a personnel system that "prohibit[s] discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, or handicapping condition." AOUSC Personnel Act § 3(a)(9). It directs the AOUSC to "promulgate regulations providing procedures for resolving complaints of discrimination by employees and applicants for employment." Id. Furthermore, it centralizes the administrative procedures available to AOUSC employees. Section 3(g) of the AOUSC Personnel Act states that:

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to abolish or diminish any right or remedy granted to the employees of the Administrative Office by any law prohibiting discrimination in Federal employment on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, or handicapping condition except that, with respect to any such employees and applicants for employment, any authority granted under any such law to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, or any other agency in the executive branch, shall be exercised by the Administrative Office.

Id, § 3(g).

To implement this congressional mandate, the AOUSC established the Fair Employment Practices System ("FEPS"), an administrative scheme setting forth the AOUSC's employment policies and providing procedures for the resolution of discrimination claims. See Def.'s Mot. Ex. C. FEPS contains a multi-step administrative process for resolving discrimination claims, beginning with counseling, mediation, and an independent investigation, and generally culminating with a hearing and an administrative decision. Id. In Ms. Hollingsworth's case, this process ended with an adverse ruling from an administrative judge, which the AOUSC Director adopted in a Final Agency Decision.

B. The AOUSC Personnel Act Did Not Impliedly Repeal the Rehabilitation Act

In an effort to establish that the FEPS administrative scheme is not her sole avenue for relief, Ms. Hollingsworth argues that the AOUSC Personnel Act impliedly repealed and modified the Rehabilitation Act, extending its coverage to AOUSC employees. Repeals or amendments by implication are disfavored and will not be found unless congressional intent is clear and manifest. See Rodriguez v. United States, 480 U.S. 522, 524, 107 S.Ct. 1391, 94 L.Ed.2d 533 (1987); Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co., 467 U.S. 986, 1018, 104 S.Ct. 2862, 81 L.Ed.2d 815 (1984); Natural Res. Def. Council v. Hodel, 865 F.2d 288, 318 (D.C.Cir.1988). Congress is presumed to "legislate[] with knowledge of former related statutes," United States v. Hsia, 176 F.3d 517, 525 (D.C.Cir.1999), and to "specifically address language on the statute books that it...