Kundrat v. District of Columbia, Civ.A. 99-2085 RMU.

• Decision Date: 24 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A. 99-2085 RMU.,Civ.A. 99-2085 RMU.
• Citation: 106 F.Supp.2d 1
• Parties: Barbara KUNDRAT, Plaintiff, v. The DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

Page 1

106 F.Supp.2d 1

Barbara KUNDRAT, Plaintiff, v. The DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.

No. Civ.A. 99-2085 RMU.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

May 24, 2000.

James McPherson, McPherson & Schillesci, New Orleans, Louisiana, Woodley B. Osborne, Osborne & Deutsch, Washington, D.C., for the plaintiff, Barbara M. Kundrat.

Stratton C. Strand, Leon Swenson, Assistant Corporation Counsel, General Litigation Division, Corporation Counsel of D.C., Washington, D.C., for the defendants, the District of Columbia, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration of the District of Columbia Courts.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Granting Unopposed Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint; Granting the Superior Court Defendants' Motion to Dismiss

URBINA, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This Title VII discrimination and retaliation case comes before the court upon the plaintiff's unopposed motion for leave to amend the complaint and the two original defendants' motion to dismiss. The two parties named as defendants in the original complaint, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration (collectively "the Superior Court" or "the Superior or Court defendants"), filed a joint motion to dismiss on the ground that they are non sui juris (not suable entities). The plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss, but the defendants did not file a reply. The plaintiff also filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint to add the District of Columbia as a defendant. The Superior Court defendants filed their written consent to the proposed amendment.

For the reasons set forth below, the court will grant the plaintiff leave to amend her complaint and will grant the Superior Court defendants' motion to dismiss.

II. BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Barbara M. Kundrat, is a white woman who was employed as Deputy Clerk of the D.C. Superior Court from January 1993 until her resignation in August 1998. See Am.Compl. ¶¶ 9, 21. Ms. Kundrat has a law degree and a Master's degree in management from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Id. ¶ 10. When Ms. Kundrat began her tenure as Deputy Clerk, she supervised nearly 600 Superior Court employees. Id. ¶ 11. As Deputy Clerk, she was first supervised by and reported to the Clerk of the Superior Court ("the Clerk"), Fred Beane.¹ Id.

At some unspecified time in 1994, Mr. Beane was succeeded as Clerk by Duane Delaney, an African-American man. Ms. Kundrat alleges that once Mr. Delaney assumed the Clerk's position, he discriminated against her by taking away portions of her duties, excluding her from meetings she had previously attended, removing support staff from her supervision, forbidding her from using support staff in the performance of her duties and denying her training opportunities. See Am.Compl. ¶¶ 12, 15. Beginning in 1996, Ms. Kundrat alleges, Mr. Delaney began to "reclassify" the position of her subordinates and award them pay increases without affording her any input. Id. ¶ 13. Specifically, in October 1996, Mr. Delaney hired an African-American man, Louis Kelly, as Operations Management Specialist and reassigned "the majority" of her job duties to him. Id. ¶ 14.

In 1997, Ms. Kundrat filed an internal equal employment opportunity grievance complaining of racially discriminatory treatment by Mr. Delaney and sexual harassment by other employees.² See Am. Compl. ¶ 16. She alleges that when Mr. Delaney found out about her internal grievance, he stopped speaking to her and retaliated by requiring her to submit a daily time log which was not required of other employees. Id. ¶ 17.

In January 1998, Ms. Kundrat filed a charge of discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). See Am.Compl. ¶ 18. The following month, she followed up with a memorandum to the Superior Court's EEO officer and Personnel Director which described the alleged hostile environment and sexual harassment. Id. ¶ 19. Ms. Kundrat alleges that in retaliation for her grievances, Mr. Delaney deprived her of all non-clerical duties, as well as the authority to act in his absence, which he delegated to other employees who had been her subordinates. See Am. Compl. ¶ 20.

Finally, on August 4, 1998, Mr. Delaney issued a notice of proposed suspension to Ms. Kundrat. Id. ¶ 20. Ms. Kundrat was so distraught by the suspension notice that she left the building immediately and resigned her position as Deputy Clerk the following day, August 5, 1998. Id. ¶ 21. She essentially characterizes her resignation as a constructive discharge which became necessary because Mr. Delaney had made her "work situation so intolerable that she could not continue in her position without injury to her mental health." Id. ¶ 21.

On April 30, 1999, the EEOC sent Ms. Kundrat a "Dismissal and Notice of Rights" which informed her that it was "unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes" and that she had the right to bring suit in federal or state court within 90 days of receiving the Notice. On August 4, 1999, Ms. Kundrat filed a three-count pro se³ complaint in this court, alleging gender discrimination, racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII"). She seeks reinstatement to the position of Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, backpay and benefits, compensatory damages for emotional distress and loss of personal and professional reputation ("esteem"), and attorneys' fees and costs. See Am.Compl., Prayer for Relief ¶¶ 2-5. On September 10, 1999 the Superior Court and Joint Committee filed an answer.

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion for Leave to Amend the Complaint

Ms. Kundrat filed a motion for leave to amend her complaint, and the Superior Court defendants submitted a letter dated May 19, 2000 which consents to the proposed amendment. Accordingly, finding that the Superior Court defendants consent to the proposed amendment and that they will not be prejudiced thereby,⁴ the court will grant the plaintiff leave to amend her complaint. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a) (once the defendant has filed a responsive pleading, a party may amend its pleading "only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party"). A major consequence of the amendment is that the District of Columbia is now a party defendant.⁵

B. Motion to Dismiss Superior Court Defendants as Non Sui Juris

1. Legal Standard for Motion to Dismiss

The Superior Court defendants move to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction. A motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction tests not whether the plaintiff will prevail on the merits but instead whether or not the court may properly exercise jurisdiction over the movants. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). In deciding such a motion, the court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. See Maljack Prods. v. Motion Picture Ass'n, 52 F.3d 373, 375 (D.C.Cir. 1995). The court need not, however, accept as true the plaintiff's legal conclusions. See Taylor v. F.D.I.C., 132 F.3d 753, 762 (D.C.Cir.1997). In applying the foregoing standard for motions to dismiss, however, the court recognizes that because Title VII is a remedial statute which is generally broadly construed, this matter "should not be dismissed at the pleadings stage unless it appears to a certainty that plaintiff(s) are entitled to no relief under any state of the facts, which could be proved in support of their claims." See Escalera v. New York City Hsg. Auth., 425 F.2d 853, 857 (2d Cir.), cert. den., 400 U.S. 853, 91 S.Ct. 54, 27 L.Ed.2d 91 (1970).

2. Can the Superior Court Defendants be Sued in Their Own Names?

Like the plaintiff and the defendants, the court finds only two decisions in this Circuit which discuss the precise question at issue on this motion, namely, whether the Superior Court or its Joint Committee on Judicial Administration may be sued eo nomine (in their own names). In Thompson v. District of Columbia, 1980 WL 123 (D.D.C.1980), the late Judge Gasch held that neither the D.C. Superior Court nor its Joint Committee on Administration is an entity suable in its own name. Eleven years later, in Galloway v. The D.C. Courts, 1991 WL 229949 (D.D.C.1991), this court suggested there might be merit in the opposite view, but only in dictum. It appears that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ("the D.C. Circuit") has not addressed this exact issue.⁶

There is ample authority in this Circuit, however, for the general proposition that if a department or agency of a municipality is not a corporate body, it cannot be sued as such. 3 McQuillin Municipal Corporations § 12.40, at 242 (rev.3d ed.1990). Both this court and the local courts of the District of Columbia have consistently applied this rule to dismiss claims against governmental agencies or departments of the District of Columbia. See Trifax Corp. v. D.C., 53 F.Supp.2d 20, 26 (D.D.C.1999) (Kessler, J.) (Office of Inspector General, Dep't. of Health, Dep't. of Administrative Services and DHS); Gales v. D.C., 47 F.Supp.2d 43, 48 (D.D.C.1999) (Robertson, J.); Arnold v. Moore, 980 F.Supp. 28, 33 (D.D.C.1997) (Lamberth, J.) (dismissing claims against D.C. Department of Corrections); Cooke-Seals v. D.C., 973 F.Supp. 184, 186 (D.D.C. 1997) (Robertson, J.) (MPD); Milliner v. D.C., 932 F.Supp. 345, 347 (D.D.C.1996) (Harris, J.) (DHS's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Admin.); Jenkins v. Government of D.C., 1996 WL 440551, *1 n. 2 (D.D.C.) (Dep't of Corrections Medical Unit), appeal dis. as moot, 1996 WL 761945 (D.C.Cir.1996); Aleotti v. Baars, 896 F.Supp. 1, 6 (D.D.C.1995) (Friedman, J.) (D.C....