Manley v. Tex. S. Univ.

• Decision Date: 12 May 2015
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. H–14–2749.
• Citation: 107 F.Supp.3d 712
• Parties: Stephen MANLEY, Plaintiff, v. TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, Thurgood Marshall School Of Law Admissions Committee, Edward Renee, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

107 F.Supp.3d 712

Stephen MANLEY, Plaintiff,

v.TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, Thurgood Marshall School Of Law Admissions Committee, Edward Renee, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. H–14–2749.

United States District Court, S.D. Texas, Houston Division.

Signed May 12, 2015.

Stephen Manley, Houston, TX, pro se.

Wylie Emmett Kumler, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION

LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge.

I. Background

Between 2008 and 2014, Stephen Manley, an African–American male, repeatedly applied for admission from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, historically black institutions. Each of Manley's applications was denied. Manley, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, sued the law school, its admissions committee and dean of admissions, and Texas Southern University. He alleged that Thurgood Marshall's policies on admissions and recruiting discriminated against him on the basis of his race, sex, and disability. Manley alleged that the role of an applicant's undergraduate grade point average and Law School Admissions Test scores made the admissions and recruiting policies discriminatory. Manley sought damages and injunctive relief, including a court order admitting him to the law school.

The defendants moved to dismiss. (Docket Entry No. 14). After hearing oral argument, (Docket Entry No. 19), the court dismissed Manley's claims under the Equal Education Opportunities Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act, with prejudice and without leave to amend, because amendment would be futile. The court dismissed the remaining claims, without prejudice and with leave to amend. (Docket Entry No. 20).

Manley filed an amended complaint, alleging 16 overlapping causes of action and attaching more than 200 pages of exhibits. The amended complaint, liberally construed, alleges that the law school's admissions and recruiting policies violate: (1) 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 ; (2) the Texas Education Code § 51.842 ; (3) the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (4) Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.; (5) the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (6) the Full Faith and Credit Clause; and (7) the Interstate Commerce Clause. Manley seeks $800,000 in damages, an injunction requiring the law school to "use a[n] alternative to the LSAT that is less discriminatory in it[s] effects upon minority groups," and an injunction requiring the law school to admit Manley. (Docket Entry No. 21, ¶ 26).

The defendants have moved to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). They argue that the Eleventh Amendment bars Manley's suit against Texas Southern and Thurgood Marshall, and that his claims otherwise fail as a matter of law. (Docket Entry No. 23). Manley did not respond.¹

The parties' arguments are analyzed under the applicable law.

II. The Applicable Legal Standards

A. The Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(1)

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) governs challenges to a court's subject- matter jurisdiction. "Under Rule 12(b)(1), a claim is properly dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction when the court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the claim." In re FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Prods. Liab. Litig., 668 F.3d 281, 286 (5th Cir.2012) (quotation omitted). Rule 12(b)(1) challenges to subject-matter jurisdiction may be facial or factual attacks. See, e.g., Carrier Corp. v. Outokumpu Oyj, 673 F.3d 430, 440 (6th Cir.2012) ; Russell v. City of Houston, 808 F.Supp.2d 969, 972 (S.D.Tex.2011) (citing Paterson v. Weinberger, 644 F.2d 521, 523 (5th Cir.1981) ).

"A facial attack happens when a defendant files a Rule 12(b)(1) motion without accompanying evidence." Jackson v. Texas Southern Univ., 997 F.Supp.2d 613, 620 (S.D.Tex.2014) (citing Paterson v. Weinberger, 644 F.2d 521, 523 (5th Cir.1981) ). "In a facial attack, allegations in the complaint are taken as true." Id. (citing Saraw Partnership v. United States, 67 F.3d 567, 569 (5th Cir.1995) ). "A defendant makes a factual attack upon a complaint when a defendant ‘submits affidavits, testimony, or other evidentiary materials.’ " Gloston v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 2014 WL 1660630, at *1 (E.D.La. Apr. 25, 2014) (quoting Paterson, 644 F.2d at 523 ). "If a court confronts a factual attack, the plaintiff must ‘submit facts through some evidentiary method and has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the trial court does have subject matter jurisdiction.’ " Id. (quoting Paterson, 644 F.2d at 523 ).

B. The Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(6)

Rule 12(b)(6) allows dismissal if a plaintiff fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). Rule 12(b)(6) must be read in conjunction with Rule 8(a), which requires "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2). A complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ; Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Rule 8"does not require ‘detailed factual allegations,’ but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). "A claim has facial plausibility 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 ). "The plausibility standard is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).

To withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a "complaint must allege ‘more than labels and conclusions,’ " and " ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’ " Norris v. Hearst Trust, 500 F.3d 454, 464 (5th Cir.2007) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). "Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ " Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (alteration in original) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). "To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint ‘does not need detailed factual allegations,’ but must provide the plaintiff's grounds for entitlement to relief—including factual allegations that when assumed to be true ‘raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ " Cuvillier v. Taylor, 503 F.3d 397, 401 (5th Cir.2007) (footnote omitted) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). "Conversely, ‘when the allegations in a complaint, however true, could not raise a claim of entitlement to relief, this basic deficiency should ... be exposed at the point of minimum expenditure of time and money by the parties and the court.’ " Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 558, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ).

"[I]n deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, courts must limit their inquiry to the facts stated in the complaint and the documents either attached to or incorporated in the complaint ... courts may also consider matters of which they may take judicial notice." Lovelace v. Software Spectrum, Inc., 78 F.3d 1015, 1018 (5th Cir.1996). A court may, however, "consider documents integral to and explicitly relied on in the complaint, that the defendant appends to his motion to dismiss, as well as the full text of documents that are partially quoted or referred to in the complaint." In re Sec. Litig. BMC Software, Inc., 183 F.Supp.2d 860, 882 (S.D.Tex.2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). The court may consider such extrinsic materials as matters of public record without converting the motion into one seeking summary judgment.

When a plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim, the court should generally give the plaintiff a chance to amend the complaint under Rule 15(a) before dismissing the action with prejudice, unless it is clear that to do so would be futile. See Great Plains Trust Co. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 313 F.3d 305, 329 (5th Cir.2002) ("[D]istrict courts often afford plaintiffs at least one opportunity to cure pleading deficiencies before dismissing a case, unless it is clear that the defects are incurable or the plaintiffs advise the court that they are unwilling or unable to amend in a manner that will avoid dismissal."). However, a plaintiff should be denied leave to amend a complaint if the court determines that "the proposed change clearly is frivolous or advances a claim or defense that is legally insufficient on its face." 6 CHARLES A. WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY KAY KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 1487 (2d ed.1990) ; see also Ayers v. Johnson, 247 Fed.Appx. 534, 535 (5th Cir.2007) (" ‘[A] district court acts within its discretion when dismissing a motion to amend that is frivolous or futile.’ " (quoting Martin's Herend Imps., Inc. v. Diamond & Gem Trading U.S. of Am. Co., 195 F.3d 765, 771 (5th Cir.1999) )). Maryland Manor Assocs. v. City of Houston, 816 F.Supp.2d 394, 404 n. 5 (S.D.Tex.2011).

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), a district court "should freely give leave [to amend] when justice so requires." FED. R. CIV. P. 15(a)(2). "[T]he language of this rule evinces a bias in favor of granting leave to amend." Jones v. Robinson Prop. Grp., L.P., 427 F.3d 987, 994 (5th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). Although leave to amend should not be automatically granted, "[a] district court must possess a substantial reason to deny a request for leave to amend[.]" Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Under Rule 15(a), "[d]enial of leave to amend may be warranted...