Powell v. Castaneda
| Decision Date | 26 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 04-0423 (RMU). |
| Citation | 390 F.Supp.2d 1 |
| Parties | Barbara POWELL, Plaintiff, v. Alicia R. CASTANEDA, Chairman Federal Housing Financing Board, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Barbara K. Powell, Alexandria, LA, pro se.
Paul A. Mussenden, Assistant United States Attorney, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
This employment discrimination case comes before the court on the defendant's motion to dismiss. The plaintiff alleges that the defendant: (1) violated the Equal Pay Act ("EPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 206 et seq., (2) discriminated against her on the basis of age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq., (3) discriminated and retaliated against her on the basis of race and gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., (4) violated the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 791, 793, 794(a) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112 et seq., and (5) created a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII. Because the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff's EPA claim, the court dismisses that claim. Because the plaintiff timely notified the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") of some of the alleged Title VII and ADEA violations and because the plaintiff does not need to plead a prima facie case at this stage of the proceedings, the court partially grants and partially denies the defendant's motion to dismiss the claims of discrimination and retaliation on the basis of age, race and gender, and denies the defendant's motion to dismiss the hostile work environment claim. Lastly, the court dismisses the plaintiff's disability discrimination claim for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted.
The Federal Housing Finance Board ("FHFB") employed the plaintiff, a Caucasian female in her fifties, as counsel to the Inspector General ("IG"). Am. Compl. ¶ 3. The defendant hired the plaintiff as a part-time employee at the GS-14 level in February 1999. Id. ¶ 6. The plaintiff alleges that her supervisor, Edward Kelley, subjected her to offensive treatment, id. ¶ 8, and contends that Kelley's abusive behavior stems from a discriminatory and retaliatory animus, id. ¶¶ 24, 69. The plaintiff's complaint describes a myriad of allegedly discriminatory events that, in her words, are "totally inexplicable absent the animus of sex-and-race discrimination."1 Id. ¶ 41; see also id. ¶ 112. The plaintiff also alleges that Kelley retaliated against her for filing complaints with the EEOC and that Kelley violated her rights under the EPA. Id. ¶ 20.
Specifically, the plaintiff states that, the originally "cordial" relationship between the plaintiff and Kelley deteriorated after she requested to take paid leave in October 1999. Id. ¶ 23. Afterwards, Kelley made the plaintiff's work environment "punishing ... by demeaning her daily with derogatory language ... and his incessant, inappropriate anger," and by insulting or chastising her on various occasions. Id. ¶¶ 23, 25(c), 28, 41. Kelley also required that the plaintiff work more than 40 hours per two week pay period, yet he did not appoint her to a full time position.2 Id. ¶¶ 22-35, 86. The plaintiff also claims that the defendant did not pay her for work done on a business trip to New York in January 2000. Id. ¶ 29. Without providing a specific date, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant physically threatened her on a number of occasions. Id. ¶ 83.
As their working relationship deteriorated, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant gave her lower performance ratings. In June 2001, for instance, the defendant gave her a "Fully Satisfactory." Id. ¶ 38. The plaintiff also asserts that Kelley made comments regarding her sex and gender at the June 2001 review. To support this claim, the plaintiff alleges that Kelley said her "work is too slow," and that she "doesn't know word processing." Id. ¶ 41.
The plaintiff further alleges that the defendant retaliated against her when she engaged in EEOC activity. The plaintiff states that the defendant gave her a "Below Standard" rating in December 2001 after the November 2001 EEOC hearings. Id. ¶ 43. The plaintiff additionally contends that Kelley did not allow her to attend a training seminar. Id. ¶¶ 52(a), 73. According to the plaintiff, Kelley also wrote a letter of reprimand in August 2001 because she was late to a meeting. Id. ¶ 42. Similarly, the defendant rated her "Unacceptable" in June 2002 and "imposed a performance improvement plan (PIP)" shortly after she filed a complaint with the EEOC. Id. ¶ 39, 44.
Lastly, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant discriminated against her on the basis of disability after she fractured her left femur and underwent surgery. Id. ¶ 53. The plaintiff asserts that the defendant's failure to allow her to work from home after her surgery was discriminatory. Id. ¶ 94.
Prior to the start of this suit, the plaintiff filed three EEOC complaints regarding the alleged discrimination. Id. ¶¶ 8, 9, 14. In July 2001, the plaintiff notified the agency's EEOC director that she would be filing a complaint against the FHFB for race and gender discrimination; she formally filed that complaint on September 20, 2001. Id. ¶ 8. On June 16, 2003, the plaintiff filed a second complaint for disability discrimination after she underwent hip replacement surgery. Id. ¶ 9. In November 2003, the plaintiff notified the agency EEOC director that she would be filing a third complaint alleging retaliation for her two prior EEOC complaints. Id. ¶ 13. The plaintiff formally filed the third complaint on December 12, 2003. Id. ¶ 14.
This lawsuit consolidates the three EEOC charges that the plaintiff filed between 2001 and 2003. An administrative judge dismissed the three EEOC charges after the plaintiff filed suit in district court. Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 17-19. The plaintiff elected to proceed in this court after an administrative judge failed to take final action within 180 days of the plaintiff's submission of her claims to the EEOC. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 134.
On June 23, 2004, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint, alleging three counts of unlawful behavior on the part of the defendant: (1) age, race and gender discrimination (2) disability discrimination; and (3) retaliation. Id. at 34, 40, 42. The first count of the plaintiff's amended complaint alleges that the defendant treated her disparately on the basis of age, gender and race, and that such discrimination was so pervasive that it created a hostile work environment. Id. ¶¶ 71, 77, 90. The second count alleges that the defendant did not accommodate the plaintiff after she underwent hip replacement surgery. Id. ¶¶ 53, 94. Finally, the third count alleges that the defendant retaliated against the plaintiff for filing administrative complaints with the EEOC. Id. ¶¶ 99, 100.
On November 16, 2004, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary adjudication, which the court struck on November 30, 2004. Order Striking Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summ. J. at 1.3 On January 14, 2005, the defendant filed a renewed motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claims. The court now turns to that motion.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and the law presumes that "a cause lies outside this limited jurisdiction." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994); St. Paul Mercury Indem. Co. v. Red Cab Co., 303 U.S. 283, 288-89, 58 S.Ct. 586, 82 L.Ed. 845 (1938); see also Gen. Motors Corp. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 363 F.3d 442, 448 (D.C.Cir.2004) (). Because "subject-matter jurisdiction is an `Art. III as well as a statutory requirement[,] no action of the parties can confer subject-matter jurisdiction upon a federal court.'" Akinseye v. District of Columbia, 339 F.3d 970, 971 (D.C.Cir.2003) (quoting Ins. Corp. of Ir., Ltd. v. Compagnie des Bauxite de Guinea, 456 U.S. 694, 702, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982)). On a motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that the court has subject-matter jurisdiction. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). The court may dismiss a complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction only if "`it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.'" Empagran S.A. v. F. Hoffman-Laroche, Ltd., 315 F.3d 338, 343 (D.C.Cir.2003) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)).
Because subject-matter jurisdiction focuses on the court's power to hear the claim, however, the court must give the plaintiff's factual allegations closer scrutiny when resolving a Rule 12(b)(1) motion than would be required for a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim. Macharia v. United States, 334 F.3d 61, 64, 69 (D.C.Cir.2003); Grand Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police v. Ashcroft, 185 F.Supp.2d 9, 13 (D.D.C.2001). Moreover, the court is not limited to the allegations contained in the complaint. Hohri v. United States, 782 F.2d 227, 241 (D.C.Cir.1986), vacated on other grounds, 482 U.S. 64, 107 S.Ct 2246, 96 L.Ed.2d 51 (1987). ...
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