Richards v. Duke University

• Decision Date: 30 March 2007
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 06-01179 (RCL).
• Citation: 480 F.Supp.2d 222
• Parties: Suzette RICHARDS, Plaintiff, v. DUKE UNIVERSITY, et. al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

480 F.Supp.2d 222

Suzette RICHARDS, Plaintiff, v. DUKE UNIVERSITY, et. al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 06-01179 (RCL).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

March 30, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Suzette Richards, Christiansted, VI, pro se.

Michael J. Murphy, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., Elizabeth A. O'Brien, Williams & Connolly, Benton Gregory Peterson, Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Division, Charles Edward Buffon, Harry B. Roback, Covington & Burling, LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LAMBERTH, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the Duke University defendants' (Duke University, Duke University Law School, Duke University Board of Trustees and Nannerl Keohane) Motions [17, 18, 32] to Dismiss, the Georgetown University defendants' (Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center) Motions [11, 50] to Dismiss, the Government defendants' (Alberto Gonzales, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice and John and Jane Does 1-10) Motion [DVI 200] to Dismiss¹, the Microsoft defendants' (Microsoft Corporation, William H. Gates, III, Steven A. Ballmer, Melinda F. Gates and Microsoft employees A-J) Motions [DVI 219, 43] to Dismiss, the Plaintiff's Motion [23] to Strike Exhibits Filed by the Georgetown University defendants, and the Plaintiffs Motion [48] for Leave to Take Jurisdictional Discovery.

Upon consideration of the motions, the oppositions thereto, the reply briefs, the applicable law, and the entire record herein, the Court concludes that the defendants' motions to dismiss will be GRANTED, the plaintiffs motion [23] to strike all exhibits filed by the Georgetown University defendants will be DENIED and the plaintiff's motion [48] for leave to take jurisdictional discovery will be DENIED.

BACKGROUND

I. Facts

Plaintiff Suzette Richards submitted a complaint on May 8, 2003 and a subsequent amended complaint on June 5, 2003 asking the united States District Court for the District of the United States Virgin Islands, St. Croix Division, for declaratory and injunctive relief and punitive damages stemming from an alleged conspiracy among all of the named defendants to violate plaintiff's rights. Plaintiff alleges fraud, discrimination based on race and national origin in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-200d-7, discrimination based on sex and sexual harassment in violation of 20 U.S.C. § 1681-1688, constitutional violations of plaintiff's First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Thirteenth Amendment rights, violations of the Criminal Wiretapping Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2510-2522, violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, § 1985, § 1986, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, invasion of privacy, interference with prospective advantage and theft of intellectual property. This case was transferred to this court from the United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands on June 28, 2006.

Though plaintiff alleges a vast conspiracy involving all of the named defendants extending over more than eight years, plaintiffs allegations are conclusory and too lengthy to recount in detail here. In general, plaintiff alleges the following facts:

Plaintiff enrolled at Duke University Law School in the fall of 1997. While at Duke, Dean Sockwell, a dean of the law school, lied to her about how to take her law school exams which resulted in plaintiff receiving lower grades than other students; no African-American students had been placed onto the law, school's law review or journals until the year that plaintiff transferred from Duke; and during a law school class, a professor falsely indicated that plaintiff was not a citizen of the United States. Plaintiff further alleges that Duke then engaged in illegal surveillance of her because officials at Duke were afraid that plaintiff would expose their discriminatory practices. This surveillance extended to plaintiffs home and car, followed her everywhere she went, and even resulted in exposure of plaintiffs private medical information.

Plaintiff then transferred to Georgetown University Law Center and enrolled there in the fall of 1998. Plaintiff alleges that Duke and Georgetown colluded and conspired to maintain the surveillance of plaintiff. Plaintiff was called on to speak in her Corporations class six or seven times during the semester while other students were not called on at all; Georgetown professors entered plaintiffs apartment and moved her books to determine whether she was completing her assignments; an article that plaintiff wrote for The Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law was altered to include discussion of homosexual civil rights issues to make it appear that plaintiff was in fact a homosexual; and plaintiffs Civil Rights professor added a day on homosexual civil rights into his syllabus for the first time while plaintiff was a student in his class. Plaintiff graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in May of 2000.

Microsoft allegedly joined the conspiracy to continue the surveillance of plaintiff and gather information about her because William H. Gates, III, became physically attracted to her in September of 1999 and the Microsoft defendants feared that Gates would leave his wife, Melinda Gates; for plaintiff. The conspiracy and surveillance of plaintiff enabled Microsoft to steal plaintiffs ideas, that she had only written down or spoken in the privacy of her own home about generating revenue through wireless email, the affect of wireless technology on markets, and changing the name of Web TV to MSN TV. Microsoft also included images and phrases on its website which described for were directed at plaintiff, an African-American woman, to harass her, including a picture of a pregnant African-American woman, implying that plaintiff was pregnant with William Gates' child. Finally, the United States government was also conspiring with the other defendants and facilitating the surveillance of plaintiff.

ANALYSIS

I. Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

A. Legal Standard under Rule 12(b)(2)

According to Rule 12(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff has the burden of proving that the court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant by showing that the defendant purposefully availed himself of the benefits of the forum state by establishing minimum contacts and that the exercise of jurisdiction would comport with notions of fair play and substantial justice. See Wiggins v. Equifax, 853 F.Supp. 500, 502 (D.D.C. 1994). "Bare allegations and conclusory statements are insufficient" to establish personal jurisdiction over a defendant. Capital Bank Int'l, Ltd. v. Citigroup, Inc., 276 F.Supp.2d 72, 74 (D.D.C.2003). The plaintiff must instead "allege specific facts connecting each defendant with the forum state." Schwartz v. CDI Japan, 938 F.Supp. 1, 7 (D.D.C.1996). A court does not have jurisdiction over the individual officers or employees of a corporation just because the court has jurisdiction over the corporation. See Quinto v. Legal Times, 506 F.Supp. 554, 558 (D.D.C.1981).

In the District of Columbia, personal jurisdiction may be asserted over a defendant according to D.C.Code § 13-423(a)(4) which states, in relevant part: "A District of Columbia court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a claim for relief arising from the person's ... (4) causing tortious injury in the District of Columbia by an act or omission outside the District of Columbia if he regularly does or solicits business, engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed, or services rendered, in the District of Columbia."

Besides D.C.Code § 13-423(a), plaintiff also, relies on the conspiracy jurisdiction doctrine to argue that this Court has personal jurisdiction over the Microsoft defendants and the Duke defendants. Under the conspiracy jurisdiction doctrine, a defendant's contact with the forum can arise from the acts of co-conspirators within that forum. See Jin v. Ministry of State Sec. 335 F.Supp.2d 72, 78 (D.D.C. 2004). However, to assert jurisdiction under the conspiracy jurisdiction doctrine, the plaintiff must make a prima facie showing of "(1) a conspiracy (2) in which the defendant participated and (3) a co-conspirators overt act within the forum, subject to the long-arm statute and in furtherance of the conspiracy." Id. Further, to be entitled to jurisdictional discovery based on this doctrine, the plaintiff must specifically allege: "(1) the existence of a conspiracy, (2) the non-resident's participation, and (3) an injury-causing act of the conspiracy within the forum's boundaries." Edmond v. United States Postal Service General Counsel, 949 F.2d 415, 425, 292 U.S.App. D.C. 240, 250 (D.C.Cir. 1991).

B. Duke Defendants

Plaintiff has not made a prima facie showing that this court can assert personal jurisdiction over any of the Duke Defendants (Duke University, Duke University Law School, Duke University Board of Trustess and University President Nannerl Keohane). Duke University is a private educational institution in the State of North Carolina and does not conduct business or own property within the District of Columbia. (Duke Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss [17], Ex. 1) Nannerl Keohane is a resident of New Jersey, has limited contact with the District of Columbia in the form of attendance at an annual conference held in the District of Columbia, and owns no property or bank accounts in the District of Columbia. (Duke Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss [17], Ex. 2) This court cannot assert general jurisdiction over the Duke defendants because none of the Duke defendants are residents of the District of Columbia and plaintiff does not allege that any of the Duke defendants are domiciled or have a principal place of business in the District of...