St. Louis v. Sands, 05-21320-CIV-MOORE.
| Citation | 401 F.Supp.2d 1351 |
| Decision Date | 08 November 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-21320-CIV-MOORE.,05-21320-CIV-MOORE. |
| Parties | Sean ST. LOUIS, Plaintiff, v. Harlan SANDS, in his individual capacity, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
David Adrian Howard, Miami, Erika Deutsch Rotbart, Deutsch Rothart & Associates P.A., Boca Raton, LA, for Plaintiff.
Robert T. Kofman, Ingrid Hamann Ponce, Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, Miami, FL, for Defendants.
THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint with Prejudice (DE # 13).1
UPON CONSIDERATION of the motion and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, the Court enters the following Order.
This is an action for civil rights violations arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff, Sean St. Louis is a black male residing in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Am. Compl. at ¶ 4. From November 1997 until his termination and/or resignation on or about November 26, 2004, Plaintiff was employed as the Associate Controller of Contracts and Grants by Florida International University ("FIU")2. Id. at ¶ 4-5, 7. Defendant, Harlan Sands, was the Chief Executive Officer of the Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology ("HCET") of FIU. Id. at ¶ 6. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant subjected Plaintiff to discriminatory treatment in the workplace and indicated his dislike of blacks. Id. at ¶ 10. Plaintiff alleges that during the course of his employment Plaintiff identified numerous problem areas within the Sponsored Research Department as well as the HCET. Id. at ¶ 11. Plaintiff informed his immediate supervisors and several FIU officials of these federal guideline violations. Id. at ¶ 11. Defendant ignored Plaintiff's warnings. Id. Plaintiff alleges that his attempts to implement changes to bring the Sponsored Research Department and the HCET into compliance with federal regulations were met with resistance from FIU officials, including Defendant. Id. at ¶ 12. From approximately early 2000 until the middle of 2004, FIU underwent a federal audit by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Id. at ¶ 13. Plaintiff showed the auditors documents that revealed FIU's historical accounting problems. Id. On or about November 2003 Plaintiff was subpoenaed to appear before the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Id. at ¶ 14. Plaintiff testified about his experiences with the HCET and the problems that he encountered after relaying his concerns to FIU officials. Id. FIU was ultimately fined $11 million dollars by the United States. Id. at ¶ 15. Thereafter, Plaintiff's department was transferred to the Academic Affairs/Sponsored Research section of FIU and Defendant became Plaintiff's direct supervisor. Id. at ¶ 16. Defendant ordered Plaintiff to "reverse all of the unallowable charge journals he had processed," stating that Plaintiff did not have the authority to make those entries. Id. at ¶ 17. When Defendant became the Chief Executive Officer of the HCET he transferred Plaintiff to the HCET. Id. Defendant told Plaintiff that his actions hampered FIU's defense against the findings of the Department of Health and Human Services' audit. Id. On or about October 1, 2004 Plaintiff met with several members of FIU's administration including Paul Michaud ("Michaud"), the Director of Human Resources at FIU. Id. at ¶ 18. Plaintiff was informed, both orally and in writing, that Defendant had made the decision to terminate Plaintiff's position as Associate Controller for Contracts and Grants and to abolish the entire Contracts and Grants Department. Id. Plaintiff alleges that Michaud told him that "the reason for the abolishment of the unit was due to negative findings on the HCET audit, and that the University needed to look for employees of a higher skill level to work in that department." Id. The majority of the employees within the Contracts and Grants department were black and many of them had worked for FIU for a number of years. Id. at ¶ 19. Michaud and other members of FIU's administration met with other employees from the Contracts and Grants Department and told them of the abolishment of the department. Id. at ¶ 20. Furthermore, they instructed the employees that they could apply for new positions but that those positions would require "more sophisticated skills" than they possessed. Id.
On October 4, 2004 Plaintiff met with Charles Tinder, Senior Director of College Finances at FIU who advised Plaintiff that the Human Resources department had made a mistake and that FIU wanted Plaintiff to remain as an employee through the end of the audit. Id. at ¶ 21. Tinder contacted Michaud regarding Plaintiff's termination. Id. at ¶ 23. Michaud stated that he had received instructions from the executive committee — which included Defendant — to terminate Plaintiff. Id. Michaud apologized to Plaintiff for the mistake and asked Plaintiff to return to his office. Id. at ¶ 23. On October 5, 2004 Ms. Mendoza met with Plaintiff and Plaintiff received another apology. Id. at ¶ 24. Ms. Medoza further stated that "Mr. Michaud should not have mentioned [that] the reason for the abolishment of the unit was due to the HCET audit findings." Id. On or about October 6, 2004 Plaintiff asked Michaud why, on or about September 6, 2004, his position had been advertised under a different title and why interviews for his possible replacement had been conducted as far back as January 2004. Id. at ¶ 25. Michaud did not respond. Id. On October 22, 2004 Defendant approached Plaintiff and asked what his learning experience had been with being let go. Id. at ¶ 26. Specifically, Defendant asked: "If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently." Id. Defendant also stated that "[p]art of the reason you are in this situation was the fact that you cannot play politics." Id.
Plaintiff became aware that FIU had posted a vacancy on the internet for a position with a job description similar to the Associate Controller for Contracts and Grants. Id. at ¶ 27. Plaintiff applied for this position, however, despite his credentials, he did not obtain the position. Id. It was then that Plaintiff knew that FIU had no intention of re-hiring him for any position in light of his speaking out on a matter of public concern. Id. Plaintiff alleges that the discrimination to which he was subjected during the course of his employment is part of a pattern and practice of discrimination by Defendant against FIU's black employees. Id. at ¶ 28. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant's employment practices were designed to deny black employees the same treatment afforded to others. Id. at ¶ 28. These practices included: violating FIU policy to benefit Hispanic employees, encouraging a system of unequal pay to blacks, hiring Hispanics with little or no experience as part of the reorganization of the Contracts and Grants Department, and bypassing qualified black candidates in favor of Hispanics or Anglo-Americans. Id. at ¶ 28. Plaintiff alleges that on or about November 26, 2004, he was forced to take the necessary steps to ensure the financial security of his family "after seeing all of the writing on the wall" and was forced into a termination and/or constructive discharge by Defendant. Id. at ¶ 29.
Plaintiff has filed a two count complaint against Defendant Harlan Sands in his individual capacity. In Count I Plaintiff alleges a pattern and practice of racial discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. In Count II Plaintiff alleges a violation 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on alleged violations of his First and Fourteenth amendment rights. Plaintiff alleges that his First amendment rights were violated because his termination was in retaliation for speaking out on issues of public concern. Plaintiff alleges that his Fourteenth amendment rights were violated because Plaintiff was deprived of his liberty interest in his good name and reputation and was deprived of his property interest in his right to engage in his employment as Associate Controller of Contracts and Grants for FIU.
Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim merely tests the sufficiency of the complaint; it does not decide the merits of the case. Milburn v. United States, 734 F.2d 762, 765 (11th Cir.1984). On such a motion to dismiss, the Court notes that it must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept the factual allegations as true. SEC v. ESM Group, Inc., 835 F.2d 270, 272 (11th Cir.1988). Consideration of matters beyond the complaint is improper in the context of a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Milburn, 734 F.2d at 765. The Court must, "[a]t this stage of the litigation, ... accept [the plaintiff's] allegations as true." Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). Further, the Court should not grant a motion to dismiss "unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (citations omitted); S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Montalvo, 84 F.3d 402, 406 (11th Cir.1996).
However, in § 1983 actions where government officials sued in their individual capacities have raised the defense of qualified immunity, the Eleventh Circuit has "tightened" the pleading requirements. GJR Investments, Inc. v. County of Escambia, Fla., 132 F.3d 1359, 1367 (11th Cir.1998). In Oladeinde v. City of Birmingham, the Eleventh Circuit held that in cases where qualified immunity is implicated, "some factual detail is necessary, especially if [the court is] to be able to see that the allegedly violated right was clearly established when the allegedly wrongful acts occurred." 963 F.2d 1481, 1485 (11th Cir.1992). ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Smiley v. Ala. Dep't of Transp.
...their official capacities-under § 1981 no longer exist and are due to be dismissed with prejudice. See, e.g., St. Louis v. Sands, 401 F.Supp.2d 1351, 1358 (S.D.Fla.2005) (merging § 1981 claim brought against state actor in individual capacity with § 1983 claim). Accordingly, to the extent t......