Wells v. Board of Trustees of Cal. State Univers., C 05-02073 CW.

• Decision Date: 04 October 2005
• Docket Number: No. C 05-02073 CW.,C 05-02073 CW.
• Citation: 393 F.Supp.2d 990
• Parties: David WELLS, Plaintiff, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

393 F.Supp.2d 990

David WELLS, Plaintiff, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants.

No. C 05-02073 CW.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

October 4, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert V. Cohune, Law Office of Robert Cohune, Truckee, CA, for Plaintiff.

Alison L. Tsao, Cheryl D. Orr, Carlton Disante & Freudenberger LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, and DENYING, IN PART, DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS AND MOTION TO STRIKE

WILKEN, District Judge.

Defendants move to dismiss several of Plaintiff's causes of action and to strike Plaintiff's prayer for punitive damages. Plaintiff opposes the motion. The matter was heard on September 30, 2005. The Court having considered all of the papers filed by the parties and oral argument, Defendants' motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

According to his complaint, Plaintiff David Wells was hired by Humboldt State University in September, 1980 as a track coach on a one-year contract. Wells alleges that it was the custom and practice of the Athletic Department routinely to renew contracts so long as the coach was successful in inter-collegiate competition and demonstrated skills in management, fund-raising and interaction with the community, administration and alumni. Wells claims he far exceeded these standards and, consequently, his contract was renewed each year from 1981 through 2000.

In late 1998 and early 1999, Wells learned that women's sports were disproportionately funded relative to men's sports in violation of Title IX. At that time, Wells raised the issue with his supervisors and suggested they equally apportion the funding between men's and women's athletics. Despite his advocacy for Title IX compliance, Wells received a Faculty Merit Award in November, 2000 and his contract was renewed on January 25, 2001.

In March, 2001, because Wells raised the Title IX issue, California State University (CSU) appointed a faculty member to conduct an internal investigation and to report to administration at Humboldt State University. The investigation confirmed a violation of Title IX, yet the administration failed to respond.

On or about June 1, 2001, Wells and Humboldt State University students submitted a Title IX grievance with the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Justice and sent a copy of the grievance to the President of Humboldt State University. Wells claims that, as a result, the athletic director at the time, Swan,¹ resigned on or about June 15, 2001. Wells alleges that he discovered that Swan had illegally transferred funds within the Athletic Department to conceal his intent to deprive women's athletics of equal funding. Furthermore, Wells alleges that Steven Butler, Vice President of Humboldt State University, conspired with Swan to make the transfer. Wells declares that his own two-year investigation revealed that approximately $270,000.00 of Athletic Department funds was unaccounted for.

Wells filed another formal complaint with the Office of Civil Rights regarding Humboldt State University's failure to comply with Title IX. Meanwhile, in December, 2001, Butler appointed Dan Collen interim athletic director. Wells alleges that on June 5, 2002, Collen rated his performance generally as "unsatisfactory" on a "Coaching Performance Evaluation" in retaliation for raising the issue of the missing funds.

Wells states that, on or about April 15, 2003, his contract was renewed for only ten months instead of twelve months and the two-year budget for cross-country and men's and women's track was reduced by $104,000.00. Wells alleges that these actions were taken because of his complaints regarding Title IX and the missing funds. Wells alleges that, between 2002 and 2004, the administration repeatedly refused to account for the source and application of Athletic Department funds. On March 5, 2004, Wells responded by filing a complaint concerning the missing funds with the State Auditor. That same day, Wells filed a formal complaint with the California State University Whistleblower Office alleging that Defendants retaliated against him for reporting the missing funds and the Title IX non-compliance.

Wells was advised that on March 31, 2004, his contract would not be renewed when it expired. Wells alleges that, also as a result of his complaints, the track and cross-country budgets for the 2003-2004 academic year were reduced by forty percent. Moreover, the remaining sixty percent of each budget was divided into thirty percent for track and thirty percent for cross country. Butler and Collen informed Wells that he could apply for one, but not both, of the thirty-percent-funded positions. Wells applied for the positions but was not hired. The candidate who was hired was offered $50,000.00 in salary and benefits which was inconsistent with the amount of Wells' contract.

On May 20, 2005, Wells filed this action against the Board of Trustees of CSU; Rollin Richmond, President of Humboldt State University; Steven Butler; and Dan Collen. Wells sued the individuals Defendants personally and in their official capacity as employees of CSU. Wells alleges eight causes of action: (1) and (2) violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against CSU and Richmond, Butler and Collen individually and in their official capacities for retaliation based on his exercise of free speech; (3) conspiracy under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 against Richmond, Butler and Collen individually and in their official capacities; (4) violation of 20 U.S.C. § 1681 against CSU for retaliation for reporting Title IX non-compliance; (5) wrongful termination in violation of public policy against CSU;² (6) violation of the prohibition against discharge of whistleblowers under California Government Code §§ 12653 and 8547.12 against CSU; (7) violation of public policy against discharge of whistleblowers under California Labor Code § 1102.5 against CSU; and (8) intentional infliction of emotional distress against Defendants Richmond, Butler and Collen.

Defendants move to dismiss the first, second, third and fifth causes of action and move to strike Wells' prayer for punitive damages.

LEGAL STANDARD

I. Dismissal Under Rule 12(b)(6)

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim will be denied unless it is "clear that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations." Falkowski v. Imation Corp., 309 F.3d 1123, 1132 (9th Cir.2002) (citing Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002)). All material allegations in the complaint will be taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See NL Indus., Inc. v. Kaplan, 792 F.2d 896, 898 (9th Cir.1986).

A complaint must contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). "Each averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise, and direct. No technical forms of pleading or motions are required." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(e). These rules "do not require a claimant to set out in detail the facts upon which he bases his claim. To the contrary, all the Rules require is `a short and plain statement of the claim' that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds on which it rests." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

II. Motion to Strike Under Rule 12(f)

Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a party may move to strike "any redundant, immaterial, impertinent or scandalous matter." A Rule 12(f) motion may be used to strike a prayer for relief when the damages sought are not recoverable as a matter of law. Tapley v. Lockwood Green Engineers, Inc., 502 F.2d 559, 560 (8th Cir.1974) (prayer for damages exceeded maximum allowed by statute); Serpa v. SBC Telecomms., Inc., 2004 WL 2002444, *2-3, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18307, *7 (N.D.Cal.2004).

DISCUSSION

I. First and Second Causes of Action Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

Defendants assert that Plaintiff's first and second causes of action should be dismissed because Defendants are entitled to sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment and because they are not "persons" for purposes of § 1983 actions. Plaintiff contends that Congress abrogated Eleventh Amendment immunity for actions brought under Title IX. Furthermore, Plaintiff argues that there is no Eleventh Amendment immunity for individuals sued in their individual capacity.

The Eleventh Amendment provides:

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

U.S. Const. amend. XI

The Eleventh Amendment has been interpreted to shield States from suits by individuals absent the State's consent. Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 54, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996). Nevertheless, Congress may abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity when it both unequivocally intends to do so and "acts pursuant to a valid grant of constitutional authority." Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 363, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001) (quoting Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S. 62, 73, 120 S.Ct. 631, 145 L.Ed.2d 522 (2000)). However, the Court has held that Congress did not express an intent to abrogate State immunity with regards to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 66-67, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989). States, State agencies, and State officials sued in their official capacity are not considered "persons" within the meaning of § 1983. Id. at 71, 109 S.Ct. 2304; Cortez v. County of Los Angeles, 294 F.3d 1186, 1188 (9th Cir.2002).

Defendant CSU is an instrumentality of the State of California. Jackson v. Hayakawa, 682 F.2d 1344,...