Williams v. Savage

• Decision Date: 10 March 2008
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 07-0583 (RMU).
• Citation: 538 F.Supp.2d 34
• Parties: Don E. WILLIAMS et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pernell L. SAVAGE et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

538 F.Supp.2d 34

Don E. WILLIAMS et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pernell L. SAVAGE et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 07-0583 (RMU).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

March 10, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Steven M. Spiegel, Alexandria, VA, for Plaintiffs.

Darragh L. Inman, Hartel, Kane, Desantis, MacDonald & Howie, LLP, Greenbelt, MD, Carl James Schifferle, Office of the Corporation Counsel, Steven J. Anderson, Office of Attorney General for DC, Washington, DC, Michael A. Desantis, Hartel, Kane, Desantis, MacDonald & Howie, LLP, Beltsville, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RICARDO M. URBINA, District Judge.

GRANTING THE D.C. DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS

I. INTRODUCTION

The plaintiffs — Don Williams, Alleans McQueen and Fonda Allen — seek to make a federal case out of an ordinary car accident. They charge Kimberly Freeman, the police officer who took the accident report; George Bernard, the sergeant who handled the plaintiffs' complaints about the report; Jennifer Green, the commander of the precinct out of which Freeman and Bernard worked; and the District of Columbia (collectively, the "D.C. defendants") with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112 et seq., 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 42 U.S.C. § 1985, and the First Amendment's protections of free exercise of religion and access to the courts.¹ The D.C. defendants filed a motion to dismiss these claims for, inter alia, failing to state a claim on which relief may be granted. Because the plaintiffs have not succeeded in stating a cognizable claim for any of the many federal violations alleged, the court grants the D.C. defendants' motion to dismiss these claims.

II. BACKGROUND

The plaintiffs allege the following in support of their claims: Plaintiff Williams is a recovered alcoholic. Compl. ¶ 17. He recovered "through his belief in a Higher Being which is the center of the [Alcoholics Anonymous ("AA") program] and by his regular attendance at AA meetings and the support of his fellow members over a number of years." Id. In March 2004, he borrowed a friend's car to attend an AA meeting, which met regularly at a church in the District of Columbia. Id. ¶¶ 15-20. Plaintiffs McQueen and Allen, who are recovered alcoholics and friends of Williams through their regular encounters at AA meetings, also attended the meeting that day. Id. ¶¶ 19-20.

After the meeting, Williams decided to drive back to his friend's house, id. ¶ 20; McQueen and Allen happened to be traveling behind him, as he proceeded south on 11th Street, id. ¶ 21. Williams then drove through a green light at the intersection of 11th and H Streets, S.E., when defendant Savage, traveling west on H Street, ran a red light and collided with Williams's vehicle. Id. ¶ 23. Defendant Freeman, a police officer, arrived on the scene to document the accident as emergency responders took Williams to the hospital via ambulance. Id. ¶¶ 26-27.

At that point, Bernetta Kingsberry came forward as a witness, informing Freeman that Williams was at fault and that Freeman should not listen to McQueen or Allen because "one cannot trust those AA's." Id. ¶¶ 28, 29. McQueen and Allen tried to explain to Freeman what they saw, but Freeman "made it plain to them that she did not want to hear from anyone in AA" and refused to listen to them. Id. ¶ 31. Freeman then solicited other witnesses to support her view that Williams was at fault. Id. ¶ 34. She interviewed several individuals, including Savage, and they all indicated that Williams was at fault. Id. ¶¶ 33-38. Based on this information, Freeman issued Williams a citation for failure to yield the right of way. Id. ¶ 40. This citation has since been dropped. Id. ¶ 41.

Some time after' the accident, Williams sent a letter to the General Counsel for the Metropolitan Police Department, which was eventually redirected to Bernard — a sergeant in the police department — requesting that the department reconsider its finding that Williams was at fault for the accident. Id. ¶¶ 42-44. In the letter, Williams notes inconsistencies and biases in statements made by the witnesses to Freeman at the scene and notifies the department of an additional witness, Thomas Taylor, who was not interviewed and whose description of the events contradicts those in the report. Id. ¶¶ 43, 45. After receiving the letter, Bernard falsely told Williams that Taylor came to the precinct and made a statement corroborating the findings in the police report. Id. ¶ 61. Bernard misled the plaintiffs in an effort to further discriminate against AA members. Id. ¶ 62.

Without taking any further action, Bernard also informed Williams that the report was sent back to the General Counsel's office. Id. ¶ 47. "In the meantime," Williams' counsel became aware that McQueen and Allen witnessed the accident and had not been interviewed by Freeman. Id. ¶ 48. Both McQueen's and Allen's depiction of the events corroborated Taylor's in absolving Williams of wrongdoing. Id. Williams forwarded this information to the General Counsel's office, but they did not take any action. Id. ¶¶ 49-50.

Because of the alleged discrimination exhibited by Freeman in concert with Kingsberry and ratified by the District of Columbia, Williams contends that he was "unable to properly settle with and collect for his injuries and the damages to his friend's vehicle." Id. ¶¶ 51-52. Due to this loss, on March 26, 2007,² the plaintiff filed a lawsuit in this court alleging that the D.C. defendants committed a litany of federal offenses. The D.C. defendants struck back with a motion to dismiss to which the court now turns.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standard for Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint. Browning v. Clinton, 292 F.3d 235, 242 (D.C.Cir.2002). The complaint need only set forth a short and plain statement of the claim, giving the defendant fair notice of the claim and the grounds upon which it rests. Kingman Park Civic Ass'n v. Williams, 348 F.3d 1033, 1040 (D.C.Cir. 2003) (citing FED.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2) and Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). "Such simplified notice pleading is made possible by the liberal opportunity for discovery and the other pre-trial procedures established by the Rules to disclose more precisely the basis of both claim and defense to define more narrowly the disputed facts and issues." Conley, 355 U.S. at 47-48, 78 S.Ct. 99 (internal quotation marks omitted). It is not necessary for the plaintiff to plead all elements of his prima facie case in the complaint, Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 511-14, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002), or "plead law or match facts to every element of a legal theory," Krieger v. Fadely, 211 F.3d 134, 136 (D.C.Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Yet, the plaintiff must allege a "plausible entitlement to relief," by setting forth "any set of facts consistent with the allegations." Bell Alt. Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1967, 1969, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (abrogating the oft-quoted language from Conley, 355 U.S. at 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, instructing courts not to dismiss for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that "no set of facts in support of his claim H would entitle him to relief"). While these facts must "possess enough heft to `sho[w] that the pleader is entitled to relief,'" a complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations." Id. at 1964, 1966. In resolving a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court must treat the complaint's factual allegations — including mixed questions of law and fact — as true and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in the plaintiff's favor. Macharia v. United States, 334 F.3d 61, 64, 67 (D.C.Cir.2003); Holy Land Found. for Relief & Dev. v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 156, 165 (D.C.Cir.2003); Browning, 292 F.3d at 242. While many well-pleaded complaints are conclusory, the court need not accept as true inferences unsupported by facts set out in the complaint or legal conclusions cast as factual allegations. Warren v. District of Columbia, 353 F.3d 36, 40 (D.C.Cir.2004); Browning, 292 F.3d at 242.

B. The Court Dismisses the Plaintiffs' ADA Claim

1. Statute of Limitations Does not Bar the Claim

A defendant may raise the affirmative defense of statute of limitations via a Rule 12(b)(6) motion when the facts that give rise to the defense are clear from the face of the complaint. Smith-Haynie v. District of Columbia, 155 F.3d 575, 578 (D.C.Cir.1998). Because statute of limitations issues often depend on contested questions of fact, however, the court should hesitate to dismiss a complaint on statute of limitations grounds based solely on the face of the complaint. Firestone v. Firestone, 76 F.3d 1205, 1209 (D.C.Cir. 1996). Rather, the court should grant a motion to dismiss only if the complaint on its face is conclusively time-barred. Id.; Doe v. Dep't of Justice, 753 F.2d 1092, 1115 (D.C.Cir.1985). If "no reasonable person could disagree on the date" on which the cause of action accrued, the court may dismiss a claim on statute of limitations grounds. Smith v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 3 F.Supp.2d 1473, 1475 (D.D.C.1998) (citing Kuwait Airways Corp. v. Am. Sec. Bank, NA., 890 F.2d 456, 463 n. 11 (D.C.Cir.1989)).

The ADA does not contain a statute of limitations. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12112 et seq. The Supreme Court, in Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co., held that when a federal statute does not contain a statute of limitations, "federal courts should select the most appropriate or analogous state statute of limitations." 482 U.S. 656, 660, 107 S.Ct. 2617, 96 L.Ed.2d 572 (1987). The Court determined that a state's personal injury statute of limitations period should apply when the federal statute protects a plaintiffs ability to receive "equal rights under the law." Id. It follows then, that "[O]nce the Supreme Court's ruling in Goodman...