Jackson v. Iasis Healthcare Corp. , 92 F. App'x 763 ( 2004 )


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  •                                                                          F I L E D
    United States Court of Appeals
    Tenth Circuit
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    MAR 22 2004
    TENTH CIRCUIT
    PATRICK FISHER
    Clerk
    THOMAS JACKSON, an individual,
    Plaintiff - Appellant,
    v.
    IASIS HEALTHCARE
    CORPORATION, a Tennessee
    corporation; DAVID R. WHITE, CEO,                       No. 03-4050
    IASIS Healthcare Corporation, an               (D. Ct. No. 2:02-CV-233-ST)
    individual; KEITH TINTLE, former                         (D. Utah)
    CEO, Pioneer Valley Hospital,
    individually; TY BERRETT, Director
    of Physical Therapy, Pioneer Valley
    Hospital, an individual; and DAWN
    BOOTH, Administrator, Pioneer
    Valley Hospital, an individual,
    Defendants - Appellees.
    CENTER FOR LEGAL ADVOCACY,
    doing business as The Legal Center
    for People with Disabilities and Older
    People; COLORADO CROSS-
    DISABILITY COALITION,
    Amici Curiae.
    ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
    *
    This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
    doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. This court
    (continued...)
    Before TACHA, Chief Circuit Judge, BRORBY, Senior Circuit Judge, and
    KELLY, Circuit Judge.
    After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this three-judge panel
    has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material
    assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th
    Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
    Plaintiff-Appellant Thomas Jackson’s appeal presents two issues. First, he
    argues that the district court erred in dismissing his claims based on an incorrect
    interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 
    42 U.S.C. § 12181
    et seq. Second, he contends that the district court erred in refusing to allow him
    to amend his pleadings. We take jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
    , REVERSE
    the dismissal and denial of leave to amend, and REMAND.
    I. BACKGROUND
    This case comes to us from a motion to dismiss. The facts as stated in the
    complaint follow. Mr. Jackson’s wife, Sherrie Jackson, was a regular volunteer at
    Pioneer Valley Hospital (“the hospital”), which IASIS Healthcare Corporation
    (“IASIS”) owns and operates. Mrs. Jackson suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and
    *
    (...continued)
    generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
    and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
    -2-
    used an electric scooter for mobility. She had difficulty accessing various parts
    of the hospital that were not conducive to her scooter. Mr. Jackson repeatedly
    brought these impediments to the hospital’s attention, but it failed to correct the
    problems fully.
    In an effort to document his complaints, on December 31, 2001, Mr.
    Jackson took several digital photographs of the hospital. After taking these
    photographs, a hospital security guard “stood over [him] in a manner which
    confined [him] to a chair, . . . offensively took [his] digital camera, . . . [and]
    deleted [his] pictures.” Despite this incident, Mr. Jackson and his wife continued
    their efforts to force the hospital to make itself accessible, and, in response, the
    hospital ended Mrs. Jackson’s volunteer work.
    On March 21, 2002, the Jacksons filed suit against IASIS and several of its
    employees, alleging various violations of the ADA. Mrs. Jackson subsequently
    passed away, after which IASIS filed a motion to dismiss all claims. Mr. Jackson
    then filed a motion opposing dismissal, to which IASIS responded. Before the
    district court ruled on IASIS’s motion to dismiss, Mr. Jackson filed a motion to
    amend in an effort to clarify his initial complaint.   1
    After ordering supplemental
    1
    Specifically, Mr. Jackson’s motion sought leave to remove his wife’s
    claims from the suit following her death, clarify that his complaint brought both
    retaliation and coercion claims, drop several defendants, add the Disabled Rights
    Action Committee as a plaintiff, and add ADA claims relating to a different
    (continued...)
    -3-
    briefing and hearing oral argument, the district court dismissed Mr. Jackson’s
    claims solely because it believed that the ADA “does not contemplate retaliation
    claims for [p]laintiffs with no formal relationship with the employer.”   2
    After this dismissal, IASIS filed a brief opposing Mr. Jackson’s motion to
    amend. The district court then denied Mr. Jackson’s motion to amend, relying
    primarily on the fact that, in light of its earlier order dismissing Mr. Jackson’s
    claims, there were no parties or claims before it. This appeal followed.
    II. DISCUSSION
    A. Dismissal Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)
    1. Standard of Review
    We review de novo the district court’s grant of IASIS’s 12(b)(6) motion.
    Aspen Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, LLC v. Aspen Valley Hosp. Dist.         , 
    353 F.3d 832
    , 837 (10th Cir. 2003). In so doing, “[w]e accept all well-pleaded factual
    allegations in the complaint as true and view them in the light most favorable to
    [Mr. Jackson].”   
    Id.
     Moreover, our function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion “is not to
    weigh potential evidence that the parties might present at trial, but to assess
    whether [Mr. Jackson’s] complaint alone is legally sufficient to state a claim for
    (...continued)
    1
    IASIS-owned facility.
    2
    In light of her passing, the district court also dismissed Mrs. Jackson’s
    claims. No party challenges that dismissal on appeal.
    -4-
    which relief may be granted.”    
    Id.
     (quotation omitted).
    2. Merits
    The district court granted IASIS’s motion to dismiss Mr. Jackson’s claims
    because it concluded that the ADA “does not contemplate retaliation claims for
    [p]laintiffs with no formal relationship to the employer.” Thus, after noting that
    Mr. Jackson had no formal relationship with IASIS, the district court dismissed
    Mr. Jackson’s claims, concluding that he “ha[d] suffered no damages because
    there is nothing the Defendants can take away, or retaliate against.”
    On appeal, IASIS concedes that the district court incorrectly concluded that
    a claim of retaliation under the ADA requires that the plaintiff have a formal
    relationship (i.e., employment) with the defendant.      3
    Because IASIS abandons this
    point on appeal, we need not address it today.        See United States v. Seminole
    Nation of Okla. , 
    321 F.3d 939
    , 946 n.5 (10th Cir. 2002) (refusing to address a
    matter that a party had abandoned on appeal).
    Despite this concession, IASIS urges us to affirm the district court’s
    dismissal, contending that Mr. Jackson “never argues the prima facie case he has
    to make if his personal claim of retaliation is to survive a motion to dismiss.” In
    3
    Although we label Mr. Jackson’s argument a retaliation claim, we note
    that he insists that he makes both a retaliation claim (i.e., 
    42 U.S.C. § 12203
    (a))
    and a coercion claim (i.e., 
    42 U.S.C. § 12203
    (b)). We need not decide today the
    exact nature of his claims because our ruling applies equally to claims under both
    sections.
    -5-
    response, citing to Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A. , 
    534 U.S. 506
    , 510-13 (2002),
    Mr. Jackson argues that he need not plead a prima facie case to survive a Rule
    12(b)(6) motion. We agree.
    As the Court noted in Swierkiewicz , the prima facie case under     McDonnell
    Douglas Corp. v. Green , 
    411 U.S. 792
     (1973), which we apply to ADA claims, “is
    an evidentiary standard, not a pleading requirement.”      Swierkiewicz , 
    534 U.S. at 510
    . Indeed, a plaintiff need “satisfy only the simple requirements of Rule 8(a)”
    to escape a 12(b)(6) motion.   4
    
    Id. at 513
    . Finding that Mr. Jackson’s pleadings
    satisfy this standard, we reverse the district court’s dismissal.
    B. Denial of Leave to Amend
    1. Standard of Review
    We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s decision to deny Mr.
    Jackson’s motion to amend.         Hom v. Squire , 
    81 F.3d 969
    , 973 (10th Cir. 1996).
    Under this standard, we will only reverse the district court’s decision if it was
    “arbitrary, capricious, or whimsical” or “based on an erroneous view of the law or
    on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence.”       Amoco Oil Co. v. United
    4
    Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 adopts notice pleading. As the Court
    has often instructed, “the Rule mean[s] what it sa[ys] . . . . [A]ll 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 upon which it rests.”
    Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit        , 
    507 U.S. 163
    , 168 (1993).
    -6-
    States Env’t Protection Agency    , 
    231 F.3d 694
    , 697 (10th Cir. 2000) (quotations
    omitted).
    2. Merits
    “Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a party
    may amend the pleadings after [the opposing party has responded] only by leave
    of court or by written consent of the adverse party; and leave shall be   freely given
    when justice so requires.”    Hom , 
    81 F.3d at 973
     (emphasis added) (citations
    omitted). In explaining this Rule, the Supreme Court has stated:
    If the underlying facts or circumstances relied upon by a plaintiff
    may be a proper subject of relief, he ought to be afforded an
    opportunity to test his claim on the merits. In the absence of any
    apparent or declared reason—such as undue delay, bad faith or
    dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure
    deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to
    the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility
    of amendment, etc.—the leave sought should, as the rules require, be
    ‘freely given.’ Foman v. Davis , 
    371 U.S. 178
    , 182 (1962).
    Although the district court seemed to base its order denying Mr. Jackson’s
    motion to amend on several grounds, we read the order to deny leave primarily
    because, after granting IASIS’s motion to dismiss all claims, no parties remained
    before the court. As such, the district court ruled that “[i]f [Mr. Jackson] wants
    to pursue further claims in this matter, [he] will have to start over.”
    In light of the fact that it erroneously dismissed the underlying complaint,
    we find that the district court abused its discretion in denying leave to amend on
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    that ground. Thus, we reverse the denial of leave to amend.
    III. CONCLUSION
    For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE the district court’s dismissal and
    denial of leave to amend. On REMAND, Mr. Jackson may refile a motion to
    amend, and the district court should reconsider that motion in light of this
    decision.
    ENTERED FOR THE COURT,
    Deanell Reece Tacha
    Chief Circuit Judge
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