Rufus Hamilton v. Fulton County Schools ( 2023 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 22-11446    Document: 40-1      Date Filed: 09/28/2023   Page: 1 of 10
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 22-11446
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    RUFUS HAMILTON,
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    versus
    FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Georgia
    D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cv-01437-LMM
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 22-11446      Document: 40-1          Date Filed: 09/28/2023   Page: 2 of 10
    2                      Opinion of the Court                   22-11446
    Before JORDAN, BRANCH, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Rufus Hamilton, proceeding pro se, appeals the district
    court’s dismissal of his amended complaint against his former em-
    ployer, the Fulton County Schools (“FCS”). Hamilton purported
    to assert claims against FCS for unlawful discrimination based on
    his race and age, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42
    U.S.C. § 2000e-2 (“Title VII”), and the Age Discrimination in Em-
    ployment Act, 
    29 U.S.C. § 623
    (a) (“ADEA”). No reversible error has
    been shown; we affirm.
    I.
    Hamilton filed pro se this civil action in April 2021. Hamilton
    filed his initial complaint against FCS using the district court’s “Pro
    Se Employment Discrimination Complaint Form.” On the com-
    plaint form, Hamilton checked boxes indicating (1) that he was
    bringing claims for violations of Title VII and the ADEA; (2) the
    alleged discrimination took place on 16 December 2020; and (3)
    that his lawsuit involved a failure-to-promote and the termination
    of his employment. Hamilton checked a box indicating that he be-
    lieved he was discriminated against because of his race and identi-
    fied himself as being black. Hamilton left un-checked the box indi-
    cating that he believed he was discriminated against based on his
    age. Nor did Hamilton provide his date of birth or his age on the
    date of the complained-of conduct in December 2020.
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    22-11446               Opinion of the Court                        3
    In the section of the form directing plaintiffs to describe the
    essential facts of their case, Hamilton alleged that he was fired “for
    taking home pallets” even though his director purportedly gave
    him permission to do so. Hamilton alleged further that “every
    body was taking trees home as firewood and they still have a job.”
    Hamilton did not identify the race or age of the employees who
    purportedly took home firewood. Hamilton attached to his com-
    plaint a notice of right-to-sue letter received from the EEOC: a let-
    ter that referenced only a charge of discrimination alleging viola-
    tions of Title VII.
    FCS moved to dismiss Hamilton’s complaint for failure to
    exhaust administrative remedies and for failure to state a claim.
    On 13 May 2021, Hamilton filed pro se a one-page document
    titled “Amend Complaint.” Hamilton sought to add a claim for
    wrongful termination. Hamilton also alleged that he applied for a
    position but that “they” hired “their friend” instead. Hamilton al-
    leged that -- although he was not selected for the position -- he was
    expected to do the work that the newly-hired person did not want
    to do.
    On the same day, Hamilton also filed pro se a one-page doc-
    ument titled “Motion to Not Dismiss.” In that document, Hamil-
    ton said again that he was terminated unlawfully for taking pallets
    even though he had permission to do so and stopped when he was
    asked. Hamilton also said again that “they wanted [him] to do the
    work the new guy didn’t want to do.” Hamilton attached a photo-
    graph of wood pallets and several letters from FCS’s Supervisor of
    USCA11 Case: 22-11446      Document: 40-1      Date Filed: 09/28/2023     Page: 4 of 10
    4                      Opinion of the Court                 22-11446
    Maintenance discussing Hamilton’s job-performance issues during
    October and November 2020.
    FCS again moved to dismiss Hamilton’s amended complaint
    for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and for failure to
    state a claim.
    On 4 June 2021, Hamilton filed pro se a one-page document
    titled “Add to file.” Hamilton said that FCS “clearly falls under Title
    VII.” About his failure-to-promote claim, Hamilton alleged that he
    applied for a position but that Dennis Downs gave the position to
    “his friend” instead. Because the newly-hired person did not want
    to do the job, Hamilton said he was pressured “to do his job with
    the same pay.” Hamilton alleges that “[t]hey came up with this tak-
    ing from the trash pallet when everybody else taking property
    home as firewood. Trees!!” (emphasis in original). Hamilton then
    attached two photographs showing piles of cut wood.
    A magistrate judge issued a non-final report and recommen-
    dation (“R&R”). Construing all of Hamilton’s pro se filings to-
    gether as a single complaint, the magistrate judge determined that
    Hamilton had failed to allege facts sufficient to state a plausible
    claim for relief. The magistrate judge also determined that -- be-
    cause Hamilton had not provided a copy of his EEOC charge --
    Hamilton had failed to demonstrate that he had exhausted properly
    his administrative remedies. Given Hamilton’s pro se status, the
    magistrate judge recommended that Hamilton be given an oppor-
    tunity to amend his complaint to correct the identified deficiencies.
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    22-11446               Opinion of the Court                       5
    Hamilton filed no objections to the R&R. The district court
    adopted the R&R and granted Hamilton leave to file one more
    amended complaint.
    On 14 September 2021, Hamilton filed an amended com-
    plaint consisting of one page of narrative text. Hamilton asserted
    that he applied for a “lead position” he says he was well-qualified
    for, but that he was passed over in favor of a friend of his immedi-
    ate supervisor, Dennis Downs. Because the new hire purportedly
    did not want to complete some of his assigned duties, Hamilton
    was expected -- but refused -- to perform those tasks without an
    accompanying pay raise.
    Hamilton also alleged that he was fired for theft after he re-
    moved pallets from outside the trash can, even though his director
    had given him permission to do so. Hamilton said he believed tak-
    ing the pallets would not cause “a problem because several mainte-
    nance workers were taking cut trees home for firewood.” Hamil-
    ton said he knows the reason he was terminated was not because
    of the pallets but, instead, because he complained about not getting
    the promotion. Hamilton also said, “I did not include race in this
    letter because then [I] would be labeled as a racist.” Never did
    Hamilton mention his race or age, nor the race or age of any of his
    co-workers or supervisors. Nor did Hamilton attach a copy of his
    EEOC charge to his amended complaint.
    FCS again moved to dismiss Hamilton’s amended com-
    plaint.
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    6                          Opinion of the Court                         22-11446
    A magistrate judge issued a final R&R recommending that
    the district court grant FCS’s motion and dismiss Hamilton’s
    amended complaint. The magistrate judge determined that -- de-
    spite the district court’s detailed instructions -- Hamilton’s
    amended complaint still failed to allege factual content sufficient to
    state a plausible claim for unlawful discrimination. In the alterna-
    tive, the magistrate judge determined that Hamilton’s claims were
    subject to dismissal because Hamilton had failed to demonstrate
    that he had exhausted properly his administrative remedies.
    Hamilton objected to the R&R. 1 The district court over-
    ruled Hamilton’s objections, adopted the R&R, and dismissed the
    case.
    II.
    We review de novo a district court’s dismissal for failure to
    state a claim, accepting all properly alleged facts as true and con-
    struing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Butler
    v. Sheriff of Palm Beach Cty., 
    685 F.3d 1261
    , 1265 (11th Cir. 2012).
    1 In his objections, Hamilton alleged -- for the first time -- that he was treated
    differently from a white employee whom Hamilton said is still employed after
    taking home cut-up trees to use as firewood. In reviewing the R&R, the dis-
    trict court declined to consider this new factual allegation, noting that Hamil-
    ton omitted this fact from his amended complaint and from his response to
    FSC’s motion to dismiss. On appeal, Hamilton raises no challenge to the dis-
    trict court’s refusal to consider facts raised for the first time in his objections
    to the R&R.
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    22-11446                 Opinion of the Court                            7
    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)(2). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must con-
    tain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to
    relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 
    556 U.S. 662
    , 678
    (2009) (quotations omitted). To state a plausible claim for relief, a
    plaintiff must go beyond pleading merely the “sheer possibility” of
    unlawful activity by a defendant and must offer “factual content
    that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the de-
    fendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” 
    Id.
     In other words,
    the plaintiff’s “[f ]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right
    to relief above the speculative level.” See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
    
    550 U.S. 544
    , 555 (2007). “A pleading that offers ‘labels and conclu-
    sions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action
    will not do.’” Iqbal, 
    556 U.S. at 678
    . “Nor does a complaint suffice
    if it tenders naked assertions devoid of further factual enhance-
    ment.” 
    Id.
     (quotations and alteration omitted).
    A complaint filed by a pro se litigant is construed more liber-
    ally than a formal pleading drafted by a lawyer. See Powell v. Lennon,
    
    914 F.2d 1459
    , 1463 (11th Cir. 1990). Despite this leniency toward
    pro se litigants, courts may not step into the role of de facto counsel
    or “rewrite an otherwise deficient pleading in order to sustain an
    action.” GJR Invs. v. Cty. of Escambia, 
    132 F.3d 1359
    , 1369 (11th Cir.
    1998).
    Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge or
    otherwise discriminate against any person “with respect to his
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    8                      Opinion of the Court                  22-11446
    compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” be-
    cause of the person’s race. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). The
    ADEA, meanwhile, prohibits employers from discriminating
    against an employee who is at least 40 years old because of the em-
    ployee’s age. See 
    29 U.S.C. §§ 623
    (a)(1), 631(a).
    The district court committed no error in dismissing Hamil-
    ton’s complaint for failure to state a claim. The district court ap-
    plied properly the federal pleading standards set forth in Fed. R. Civ.
    P. 8, and in Iqbal and Twombly.
    Accepting the allegations in Hamilton’s amended complaint
    as true and liberally construing them in Hamilton’s favor, Hamilton
    failed to allege facts demonstrating plausibly that he was discrimi-
    nated against unlawfully in violation of Title VII or the ADEA.
    About his ADEA claims, Hamilton alleged no facts from
    which we can infer reasonably that he was discriminated against
    unlawfully based on his age. Nowhere in Hamilton’s amended
    complaint did Hamilton allege that he was at least 40 years’ old at
    the time of the complained-of employment acts. Hamilton has
    thus failed to allege facts showing that he belonged to the class of
    persons protected by the ADEA. See 
    29 U.S.C. § 631
    (a). Nor has
    Hamilton alleged the ages of the pertinent decisionmakers, his co-
    workers, or the person hired for the “lead position.” On this rec-
    ord, the district court dismissed properly Hamilton’s claims under
    the ADEA for failure to state a claim.
    We next address Hamilton’s claims for race discrimination
    under Title VII. About his failure-to-promote claim, Hamilton
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    22-11446               Opinion of the Court                          9
    alleged only that he applied for a position for which he was quali-
    fied and that the position was given to a “friend” of his direct su-
    pervisor. Never has Hamilton identified the race or qualifications
    of the person who was hired for the position or identified the race
    of the person who made the hiring decision. In other words, Ham-
    ilton alleged no specific facts from which we can infer reasonably
    that the hiring decision was motivated by unlawful race discrimi-
    nation. That the hiring decision might have been made based on
    personal friendships does not support -- and seems to cut against -
    - a plausible inference that the decision was driven by a racially dis-
    criminatory animus.
    About the termination of his employment, Hamilton said
    he was fired for taking home pallets even though he was given per-
    mission to do so. According to Hamilton, the real reason he was
    fired was because he complained about not getting the promotion.
    Hamilton alleged no facts about the race of the decisionmaker or
    about the race, work history, or disciplinary record of those co-
    workers he said were undisciplined after taking home firewood.
    Nor has Hamilton alleged specific facts about his promotion-re-
    lated complaints, including the identity of the person(s) to whom
    he complained or whether he indicated in his complaints that he
    believed the hiring decision was motivated unlawfully by race.
    Without additional factual enhancement, Hamilton’s im-
    plied assertions that FCS’s decision to terminate his employment
    was motivated by unlawful race discrimination or was made in re-
    taliation for Hamilton’s promotion-related complaints are too
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    10                        Opinion of the Court                       22-11446
    speculative to state a plausible claim against FCS for violation of
    Title VII. See Iqbal, 
    129 S. Ct. at 1949
    .
    On these pleadings and for these reasons, we affirm the dis-
    trict court’s dismissal of Hamilton’s amended complaint pursuant
    to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). 2
    AFFIRMED.
    2 Because we conclude that the district court dismissed properly Hamilton’s
    amended complaint for failure to state a claim, we need not address the district
    court’s alternative ruling that Hamilton’s amended complaint was subject to
    dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 22-11446

Filed Date: 9/28/2023

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 9/28/2023