Ferebee v. United States Post Office ( 2021 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FILED
AUG. 24, 2021
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Columbia
RENEE FEREBEE, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. )
) Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-02095 (UNA)
)
UNITED STATES POST OFFICE OF )
WASHINGTON, D.C., )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the court on its initial review of plaintiff’s pro se complaint, ECF No.
1, and application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF No. 2. The court will grant the in
forma pauperis application and dismiss the case because the complaint fails to meet the minimal
pleading requirements of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Pro se litigants must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tisch,
656 F. Supp. 237, 239 (D.D.C. 1987). Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires
complaints to contain “(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction
[and] (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.”
Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a); see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009); Ciralsky v. CIA, 355 F.3d
661, 668-71 (D.C. Cir. 2004). The Rule 8 standard ensures that defendants receive fair notice of
the claim being asserted so that they can prepare a responsive answer and an adequate defense and
determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies. Brown v. Califano, 75 F.R.D. 497, 498
(D.D.C. 1977). “A confused and rambling narrative of charges and conclusions . . . does not
comply with the requirements of Rule 8.” Cheeks v. Fort Myer Constr. Corp., 71 F. Supp. 3d 163,
169 (D.D.C. 2014) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
Plaintiff, Renee Ferebee, [sic] “the original child of her heavenly, emperious[,]” sues “the
United States Post Office of Washington D.C. 20003” and seeks “500 trillion dollars” in damages
and other injunctive relief. She also purports to be an “attorney” but provides no identifying
information to support this contention. She alleges that various employees at the United States
Post Office, located at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, unfairly refused to process her certified
mailings. She believes that said employees made unfair assumptions about her competency and
literacy, which seemingly escalated into a mutual altercation and denial of services. She believes
that this incident was motivated by unspecified discrimination and a broad overarching conspiracy
to violate her civil rights, resulting in defamation of her character and obstruction of justice. The
remainder of the complaint contains a vague discussion regarding plaintiff’s belief that society as
a whole is “inhumane” and “selfish” and plaintiff’s efforts to spread “her wealth” to the District of
Columbia “and around the world[.]”
The wide-ranging allegations comprising the complaint fail to provide adequate notice of
a claim. The complaint also fails to set forth allegations with respect to this court’s jurisdiction
over plaintiff’s entitlement to relief or a valid basis for an award of damages as pled. As drafted,
the complaint fails to meet the minimum pleading standard set forth in Rule 8(a). Furthermore,
plaintiff fails to adequately plead the deprivation of a protected right. The mere suggestion of a
federal question is not sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of federal courts.” Johnson v.
Robinson, 576 F.3d 522, 522 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (citing Bilal v. Kaplan, 904 F.2d 14, 15 (8th Cir.
1990) (per curiam)).
For all of these reasons, this case is dismissed without prejudice. A separate order
accompanies this memorandum opinion.
Date: August 24, 2021 /s/______________________
EMMET G. SULLIVAN
United States District Judge