Jody Butts v. Ryan Hyde

GLD-094 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 11-4252
___________
JODY K. BUTTS,
Appellant
v.
RYAN HYDE, Assistant Director BVRS, OVR, Department of Labor and Industry;
Mrs. Z MORRIS; SUSAN NEWCOMER; MARGARET MCKENNA, CAP Advocacy
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil No. 1-11-cv-00597)
District Judge: Honorable John E. Jones III
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Summary Action Pursuant to
Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
January 20, 2012
Before: FUENTES, GREENAWAY, JR., AND STAPLETON, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: January 31, 2012)
_________
OPINION
_________
PER CURIAM
Jody Butts appeals the District Court’s order dismissing her complaint for failure
to state a claim. For the reasons below, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.
1
The procedural history of this case is well known to the parties, set forth in the
District Court’s memorandum order, and need not be discussed at length. Briefly, Butts
filed a complaint in the District Court. The Magistrate Judge concluded that the
allegations in the complaint failed to state a claim and gave Butts the opportunity to
amend her complaint. Butts did not file an amended complaint. The Magistrate Judge
then issued a Report and Recommendation in which he concluded that Butts had not
supported her conclusory claims of discrimination with any factual allegations: she had
not explained how any defendant discriminated against her. The District Court adopted
the Report and Recommendation and dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim.
Butts filed a document which was construed as a timely notice of appeal.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. In order to state a claim, a plaintiff
must make sufficient factual allegations to allow a court to “draw the reasonable
inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129
S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009). It is not enough for a plaintiff to offer only conclusory
allegations or a simple recital of the elements of a claim. Bell Atlantic Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). In the section of the complaint for the statement of
the claim, Butts wrote:
Discrimination of my Disabilitie
and My Age - Work - Performance
Keep me out work for a year ½
For Medical Records - Granted twice with
with Funding NEVER - Gotten. Extra
For the relief requested, Butts wrote:
There the only Place
2
you Can get funding in York PA.
For, having Disabilitie. And, Councelor
keep being Degrading. Legal Aide
Attorney been Working with them
Also Carolyn Sexton. 1 ½ Also
Butts attached over two hundred pages of documents to her complaint. From these
documents and her other District Court pleadings, it appears that Butts believes that she is
entitled to monetary assistance from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) to set
up her own small business. The OVR determined that Butts was not eligible for such
assistance. Butts asserted that she was discriminated against on the basis of her age, race,
and mental disabilities.
We agree with the District Court that Butts has failed to state a claim. She has
made no factual allegations that would support a finding that any of the defendants
discriminated against her. Her conclusory allegations that the defendants acted
unlawfully are insufficient. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555.
Summary action is appropriate if there is no substantial question presented in the
appeal. See Third Circuit LAR 27.4. For the above reasons, as well as those set forth by
the District Court, we will summarily affirm the District Court’s order. See Third Circuit
I.O.P. 10.6.
3