DocketNumber: Civil Action No. 16–1767 (RBW)
Judges: Walton
Filed Date: 5/1/2018
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/18/2024
Barry Ahuruonye, the pro se plaintiff, brings this civil action against the defendants, the United States Department of Interior ("Department of Interior"), the Merit Systems Protection Board ("MSPB"), the United States Department of Justice, and multiple employees of the Department of Interior, asserting violations of various employment and criminal laws, the Privacy Act, the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Declaratory Judgment Act, the All Writs Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act (the "APA"). See generally Consolidated Complaints: Case No. 16-cv-1767; Case No. 16-cv-2028; Case No. 17-cv-284 ("Compl."), ECF No. 30. Currently pending before the Court are the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Consolidated Complaint for Lack of Subject[-]Matter Jurisdiction and for Failure to State a Claim ("Defs.' Mot."), ECF No. 36, the plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction Relief ("Pl.'s Mot."), ECF No. 35, the Plaintiff['s] Motion for Sanctions Under Federal Rule 11 for Patricia K. McBride['] Fraud ("Pl.'s Sanctions Mot."), ECF No. 44, and the Plaintiff[']s Response Motion for Sanctions and Striking Out a Fraudulent ECF [Nos.] 36 & 41 ("Pl.'s Sanctions Reply"), ECF No. 49. Upon consideration of the parties' submissions,
I. BACKGROUND
In December 2011, the plaintiff "was appointed to a GS-12 Grants Management Specialist position" with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency within the Department of Interior. Defs.' Mot., Exhibit ("Ex.") 1 (Initial Decision (Feb. 5, 2016) ) at 2. "In November[ ] 2012, the [plaintiff] filed a complaint with the Department of Interior Office of Inspector General [ ], alleging that his supervisor, Penny Bartnicki[,] engaged in illegal grant awards ...." Id."Shortly after the [plaintiff] filed [that] complaint, [ ] Bartnicki proposed the [plaintiff's] termination as a probationary employee." Id. On April 15, 2013, the plaintiff and the Department of Interior "settled the [plaintiff's] appeal of [his] removal [ ], and the [plaintiff] was reinstated." Id. After his reinstatement, the plaintiff "raised numerous claims against the [Department of Interior] and [ ] Bartnicki, alleging whistleblowing retaliation and discrimination." Id.; see also id. at 3-4 (listing various adverse employment actions that the plaintiff appealed to the MSPB, including the issuance of a letter of reprimand, poor performance reviews, and wage-increase denials). On March 26, 2015, the plaintiff was issued a notice of proposed removal, see id. at 4, and his employment was terminated thereafter.
Prior to and in conjunction with the filing of his cases in this district, the plaintiff has filed various actions with the MSPB, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Circuit seeking review of allegedly adverse employment actions. See Defs.' Mot. at 4-12. The plaintiff now seeks judicial review of the MSPB's decisions on his adverse employment action appeals, along with asserting additional claims for alleged constitutional and statutory violations. See generally Compl.
II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
A. Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(1)
"Federal [district] courts are courts of limited jurisdiction," Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co.,
In deciding a motion to dismiss based upon lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, a district "court need not limit itself to the allegations of the complaint." Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police v. Ashcroft,
B. Motion for Preliminary Injunction
A preliminary injunction "is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted only when the party seeking the relief, by a clear showing, carries the burden of persuasion." Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches v. England,
C. Motion for Sanctions
" [Federal Civil Procedure] Rule 11 sanctions may be imposed where a party files a pleading, motion[,] or other paper with the court for an improper purpose, that is unwarranted by existing law, [ ] that is lacking evidentiary support," Henok v. Chase Home Fin., LLC,
D. Motion to Strike
"Motions to strike are 'drastic remed[ies] that courts disfavor,' and the 'decision to grant or deny a motion to strike is vested in the trial judge's sound discretion.' " Riddick v. Holland,
III. ANALYSIS
A. The Plaintiff's Motion to Strike
In his reply in support of his motion for sanctions, the plaintiff requests that this Court strike from the record both the defendants' motion to dismiss his Consolidated Complaint and their opposition to his motion for preliminary injunctive relief. See Pl.'s Sanctions Reply at 1, 3. The plaintiff argues that such relief is warranted because the defendants' motion to dismiss is "grounded and anchored on fraud," see id. at 1, and because the defendants purportedly refused to serve him with a copy of their opposition to his motion for preliminary injunctive relief, see id. at 3. For the following reasons, the Court denies the plaintiff's motion to strike.
Initially, the Court notes that "motions to strike only apply to pleadings." Nwachukwu,
Nonetheless, even if the defendants' motion to dismiss or their opposition to the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunctive relief were subject to Rule 12(f), the plaintiff's motion to strike would still provide no independent basis for striking these submissions. See Burford,
B. The Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
Based on its review of the plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint, as well as the plaintiff's other submissions regarding the pending motions, including his opposition to the defendants' motion to dismiss, the Court concludes that the plaintiff is primarily seeking judicial review of the MSPB's final decisions on his appeals of several allegedly adverse personnel actions. See, e.g., Pl.'s Opp'n at 27 (asserting that he "is entitled to relief under Rule 60(b)(3)"); Compl. at 24 (arguing that the "evidence [ ] in these complaints that the defendants acted with reckless disregard for the veracity of their allegations and adverse actions and falsified government records w[ere] provided to [the] MSPB"). Specifically, the plaintiff seeks review of the following MSPB's final decisions: (1) the MSPB's Initial Decision on November 17, 2016, that addressed his individual right of action appeals with the MSPB concerning the Department's allegedly improper garnishments of his wages in 2013 and 2015, the classification of his time and attendance records in 2015, charge of $91.03 to recover a medical benefit overpayment, and his proposed five-day suspension in 2014, see Defs.' Mot., Ex. 2 (Initial Decision (Nov. 17, 2016) ), which became a final decision on December 22, 2016, see
Moreover, the plaintiff alleges that these adverse personnel actions are also violations of criminal and constitutional laws and several statutory schemes, including the Privacy Act, the APA, the Declaratory Judgment Act, and the All Writs Act. See, e.g., Compl. at 1-3. Additionally, the plaintiff asserts causes of actions related to fraudulent conduct allegedly committed by the defendants during the MSPB process. See, e.g., id. at 1-2, 20-21, 23-24.
*12The defendants contend that all of the plaintiff's claims should be dismissed based on the Court's lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. See Defs.' Mot. at 3-4. The Court will address each of the defendants' arguments in turn.
1. The Plaintiff's Criminal Claims
As to the criminal claims asserted by the plaintiff against the defendants, see generally Compl.; see also Pl.'s Opp'n at 53-56 (discussing the various criminal violations purportedly committed by the defendants), the defendants argue that these claims should be dismissed due to the Court's lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because "private citizens lack Article III standing to bring claims under criminal statutes," Defs.' Mot. at 19. The Court agrees.
It is well-settled that "a citizen lacks standing to contest the policies of the prosecuting authority when he himself is neither prosecuted nor threatened with prosecution," and "a private citizen lacks a judicially cognizable interest in the prosecution or nonprosecution of another." Linda R.S. v. Richard D.,
2. The Plaintiff's Constitutional Claims
In his consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff asserts that the defendants' actions violated the rights granted to him by the First and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution. See e.g., Compl. at 3, 5, 7 (alleging constitutional violations based on the employment actions taken against him). The defendants contend that the "[p]laintiff's constitutional claims should be dismissed[ ] because ... federal employees do not have any constitutional private right of action to challenge issues arising from their employment." Defs.' Mot. at 15. The Court agrees, because "[t]he Title VII remedy declared exclusive for federal employees" alleging claims of discrimination in their federal employment by the Supreme Court "in Brown v. GSA precludes actions against federal officials for alleged constitutional violations as well as actions under other federal legislation." Kizas v. Webster,
*13Notwithstanding this clear precedent precluding a federal employee from asserting constitutional violations based on actions arising from his federal employment, the plaintiff argues that "[t]his Court [ ] has jurisdiction to review a constitutional violation caused by a federal employee pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics,
3. The Plaintiff's Claims Under the Statutory Schemes Asserted
The plaintiff also asserts various claims under the Privacy Act, the APA, the All Writs Act, and the Declaratory Judgment Act. See generally Compl. The defendants contend that because "all of [the p]laintiff's claims arise from this federal employment," his "statutory claims ... are preempted" by "the comprehensive, exclusive, and preemptive effect of the CSRA." Defs.' Mot. at 23. Thus, according to the defendants, the "[p]laintiff's claims under any statute-other than the CSRA, civil rights statutes, or the WPEA-should be dismissed for lack of subject[-]matter jurisdiction."
"The CSRA 'regulates virtually every aspect of federal employment and prescribes in great detail the protections and remedies applicable to adverse personnel actions, including the availability of administrative and judicial review.' " Mahoney v. Donovan,
*14Mahoney,
However, the plaintiff's claims under the Privacy Act are not so readily resolved. In his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff alleges that various adverse personnel actions constitute violations of the Privacy Act. See, e.g., Compl. at 1, 3-5. Although the plaintiff does not identify under which provisions of the Privacy Act he brings these claims, it appears that he primarily bases his claims on (1) subsection (g)(1)(C) of the Privacy Act, which requires agencies to maintain accurate records (i.e., an inaccuracy claim), because he asserts that the purported adverse personnel actions were the results of fraudulent or inaccurate documents, see, e.g., id. at 3-5, 14-15, 23-24, and (2) subsection (g)(1)(D) of the Privacy Act, which prohibits the improper disclosure of information covered by the Privacy Act that adversely effects an aggrieved individual, because he alleges that the Department of Interior unlawfully disclosed fraudulent records to various entities and as a result caused him harm, see, e.g., id. at 4-5, 14-16, 23-24.
With respect to the plaintiff's allegations regarding his Privacy Act inaccuracy claims, the Court starts with the premise "that the Privacy Act must not be used to circumvent the CSRA's framework for the review of adverse personnel actions." Feldman v. CIA,
Here, the plaintiff alleges that the Department of Interior submitted various falsified or modified time sheets that resulted in the withholding or the garnishment of wages he needed to pay outstanding debts. See, e.g., Compl. at 3-5, 14-15, 23-24.
4. The Plaintiff's Claims Against the Individual Defendants
In his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff asserts a plethora of employment-related claims against several individual defendants-all of whom were also employees at the Department of Interior and interacted with the plaintiff in some capacity-for various employment actions they allegedly took against him. See, e.g., Compl. at 1-3 (noting certain actions of his supervisors such as the alleged falsification of timesheets for compensation). The defendants argue that dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction of all of the plaintiff's claims against the individual defendants is warranted because "federal employees bringing claims arising out of their federal employment cannot assert claims against individual defendants." Defs.' Mot. at 19. The Court yet again agrees with the defendants.
"Under Title VII, the only proper defendant [in an action by a federal employee] is the head of the federal agency that employed the plaintiff." Stewart v. Gates,
Here, the plaintiff does not contend that the individual defendants acted outside the scope of their official duties; rather, with respect to each of the alleged adverse employment actions, the plaintiff asserts that the adverse actions occurred in the course of the individual defendants' performance of their official duties. See, e.g., Compl. at 10-11 (asserting claims against his supervisors for the allegedly unlawful withholding of accrued vacation and removal of duties for performance issues). Therefore, because the individual employees are not *17proper defendants that may be held liable under Title VII or the Privacy Act, and because the plaintiff alleges only that the named individual defendants acted within the scope of their official duties and are therefore not proper defendants for purposes of the CSRA, the Court must grant this component of the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claims against the individual defendants for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Accordingly, the individual defendants are dismissed as parties in this case.
5. Exhaustion of the Plaintiff's Administrative Remedies
The defendants also contend that the "[p]laintiff has failed to plead, much less demonstrate that he has exhausted his administrative remedies for any CSRA claims," Defs.' Mot. at 23, and certain other claims, see id. at 25. The Court will address the defendants' arguments regarding the plaintiff's exhaustion of his administrative remedies in turn.
a. The Plaintiff's Alleged Failure to Exhaust Certain CSRA Claims Before the Completion of the MSPB Process
First, the defendants argue that certain of the plaintiff's CSRA claims were "filed [in this Court] before completing the MSPB process," and therefore, because "he failed to exhaust [administratively] th[ose] claims ... [they] should be dismissed." Id. at 24; see also id. (noting that these claims "were pending" before the MSPB when the plaintiff filed his complaint in this Court on September 1, 2016, asserting those claims and that the MSPB did not resolve those claims until November 17, 2016).
"It is well-established that a federal employee must exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit in a federal court." Jones v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, No. 15-cv-5246,
Here, contrary to the defendants' position, see Defs.' Mot. at 24, the plaintiff was not required to complete the MSPB process for his pending CSRA claims before he filed his suits asserting those identical claims in this Court. Between December 2014 and August 2016, the plaintiff filed five appeals to the MSPB asserting the pending CSRA claims. See Defs.' Mot., Ex. 2 (Initial Decision (Nov. 17, 2016) ) at 1-2; see also
b. The Plaintiff's Purported Waiver of Certain CSRA Claims
The defendants next argue that "[t]his Court does not have jurisdiction to hear non-mixed case appeals from [MSPB] final decisions alleging inappropriate adverse actions and [whistleblower] claims [as] the jurisdiction for such non-mixed claims rests solely with the Federal Circuit." Defs.' Mot. at 25. Thus, according to the defendants, certain of the plaintiff's remaining claims filed in this Court "should be dismissed for failure to properly exhaust administrative remedies and [for] lack of jurisdiction,"
The parties are correct that it is well-settled that MSPB "decisions are generally reviewed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, [with the exception of] 'mixed cases' that involve both MSPB appeals and discrimination claims under Title VII ..., [which] are reviewed in federal district court." Akosile v. Armed Forces Ret. Home,
Notwithstanding the plaintiff's waiver of his discrimination claims corresponding to certain alleged adverse personnel actions identified by the defendants, see supra Part III.B.5.a n.12, the record is not so clear that the plaintiff waived his discrimination claims concerning his within-grade increase denial and the minimally successful performance ratings, see Defs.' Mot., Ex. 4 (Federal Circuit Order (May 19, 2017) ) at 2 (noting that, because of the allegations of discrimination and reprisal asserted in the underlying appeals to the MSPB, the plaintiff was presented with various options for judicial review including proceeding to a United States district court or the Federal Circuit). However, the record does indicate that the plaintiff proceeded with the filing of an appeal to the Federal Circuit regarding these two purportedly adverse personnel actions. See id. The Federal Circuit dismissed the plaintiff's appeal as untimely filed, see id. at 3, but it noted that "[i]f [the plaintiff] [ ] has entirely abandoned any discrimination claims raised in [that] case, he may still be able to obtain review of the [MSPB's] decision in [the Federal Circuit]," id. at 4 (emphasis added) (noting the steps the plaintiff could take to have the filing of his appeal to the Federal Circuit deemed timely). Thus, it does not appear that the plaintiff waived his discrimination claims with respect to his allegedly improper within-grade increase denial and his performance and minimally successful performance ratings. Accordingly, the Court denies that aspect of the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and will permit the plaintiff to proceed with seeking judicial review of the MSPB's final decision regarding those claims.
c. The Plaintiff's Failure to Assert Certain Claims Regarding Fraudulent Conduct Before the MSPB
The defendants argue that some of the claims the plaintiff asserts in his Consolidated Complaint are claims regarding fraudulent conduct allegedly committed by certain individuals throughout the MSPB process that the plaintiff did not allege "in the underlying administrative process," and "[t]herefore, th[o]se claims should be dismissed" because the plaintiff "did not exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to [those] claims." Defs.' Mot. at 26.
*21Although the plaintiff contends that he in fact asserted his claims of allegedly fraudulent conduct before the MSPB, see Pl.'s Opp'n at 8-13, he only did so through letters he addressed to the Office of the Clerk of the MSPB (the "Clerk's Office"), the Regional Director of the MSPB, and the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or Associate Attorney General, see generally id., Ex. A (Collection of Responses to Barry Ahuruonye Regarding His Complaints Against Agency Attorney (the "Responses") (May 25, 2016) ). Construing the plaintiff's letters as "a complaint" against an agency attorney and not as an attempt to " 'raise the merits of [his] appeals' to the Clerk of the Board," the MSPB's Clerk's Office advised the plaintiff that "it d[id] not have investigative authority" to investigate his claims of fraudulent behavior because the MSPB's "authority is limited to actions made appealable to it by law, rule, or regulation." Id., Ex. A (Responses) at 1. The MSPB's Clerk's Office then "assured [the plaintiff] that [his] appeals [would] receive a full and impartial review consistent with applicable law and regulations." Id., Ex. A (Responses) at 2. In response to the plaintiff's "complaint," the Regional Director of the MSPB informed the plaintiff that "the proper course is for the [administrative law judge] to adjudicate the appeal[, and i]f either party is dissatisfied with the [administrative law judge's] initial decision, then that party may file a petition for review pursuant to the [MSPB's] regulations." Id., Ex. A (Responses) at 3. Consequently, as the plaintiff did not properly raise these claims of allegedly fraudulent conduct at the administrative level, he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to those claims.
In sum, the plaintiff has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies for the majority of his alleged CSRA claims, with the exception of the following claims: (1) the alleged unlawful letter of reprimand in July 2014, see Compl. at 13; (2) the within-grade increase denial in 2014, see id. at 16; (3) the unfavorable performance reviews, see id. at 6; (4) the unlawful pre-termination suspension in March 2015, see id. at 2; and (5) the unlawful termination in April 2015, see id. at 1, as well as the corresponding discrimination and retaliation claims. Accordingly, as only these claims survive the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, the plaintiff may proceed with seeking judicial review of the MSPB's final decisions addressing these mixed case claims. See gen erally *22Defs.' Mot., Ex. 3 (Final Order (Dec. 8, 2016) ); id., Ex. 6 (Final Order (Dec. 7, 2016) ), ECF No. 37-1.
6. The Plaintiff's Failure to Timely Seek Judicial Review
In his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff asserts that he was "discriminated and retaliated against" for engaging in "MSPB and EEO protected activities" when he was unlawfully denied a within-grade increase in December 2013 and given "a hoax performance rating" in May 2014 "to conceal the unlawful wage increase denial." Compl. at 22; see also id. (alleging that his supervisor issued the wage increase denial to purportedly disguise her own race and national origin discrimination, reprisal, harassment, and creation of a hostile work environment). The Court construes this allegation collectively as a request for judicial review of the MSPB's final decision issued on July 15, 2016, denying his appeals concerning his 2013 wage increase denial. See generally Ahuruonye v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd. et.al, Civil Action No. 17-284, Complaint, Ex. A, Part I. To seek judicial review of this MSPB final decision, the plaintiff was required to file his civil action with this Court within thirty days from the date he received notice of the MSPB's final decision. See
*23C. The Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief
Through his motion for preliminary injunctive relief, the plaintiff requests that this Court "restore the status quo ante until the time the [C]ourt rules on the merit[s] of the complaints to alleviate the daily harm being suffered ... and to mitigate the ongoing harm being suffered ... by reinstating the plaintiff back to work with back pay and on paid administrative leave." Pl.'s Mot. at 1. The plaintiff argues that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted because "[t]he defendants have been having endless calamities and seemingly unpredictable situations leading to endless request[s] for motion[s] for enlargement of time."
"A district court weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction must 'balance the strengths of the requesting party's arguments in each of the four required areas.' " LG Elecs. U.S.A., Inc. v. Dep't of Energy,
Furthermore, "[t]he party seeking a preliminary injunction must make two showings to demonstrate irreparable harm. First, the harm must be 'certain and great,' 'actual and not theoretical,' and so 'imminen[t] that there is a clear and present need for equitable relief to prevent irreparable harm.' " League of Women Voters of U.S. v. Newby,
The Court cannot conclude based on the record before it that the plaintiff has demonstrated the requisite irreparable harm needed for the issuance of a preliminary injunction. To show irreparable harm, the plaintiff states that he "has *24been out of work for more than two years," and as a consequence, he "is faced with an immediate and present danger in terms of dire financial and economic catastrophes" if his request for preliminary injunctive relief is not granted. Pl.'s Mot. at 2. He also asserts that his "efforts to work for other agencies have been effectively blocked by the defendants' [adverse employment actions],"
Even assuming that the plaintiff could demonstrate sufficient irreparable harm, preliminary injunctive relief would *25nonetheless not be warranted because the plaintiff has not shown that there is a substantial likelihood that he will prevail on the merits. See Robinson-Reeder v. Am. Council on Educ.,
Furthermore, granting the plaintiff preliminary injunctive relief would substantially harm the defendants. It is a "well-established rule that the [g]overnment has traditionally been granted the widest latitude in the dispatch of its own internal affairs." Sampson,
D. The Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions
Based on fraudulent representations allegedly made by counsel for the defendants *26in the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff requests that this Court sanctions defendants' counsel pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. See Pl.'s Sanctions Mot. at 1-2. Simply, the plaintiff seeks sanctions because he contends that the legal arguments and statements made by counsel for the defendants in the defendants' motion to dismiss are "groundless and misleading." Id. at 2. The defendants in response argue that the plaintiff's motion for sanctions "lack[s] merit." Defs.' Reply at 6. The Court agrees with the defendants.
As an initial matter, it does not appear that the plaintiff complied with the procedural safeguards of Rule 11(c)(2). "That provision states ... that the allegedly offending party, after being served with the motion for sanctions, is to be given [twenty-one] days to withdraw or correct the challenged filing before the motion for sanctions is presented to the court." Phillips v. Mabus,
However, even assuming that the plaintiff actually complied with Rule 11's procedural requirements, the plaintiff has not demonstrated that counsel for the defendants failed to comply with her duty to present to the Court a motion that is well-grounded in legally tenable arguments. See Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp.,
*27IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint. Specifically, the defendants' motion is denied with respect to the plaintiff's claim for judicial review of the MSPB's final decisions on his mixed case appeals involving the issuance of an allegedly unlawful letter of reprimand in July 2014, a within-grade increase denial in 2014, unfavorable performance reviews, an unlawful pre-termination suspension in March 2015, and his unlawful termination in April 2015. See supra Part III.B. The motion is granted in all other aspects. Additionally, the Court denies the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunctive relief, motion for sanctions against counsel for the defendants, and motion to strike from the record the defendants' motion to dismiss and their opposition to his motion for preliminary injunctive relief.
SO ORDERED on this 1st day of May, 2018.
In addition to the filings already identified, the Court considered the following submissions in rendering its decision: (1) the Plaintiff['s] Motion to Deny the Defendants['] Motion to Dismiss the Consolidated [Complaint] ("Pl.'s Opp'n"); (2) the Reply in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions ("Defs.' Reply"); (3) the Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Injunctive Relief ("Defs.' Opp'n"); and (4) the Plaintiff[']s Response to Defendants['] Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction Under Rule 60(b) ("Pl.'s Reply").
Because the plaintiff did not include a statement of facts in his Consolidated Complaint, and because the facts that give rise to this case are not entirely ascertainable from the plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint, see generally Compl., the majority of the following facts are taken from the MSPB's initial decision issued on February 5, 2016, see Defs.' Mot., Exhibit ("Ex.") 1 (Initial Decision (Feb. 5, 2016) ).
In the Court's view, the plaintiff neither asserts separate causes of action under Title VII or the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act ("WPEA") of 2012 for the alleged adverse actions. See generally Compl. Rather, he contends that he alleged whistleblower reprisal, and at times discrimination, at the administrative level in support of his proposition that the Court has jurisdiction to review the MSPB's final decisions on his mixed-case appeals. See generally Pl.'s Opp'n (arguing that the Court has jurisdiction over MSPB's decisions of mixed-case appeals).
The plaintiff also claims that the defendants' actions violate the All Writs Act. See, e.g., Compl. at 5, 7. However, the All Writs Act permits federal courts to "issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law." In re Tennant,
Subsection (g)(1)(C) establishes a cause of action when an agency
fails to maintain any record concerning any individual with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness as is necessary to assure fairness in any determination relating to the qualifications, character, rights, or opportunities of, or benefits to the individual that may be made on the basis of such record, and consequently a determination is made which is adverse to the individual.
5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(1)(C) (2012). Subsection (g)(1)(D) establishes a cause of action when an agency "fails to comply with ... [the] provision[s] of th[e Privacy Act]" in a manner that "ha[s] an adverse effect on [the plaintiff]."
To demonstrate an entitlement to relief for his Privacy Act inaccuracy claims,
[the] plaintiff must show that "(1) he has been aggrieved by an adverse determination; (2) the [Department] failed to maintain his records with the degree of accuracy necessary to assure fairness in the determination; (3) the [Department's] reliance on the inaccurate records was the proximate cause of the adverse determination; and (4) the [Department] acted intentionally or willfully in failing to maintain accurate records."
Feldman,
Throughout his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff alleges that he suffered various adverse personnel actions due to the inaccurate or fraudulent records, constituting violations of the Privacy Act. See generally Compl. However, "[a]n adverse action is one resulting in the denial of a right, benefit, entitlement, or employment by an agency which the individual could reasonably have been expected to have been given if the record had not been deficient." Feldman,
Furthermore, the plaintiff also asserts that various submissions of fraudulent affidavits, evidence, and testimony during the MSPB proceedings are violations of the Privacy Act. See, e.g., id. at 1-3, 6-8, 20, 23. However, these submissions were not relied on by the Department of Interior in any decision related to the plaintiff's employment. And, to the extent that the plaintiff seeks to use the Privacy Act to collaterally attack the MSPB's decisions on his appeals in which the MSPB allegedly relied on fraudulent submissions, such an attack is not permitted as the Privacy Act "cannot be used as a vehicle to 'correct' a substantive decision that went against an individual's interest." Byrnes v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., No. 04-cv-742,
For his Privacy Act improper disclosure claims, the plaintiff asserts that various falsified or modified timesheets were disseminated to the Department of Interior's payroll office and created outstanding debts that were ultimately sent to debt collectors for wage garnishments. See, e.g., Compl. at 4-5, 14-16, 23-24. However, the Court is unaware of any legal authority that forbids a supervisor from disclosing a probationary employee's timesheet to its payroll office for the processing of the employee's compensation. And the Court is mystified as to how such disclosure would be a violation of the Privacy Act. Thus, the Court will dismiss those claims as well.
In their motion, the defendants have identified two categories of CSRA claims asserted by the plaintiff that were pending before the MSPB when he filed his complaints in this Court. The first category includes the plaintiff's: "[ (1) ] April 2015 removal, [ (2) ] March 26, 201[5], time and attendance issues, [ (3) ] alleged unlawful suspension in approximately March 201[5], and [ (4] ) related alleged instances of whistleblower reprisal." Defs.' Mot. at 23. The second category includes the plaintiff's: (1) allegedly improper termination of medical benefits in April or May 2013, (2) the purportedly unlawful garnishment of his wages "for overpayment of health benefit contributions," and (3) his proposed "suspension for five days on September 25, 2014." Id. at 24. Both categories of identified CSRA claims relate to the MSPB's initial decision on November 17, 2016, and the MSPB's final decision on December 7, 2016. See supra Part III.B at 8. Going forward, the Court will refer to these claims in these two categories as the plaintiff's pending CSRA claims.
The "MSPB is an independent, quasi-judicial federal administrative agency that was established by the [CSRA] to review civil service decisions." Jones,
On December 15, 2016, the Court consolidated these two cases. See generally Order (Dec. 15, 2016), ECF No. 10.
The Court notes that the plaintiff filed an appeal with the MSPB asserting one of his pending CSRA claims in August 2016. See Defs.' Mot., Ex. 5 (Federal Circuit Opinion (June 8, 2017) ) at 6 (appealing a "June 2013 bill and subsequent garnishment"). Consequently, the MSPB's decision on November 17, 2016, resolving that appeal was within the 120-day statutory time period, and therefore, the plaintiff did not timely exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to that claim before he instituted a cause of action asserting that claim in this Court. Although dismissal of that claim for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction may be warranted, the Court nonetheless will permit the plaintiff to proceed with that claim at this juncture, given that (1) the MSPB has issued a ruling on the merits of that claim and (2) the Federal Circuit has reviewed that ruling and issued an opinion on the validity of that ruling. See Butler,
In their motion, the defendants note that these claims "includ[e] but [are] not limited to [the plaintiff's] (1) [ ] September 2014 proposed five-day suspension, (2) various 2015 debt notices and wage garnishments, (3) March 2015 time and attendance issues, (4) a 2013 bill for wage garnishment, (5) [a within-grade increase] denial, (6) [the] minimally successful performance rating, and (7) nine other alleged instances of whistleblower reprisal." Defs.' Mot. at 24.
Because the Court has dismissed these claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, it need not consider the defendants' alternative argument that res judicata bars the plaintiff from asserting those claims in this Court. See Defs.' Mot. at 27-29.
The defendants identify these claims as the plaintiff's "alleg[ations] that records and evidence were falsified and that his removal for performance [reasons] in April 2015 became effective without sufficient due process, claiming inconsistencies in dates in certain documents pertaining to the effective date of his purported April 2015 suspension and April 2015 performance-based removal." Defs.' Mot. at 25. The defendants also include the plaintiff's "alleg[ations] that numerous individuals made false statements in their affidavits submitted in proceedings before the MSPB."
In his opposition, the plaintiff contends that he filed a motion to disqualify agency counsel as well as a motion for sanctions that the administrative law judge denied. See Pl.'s Opp'n at 11. To the extent that the plaintiff makes this contention as an effort to demonstrate that he did assert his claims of fraudulent behavior at the administrative level, the Court is unpersuaded, particularly given that the agency counsel is not named as a defendant in this consolidated case.
One of the cases consolidated in this matter involved the assertion of claims by the plaintiff against the MSPB. See Ahuruonye v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd. et.al, Civil Action No. 17-284 (RBW). However, in his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff does not assert an identifiable claim against the MSPB. See generally Compl. In any event, if the plaintiff seeks to challenge the MSPB's appeal process or assert a due process claim against the MSPB, he has not identified a statute that "creates a cause of action against the MSPB for its processing of a case," Woodruff v. McPhie,
In his Consolidated Complaint, the plaintiff seeks monetary damages for his supervisors' failure to respond to "Senator Barbara A. Mikulski's letters and inquiries" regarding his complaints of retaliation. Compl. at 21. This claim must be dismissed as well, because the Court is unaware of any legal authority that gives it jurisdiction to determine whether failure to respond to a United States senator's letter is a violation of law.
The plaintiff did not include as an exhibit the entire portion of the notice attached to the MSPB's final order that informs him of his right to file a civil action in district court seeking judicial review of the MSPB's final decision. See Ahuruonye v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd. et.al, Civil Action No. 17-284, Complaint (filed on Feb. 14, 2017), Ex. A (Final Order (July 15, 2016) ) at 1-12. Nonetheless, because the plaintiff was able to provide a copy of the decision, the plaintiff apparently received a full copy of the decision and inadvertently failed to attach the entirety of the decision. In any event, "[c]ourts generally assume that the final [MSPB] decision was mailed on the same day that it was issued ..., and that the plaintiff received the decision either three or five days after it was mailed." Ruiz v. Vilsack,
The defendants also seek dismissal of the plaintiff's Consolidated Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Defs.' Mot. at 29-32. But, having dismissed under Rule 12(b)(1) all of the plaintiff's claims except for his claim for judicial review of the MSPB's final decision issued on December 8, 2016, see supra Part III.B, and because the defendants do not seek dismissal of that claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), see Defs.' Mot. at 29-32, the Court need not consider the defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) arguments.
After filing his motion for preliminary injunctive relief, the plaintiff filed a notice on the docket indicating that he had received an eviction notice for failure to pay rent. See Exhibit of[ ] Truly Irreparable Harm [That] Will Occur in the Absence of an Injunction ECF 35 (filed Sept. 6, 2017) ("Notice"), ECF No. 40. The plaintiff's Notice indicated that there was a trial for the plaintiff's purported failure to pay rent scheduled for September 15, 2017. See id. at 3. Although the Court's failure to address the plaintiff's Notice earlier is unfortunate, the Court's analysis if issued earlier would have nonetheless been the same. Since the filing of the Notice, the plaintiff has not provided the Court with any further update as to the status of his landlord-tenant proceedings (i.e., whether he still remains unable to pay his rent or whether he was actually evicted). See Save Jobs USA v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec.,
The Court cautions the plaintiff "that a frivolous Rule 11 sanction motion may itself be a violation of Rule 11," Naegele v. Albers,
The Court will contemporaneously issue an Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion.