Braxton v. First Transit

322 F.Supp.3d 110

Teairra BRAXTON, Plaintiff,

v.FIRST TRANSIT, Defendant.

Case No. 1:17-cv-02622 (TNM)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed August 20, 2018

Teairra Braxton, Washington, DC, pro se.

Sarah Elizabeth Henninger, Littler Mendelson, P.C., Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TREVOR N. MCFADDEN, U.S.D.J.

Teairra Braxton alleges that First Transit, Inc. fired her for complaining about a supervisor's sexual harassment, failed to provide her proper union representation, and defamed her. First Transit seeks dismissal of her claims or, alternatively, an order directing Ms. Braxton to provide a more definite statement of her claims. Because Ms. Braxton has not adequately pled her improper representation and defamation claims and because all of her claims are untimely, the Court will grant First Transit's motion to dismiss and will dismiss as moot First Transit's alternative motion for a more definite statement.

I.

First Transit operates the D.C. Circulator bus system. Compl. Ex. 301 at 3 (ALJ Order dated April 18, 2016). Ms. Braxton began working as a bus operator for First Transit on August 26, 2014. Compl. 2. First Transit terminated her on January 28, 2016, six days after an incident between Ms. Braxton and a disruptive passenger on her bus.¹ See Compl. 2; id. Ex. 102 (Operator's Accident/Incident Report dated January 22, 2016). According to Ms. Braxton's incident report, the disruptive passenger told her and the other passengers that bus rides should be free to African-Americans because of slavery and racial inequality. Id. at 1-2.² When the passenger asked Ms. Braxton if she agreed and confronted her about working for white people as an African-American, Ms. Braxton said that she was happy with her job. Id. at 2. The passenger then chastised her in vulgar terms and told her that she would never accomplish anything or get anywhere by working for "the white man." Id. She told him that he could not tell her that, adding that she did not care who she worked for and was happy with her life. Id.

After another passenger posted a recording of the incident on Twitter, First Transit placed Ms. Braxton on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation into what it described as "an aggressive verbal confrontation with [a] passenger while operating the vehicle." Id. Ex. 101 (Notice of Personnel Action dated January 22, 2016). Six days later, First Transit terminated Ms. Braxton for "inappropriate behavior towards a passenger, in addition to [a] safety violation which is against First Transit policy." Id. Ex. 200 (Letter to Ms. Braxton from First Transit dated January 28, 2016). First Transit's termination letter cited four alleged violations of company policy:

• 11.01 (Disloyalty) - Conducting oneself in such a manner that the conduct would be detrimental to the interest or reputation of the Company.

• 11.01 (Safety) Violation of any safety rule or practice, or violation of operating rule or procedures that could put an employee or others in imminent danger or could result in bodily injury or damage to Company property. (State and federal regulations prohibit the operation of transit buses when passengers are forward of the white or yellow line).³

• 11.2 (Personal Conduct) - Discourteous or inappropriate attitude or behavior to passengers, other employees, or members of the public. Disorderly conduct during working hours.

• 10.2 (Vehicle Operation) - Driving the bus with only one hand on the wheel while engaging in a heated verbal debate with a passenger while other passengers were on the [vehicle] is considered "reckless operation[.]"

Id.

Ms. Braxton alleges that this explanation of her firing hides First Transit's real motive to retaliate against her for two complaints that she made against a former supervisor who allegedly asked her to sleep with him many times and promised to look out for her if she did. Compl. at 2; id. , Exs. 203-204 (Operator's Accident/Incident Reports dated October 27, 2015 and October 30, 2015, respectively).⁴ She tried to get help from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the Commission sent her a letter explaining that it was closing her case because her charge "was not timely filed with EEOC" and because she "waited too long after the date(s) of the alleged discrimination to file [her] charge." Id. Ex. (Dismissal and Notice of Rights, EEOC Charge No. 570-2017-01910, dated September 6, 2017).

Ms. Braxton also went before an Administrative Law Judge who reviewed First Transit's termination decision to determine Ms. Braxton's eligibility for unemployment benefits. Id. Ex. 301 at 2 (ALJ Order dated April 18, 2016). He noted that "[t]he fact that an employee's discharge appears reasonable from the employer's perspective does not necessarily mean that the employee engaged in misconduct" and decided that First Transit had not proven any misconduct by Ms. Braxton that would disqualify her from receiving unemployment benefits. Id. at 7.

Ms. Braxton filed a Complaint against First Transit in this Court on December 4, 2017. Although the Complaint is sparse, the Court liberally construes it as a claim of race discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, improper representation by a union representative under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, and defamation under District law. See Compl. at 1.⁵ In evaluating these claims, the Court also considers the allegations in Ms. Braxton's Opposition to First Transit's Motion to Dismiss, including the section that she has entitled A More Definite Statement. See Pl.'s Opp. to Def.'s Mot. Dismiss 7; see also Richardson v. United States , 193 F.3d 545, 548 (D.C Cir. 1999) (holding that district court should read pro se plaintiff's filings together).

II.

First Transit moves to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that the Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint must contain sufficient factual allegations that, if true, "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Plausibility requires that a complaint raise "more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Pleading facts that are "merely consistent with" a defendant's liability "stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 545-46, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Thus, a court evaluating a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim does not accept the truth of legal conclusions or "[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements." Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

That said, the Court construes the Complaint in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff and accepts as true all reasonable inferences drawn from well-pled factual allegations. See In re United Mine Workers of Am. Emp. Benefit Plans Litig. , 854 F.Supp. 914, 915 (D.D.C. 1994). Consideration is limited to "the facts alleged in the complaint, any documents either attached to or incorporated in the complaint and matters of which [the court] may take judicial notice." Hurd v. District of Columbia Gov't , 864 F.3d 671, 678 (D.C. Cir. 2017). The Court construes pro se filings liberally, holding them "to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers." Erickson v. Pardus , 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007).

III.

A.

Because Ms. Braxton alleges race discrimination, sexual harassment, or retaliation, the Court understands the Complaint as an invocation of Title VII. Before suing in federal court, a plaintiff must file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e), (f)(1). "In the District of Columbia, such an EEO charge must be filed within 300 days of the allegedly discriminatory/retaliatory act." Duberry v. Inter-Con Sec. Sys. , 898 F.Supp.2d 294, 298 (D.D.C. 2012).

"[F]iling a timely charge of discrimination with the EEOC is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit in federal court, but a requirement that, like a statute of limitations, is subject to waiver, estoppel, and equitable tolling." Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. , 455 U.S. 385, 393, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982). But equitable tolling is warranted only if a plaintiff "shows (1) that [she] has been pursuing [her] rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in [her] way and prevented timely filing." Holland v. Florida , 560 U.S. 631, 649, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010) ; cf. Smith-Haynie v. Dist. of Columbia , 155 F.3d 575, 579-80 (D.C. Cir. 1998) ("The court's equitable power to toll the statute of limitations will be exercised only in extraordinary and carefully circumscribed instances."). This "weighty burden" rests on the Plaintiff even at the motion to dismiss stage. See Dyson v. Dist. of Columbia , 710 F.3d 415, 420-21 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (finding on appeal from grant of motion to dismiss that plaintiff had not discharged her burden).

First Transit moves to dismiss Ms. Braxton's Title VII claims with prejudice because she did not file a timely EEO charge. Def.'s Memo. ISO Mot. Dismiss at 6-9. The EEOC's letter supports this argument by documenting that Ms. Braxton waited too long to file her charge. Compl. Ex. (Dismissal and Notice of Rights, EEOC Charge No. 570-2017-01910, dated September 6, 2017).⁶ And Ms. Braxton's Opposition appears to concede the untimeliness of her charge. Her Opposition references "my late filling [sic] of my complaint." See Pl.'s Opp. to Def.'s Mot. Dismiss 4. If this is a reference to her EEO charge, it expressly concedes the point. If it is not, then Ms. Braxton's Opposition concedes untimeliness by offering no response to First...