Johnson v. United States

JOSEPH JOHNSON, JR., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant.

Case No. 17-cv-2411 (CRC)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

June 10, 2019

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Like many Americans, pro se plaintiff Joseph Johnson, Jr., owes thousands of dollars in student loans. And he has turned to the courts for relief . . . a lot. This is his twelfth lawsuit arising out of his loans. Because Johnson already filed—and lost—at least one other federal case raising the same claims he brings here, the Court will dismiss this latest suit under the doctrine of res judicata.

I. Background

Johnson enrolled at the University of Maryland University College in fall 1993. Johnson v. U.S. Dep't of Educ., 580 F. Supp. 2d 154, 155 (D.D.C. 2008), aff'd without op., No. 08-5468 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 10, 2009). From 1993 to 1996, he obtained several federally guaranteed loans. Id. Johnson consolidated those loans in April 2004 under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 5. At the time of consolidation, Johnson had $24,447.43 in outstanding student loan debt. Id.¹ By January 2012, despite his alleged efforts to repay the loans, Compl. ¶¶ 13-26, Johnson's debt had risen to $35,556.58, id. ¶ 27.

In February 2012, Johnson sent the Department of Education a check for $12,390.00. Id. ¶ 28. Johnson alleges that this payment should have reduced his consolidated principal amount from $24,447.33 to $12,057.33, id.; instead, billing records that month reflected that the Department applied the check to reduce the $35,556.58 to $23,179.32, id. ¶ 29. Johnson alleges that the Department accepted his $12,390 payment but failed to credit it to reduce his overall debt. Id. ¶¶ 30.² He contends that although he has never defaulted on his loans, the Department continues to falsely report to credit agencies that he failed to make payments and is now delinquent. Compl. ¶¶ 31-33.

As mentioned above, Johnson has brought numerous lawsuits against a variety of defendants arising out of these loans. This is the twelfth. Relevant to the government's motion to dismiss under the res judicata doctrine is Johnson's eleventh lawsuit.

In June 2015, Johnson sued the Department of Education in federal district court in Maryland for breach of conditional settlement, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, and the Higher Education Act of 1965. Johnson v. Duncan, No. GJH-15-1820, 2017 WL 462049, at *1 (D. Md. Feb. 1, 2017). He claimed that the Department was misreporting the amount he owed on his student loans. Id. at *2. He also contended that by cashing his $12,390 check, the Department agreed to accept a partial payment to settle his entire outstanding debt. Id.

The Maryland district court denied Johnson's motion for partial summary judgment and granted the Department of Education's motion for judgment on the pleadings. The court concluded that Johnson was collaterally estopped from relitigating the issue of whether his $12,390 check was a valid settlement, which had been determined in two prior cases in which Johnson attempted to enforce the alleged settlement against other defendants. Id. at *5-6. Because all of Johnson's claims were premised on that issue, the court dismissed the case with prejudice. Id.

In October 2017, Johnson filed suit in this Court. He brings claims against the United States for conversion (count 1), money had and received (count 2), violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (count 3), violation of consumer protection and debt collection laws (count 4),³ negligence (count 5), and declaratory judgment (count 6). He says that counts 1, 2, 4, and 5 are brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"). Id. at 8.

As in the Maryland case, his claims all relate to how the Department of Education handled his check for $12,390. Unlike in that case, however, Johnson does not allege here that his partial payment should have settled his entire student debt; rather, he alleges that the Department has failed to properly credit his account by applying the funds from his check to a principal balance that was too high.

The government filed a motion to dismiss in February 2019. See MTD, ECF No. 18. After Johnson moved to strike that motion as filed by the wrong party (the government filed the motion on behalf of the Department of Education rather than the United States, the named defendant), the government filed a supplemental motion to dismiss. See Suppl. MTD, ECF No. 26. The Court denied Johnson's motion to strike and instructed him to respond to the government's two motions, which it would construe as a "consolidated motion to dismiss." See March 11, 2019 Minute Order. The United States has moved to dismiss on three grounds: (1) in the original motion to dismiss, the government argues that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Johnson's statutory claims; (2) in the alternative, the government argues that the Court should dismiss the entire complaint as precluded under the doctrine of res judicata; and (3) in its supplemental motion to dismiss, the government incorporates the previous two bases and also argues that counts 1 and 2 are time barred.

The government has also filed a counterclaim to recover the outstanding balance of Johnson's student debt, which it says totaled $33,314.91 as of February 8, 2019. See Counterclaim ¶ 21. Johnson answered the counterclaim and asserted thirty-six affirmative defenses. See Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant's Answer, ECF No. 24.

II. Standard of Review

As relevant here, the United States moves to dismiss Johnson's complaint as barred under the doctrine of res judicata. "When res judicata bars a claim, it is subject to dismissal under [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 12(b)(6)." Alford v. Providence Hosp., 60 F. Supp. 3d 118, 123 (D.D.C. 2014). In analyzing a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court must determine whether the complaint "contain[s] 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) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). The Court takes all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true and construes those facts "liberally in the plaintiff's favor with the benefit of all reasonable inferences derived from the facts alleged." Stewart v. Nat'l Educ. Ass'n, 471 F.3d 169, 173 (D.C. Cir. 2006). Finally, when ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion on res judicata grounds, the Court may take judicial notice of its own record, public records from other proceedings, and documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint. Alford, 60 F. Supp. 3d at 123.

III. Analysis

Under the doctrine of res judicata (or claim preclusion), "a final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties or their privies from relitigating issues that were or could have been raised in that action." Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94 (1980). Res judicata will bar a subsequent lawsuit "if there has been prior litigation (1) involving the same claims or cause of action, (2) between the same parties or their privies, and (3) there has been a final, valid judgment on the merits, (4) by a court of competent jurisdiction." Smalls v. United States, 471 F.3d 186, 192 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (citations omitted). The parties dispute the first three elements of the res judicata test so the Court will address those elements in turn.

First, the present case and the Maryland case involve the same causes of action. "Whether two cases implicate the same cause of action turns on whether they share the same 'nucleus of facts.'" Drake v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 291 F.3d 59, 66 (D.C. Cir. 2002) (quoting Page v. United States, 729 F.2d 818, 820 (D.C. Cir. 1984)). This is because res judicata bars not only "specific legal claims that were actually raised in the prior case, but also [] any legal claims that 'could have been raised based on the same transaction or occurrence." Role Models Am., Inc. v. Penmar Dev. Corp., 394 F. Supp. 2d 121, 130 (D.D.C. 2005) (emphasis added) (citing Allen, 449 U.S. at 94). "To determine whether two cases share the same nucleus of facts, the Court considers whether the facts are related in time, space, origin, or motivation; whether they form a convenient trial unit; and whether their treatment as a unit conforms to the parties' expectations or business understanding or usage." Gresham v. District of Columbia, 66 F. Supp. 3d 178, 187 (D.D.C. 2014) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

There is no question that this case and the Maryland case share the same nucleus of facts. Although Johnson has refashioned his legal theories, both complaints stem from Johnson's efforts to submit a $12,390 check to either settle his entire student debt or at least reduce his debt by that amount. Both complaints further allege that the government accepted Johnson's payment but did not appropriately settle or credit his account. And finally, both complaints allege that the government falsely reported him to various credit bureaus or collection agencies based on his delinquencies or defaults.

Johnson counters that at the very least, his FTCA claims are not barred because he was not obligated to assert them in the Maryland case. Opp'n to Consol. MTD at 12. He contends that the FTCA claims did not ripen until he chose to deem the Department of Education's failure to make a final disposition of the claim a final denial of his claim for purposes of administrative exhaustion. Id. According to Johnson, his FTCA claims did not ripen until he opted to deem them final on October 30, 2017, when he filed the present case. Id. Johnson's argument is largely beside the point. A plaintiff's FTCA claim ripens six months after filing an administrative complaint regardless of whether the agency has taken final action. 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a). Johnson submitted his FTCA...