Stewart v. Nottoway Cnty.

684 F.Supp.3d 467

Angela STEWART, Plaintiff, v. NOTTOWAY COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-635-HEH

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division

Signed July 28, 2023

Melvin E. Williams, Williams & Strickler, PLC, Roanoke, VA, Meghan Ashley Strickler, Mel Williams PLC, Roanoke, VA, for Plaintiff.

Faith Abar Alejandro, L. Lee Byrd, Sands Anderson PC, Richmond, VA, Katharine Westfall Durante, Sands Anderson PC, Williamsburg, VA, for Defendants Nottoway County, Nottoway County Board of Supervisors, John Roark.

William Woodul Tunner, Peter Askin, William Daniel Prince, IV, ThompsonMcMullan, P.C., Richmond, VA, for Defendants Nottoway County Electoral Board, Sarah Allen, Mae Tucker, Christopher Page.

Brian James Brydges, Johnson Ayers & Matthews PLC, Roanoke, VA, for Defendants Thomas Reynolds, April Wright.

Andrew Thomas Bodoh, Thomas H. Roberts & Associates PC, Richmond, VA, for Defendant Thomas Crews.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

(Granting Defendants' Motions to Dismiss and Dismissing Plaintiff's Complaint)

Henry E. Hudson, Senior United States District Judge

This matter is before the Court on Defendants'¹ Motions to Dismiss (ECF Nos. 81, 83, 86, 95, 97, 99), filed pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Plaintiff Angela Stewart ("Plaintiff" or "Stewart") filed her Second Amended Complaint (ECF No. 79) on March 8, 2023, alleging violations of both state and federal law. She alleges that the Nottoway County Electoral Board (the "Board") and its members (the "Board members") unlawfully terminated her as General Registrar of Nottoway County. Plaintiff specifically alleges violations of her rights under the United States Constitution ("U.S. Constitution") as well as violations of Virginia Code § 24.2-110, Virginia tort law, and her Virginia Constitutional rights. (Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 86-199.)

The parties have submitted extensive memoranda detailing their respective positions, and oral argument was heard on May 16, 2023. For the following reasons, the Eleventh Amendment bars Plaintiff's U.S. Constitutional claims and thus, does not establish the requisite federal question jurisdiction of this Court. Therefore, Defendants' Motions to Dismiss will be granted as to Counts III, IV, V, and VI. The Court will not exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims and will dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint.

I. BACKGROUND

Stewart served the last 28 years in the General Registrar's Office for Nottoway County. (Second Am. Compl. at 2.) She spent her first seven years as the Assistant Registrar, and the remaining 21 years as the General Registrar. On September 24, 2021, the Board terminated Stewart as General Registrar. (Id.) Stewart alleges this termination was unlawful and seeks reinstatement of her pervious position as well as monetary damages. (Id.)

A. Administration of Elections in Virginia

Federal, state, and local elections in Virginia are administered by a hierarchy of state entities and officials, consisting of the State Board of Elections (the "State Board"), local electoral boards, general registrars, deputy or assistant registrars, and officers of elections. See Va. Code § 24.2-101. The State Board, through the Department of Elections, supervises and coordinates the work of the "county and city electoral boards and of the registrars to obtain uniformity in their practices and proceedings . . . ." Id. § 24.2-103; see also Mr. Charles W. Haney and Ms. Mary G. Turner, Op. No. 19-053, 2020 WL 1058331, at *3 n.7 (Va. A.G. Feb. 28, 2020) ("Both the registrar and the local electoral board remain subject to the ultimate oversight of the State Board . . . ."). Virginia Code § 24.2-106 outlines that each county and city in Virginia shall have an electoral board composed of three members, who shall be appointed by the chief judge of the judicial circuit.

Each local electoral board appoints a general registrar, "who oversees voter registration and serves as director of elections for the locality." Mr. Charles W. Hanes, 2020 WL 1058331, at *1; see Va. Code §§ 24.2-109 and -110. A general registrar's specific duties include maintaining public places for voter registration, educating the public regarding voter registration, maintaining the official voter registration records, verifying the accuracy of pollbooks, and "carry[ing] out such other duties as prescribed by the electoral board . . . ." Id. § 24.2-114. Local electoral boards perform annual performance reviews of general registrars. See id. § 24.2-109.1.

General registrars serve four-year terms, id. § 24.2-110, and are paid through a compensation plan established by the General Assembly, id. § 24.2-111. The locality where the general registrar serves pays such compensation and is then "reimbursed annually" by the state treasury. Id. Additionally, as was in place at the time of the alleged unlawful conduct, "[t]he electoral board by a recorded majority vote may remove from office, on notice, any general registrar or officer of election who fails to discharge the duties of his office according to law." Va. Code § 24.2-109(A) (2020).²

B. The Board's Termination of Stewart

The Board appointed and re-appointed Stewart on four-year terms as General Registrar without interruption for nearly 18 years.³ (Second Am. Compl. ¶ 16.) The Board last re-appointed Stewart on April 19, 2019, to a four-year term commencing on July 1, 2019. (Id. ¶ 17.) Beginning in 2021, the Board was comprised of three members—Ms. Sarah Allen ("Allen"), Ms. Mae Tucker ("Tucker"), and Christopher Page ("Page"). (Id. ¶¶ 8-10.)

On August 25, 2021, Stewart, allegedly "speaking as a private citizen but drawing upon her 28 years in the General Registrar's Office," spoke publicly at a Board meeting and told its members "that they did not understand their roles and were not carrying out their duties." (Id. ¶ 22.)

On September 23, 2021, the Board held another public meeting. (Id. ¶¶ 23, 29, 39.) During this meeting, the Board allegedly met in closed session with its legal counsel to discuss personnel matters involving staff of the General Registrar's Office.⁴ (Id. ¶ 29.) Stewart contends that this meeting was in violation of Virginia Code § 2.2-3707(F)⁵ because the Board did not "include as an item of business that [the Board] would consider terminating Ms. Stewart's appointment." (Second Am. Compl. ¶ 29.) Additionally, Defendant John Roark ("Roark"), who was not a Board member, was also allegedly present at the meeting. (Id. ¶ 32.) Stewart asserts that Roark "intentionally provided [inaccurate] information to Allen, Tucker, and Page so as to place Ms. Stewart in a false light" and "has boasted that he played a role" in her removal. (Id. ¶¶ 33, 35.)

During the evening of September 23, while the meeting was in an overnight recess, the Board had the Nottoway Sheriff's Office serve Stewart notice regarding her possible removal. (Id. ¶ 39.) The notice delivered to her stated, inter alia, that "[p]ursuant to Va. Code § 24.2-109 . . . [she] may be removed for [her] failure to discharge the duties of [her] office and other duties found in Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia, as required by law." (Id. ¶ 40.) Specifically, the notice outlined that the Board was considering Stewart's removal for, inter alia, her failure "to post timely and accurate notice[s] of all voter satellite office locations," "to properly [ ] apply for grant funding," "to correct the posting issues brought to your attention," "to improve [her] performance with respect to engaging in professional behavior," "to work constructively with the Board," and "to discharge [her] duties impartially . . . without bias." (Second Am. Compl. ¶ 41.)

The notice further informed Stewart that the Board would consider her removal as General Registrar the following day, September 24, at the continuation of the Board's meeting. (Id. ¶ 45.) At that time, the Board would give her 30 minutes to speak and address the concerns they had regarding her job performance, and she would be able to provide any information she wished in her defense. (Id.) Stewart asserts that this notice failed to comply with Virginia Code §§ 24.2-107 and 2.2-3707, which required that public notice of the meeting be posted "at least three working days prior to the meeting."

On September 24, the Board continued its meeting from the previous day. (Second Am. Compl. ¶ 23.) Stewart did not attend the meeting, nor did she submit a written response regarding the Board's notice. Allen then moved "under § 24.2-109 to remove from office [Stewart] as General Registrar to whom proper notice was given, for her failure to discharge the duties of her office according to law, effective immediately." (Id. ¶ 23.) Tucker seconded the motion, and Allen, Tucker, and Page voted for and unanimously passed the motion. (Id. ¶ 25.) Stewart was thus removed from her position as General Registrar. (Id. ¶ 26.)

II. LEGAL STANDARDS

As previously mentioned, this matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motions to Dismiss for failure to state a claim and for lack of jurisdiction. Because Defendants' Motions under Rule 12(b)(1) have jurisdictional implications, the Court must initially address their challenges to this Court's subject matter jurisdiction.

To clarify, Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint contains thirteen (13) total counts. Counts III, IV, V, and VI allege violations of the U.S. Constitution, forming the basis for this Court's federal question jurisdiction.⁶ (Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 103-42.) The remaining nine (9) counts contain allegations of violations solely under Virginia law. The Court will address Plaintiff's federal claims first to determine if jurisdiction over this matter is appropriate.

"Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction." Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). They possess only such power as is authorized by the Constitution or conferred by statute. Id. "The...