Valerie Williams v. Grady Memorial Hospital, et al

Filing

Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Valerie Jean Williams. Decision: Affirmed. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam. The opinion is also available through the Court's Opinions page at this link http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions.

Case: 16-10518

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 1 of 4

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 16-10518
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:14-cv-00711-WBH

VALERIE JEAN WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
GRADY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL,
SOUTH FULTON BEHAVIORAL HEALTH,
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________

(June 29, 2017)

Case: 16-10518

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 2 of 4

Before MARCUS, JULIE CARNES and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Valerie Jean Williams, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s denial
of her motion seeking reconsideration of the district court’s previous order
dismissing her complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. After careful
consideration and review, we affirm the district court.
I.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Williams originally filed a civil complaint against Grady Memorial
Hospital and South Fulton Behavioral Health arising out of their acts or omissions
as her health care providers. The district court sua sponte dismissed the complaint
for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court explained that there was no
diversity jurisdiction because all the parties to the action were citizens of Georgia.
And the court determined that there was no federal question jurisdiction because
Ms. Williams failed to allege facts that would give rise to a civil rights claim or
any other federal claim. 1
Ms. Williams appealed the district court’s decision. We dismissed the
appeal for want of prosecution after she failed to pay the filing fee. Shortly after
the appeal was dismissed, Ms. Williams filed a motion in the district court seeking
1

The district court further noted that Ms. Williams’s factual allegations could potentially
support state law claims for malpractice and assault. But the court explained that it lacked
subject matter jurisdiction to consider such claims and suggested that Ms. Williams pursue any
such claims in state court.
2

Case: 16-10518

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 3 of 4

to reopen her case. In her motion, Ms. Williams argued that the statute of
limitations had not expired, identifying when she had alerted various state and
federal agencies to her claims. But she did not address why the district court had
subject matter jurisdiction. The district court denied the motion to reopen, again
explaining that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear her case. This is Ms.
Wiliams’s appeal of the denial of her motion to reopen.
II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the denial of a motion seeking relief from a final judgment, order
or proceeding under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) for abuse of discretion. 2
Am. Bankers Ins. Co. of Fla. v. Nw. Nat’l Ins. Co., 198 F.3d 1332, 1338 (11th Cir.
1999).
III.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

Rule 60(b) provides that a party may be relieved from a judgment due
to: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered
evidence that could not have been discovered earlier with reasonable diligence; (3)
fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) a void
judgment; (5) a judgment that has been satisfied, released, discharged, reversed, or
vacated; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the
2

Although Ms. Williams labeled her motion as a motion to reopen, we construe it as a
Rule 60(b) motion because she sought relief from the district court’s final judgment. See Smith
v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 721 F.2d 346, 348 (11th Cir. 1983) (recognizing that courts are not
bound by labels that parties give their post-trial motions and should instead look to the motions’
substance).
3

Case: 16-10518

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 4 of 4

judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). The purpose of a Rule 60(b) motion is to give the
district court an opportunity to “correct obvious errors or injustices and so perhaps
obviate the laborious process of appeal.” Carter ex rel. Carter v. United States,
780 F.2d 925, 928 (11th Cir. 1986) (internal quotation marks omitted). Relief
under Rule 60(b) is an “extraordinary remedy which may be invoked only upon a
showing of exceptional circumstances.” Crapp v. City of Miami Beach, 242 F.3d
1017, 1020 (11th Cir. 2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). The district court
previously determined that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because there was
neither diversity nor federal question jurisdiction. In her motion, Ms. Williams did
not address subject matter jurisdiction. The district court therefore did not abuse
its discretion in denying Ms. Williams’s motion to reopen, construed as a Rule
60(b) motion.
IV.

CONCLUSION

For the reasons set forth above, we affirm the district court’s denial of Ms.
Williams’s motion to reopen.
AFFIRMED.

4