Paul McArdle v. Joseph Hufnagel, et al
Filing
NOT PRECEDENTIAL OPINION Coram: AMBRO, CHAGARES and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges. Total Pages: 7. Judge: AMBRO Authoring.
Case: 13-1841
Document: 003111767280
Page: 1
Date Filed: 10/16/2014
NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 13-1841
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PAUL J. MCARDLE,
Appellant
v.
JOSEPH W. HUFNAGEL; MARGARET A. HUFNAGEL; THERESA J. HUFNAGEL;
J. JEROME MANSMANN; PATRICK W. MANSMANN; KATHLEEN MANSMANN
RYGALSKI; JAMES P. MANSMANN; JOANNE T. MANSMANN; PETER J.
MANSMANN; SANDRA L. MANSMANN; PETER L. MANSMANN; SARAH E.
MANSMANN; KRISTINE I. MANSMANN SULLIVAN; THOMAS M. SULLIVAN;
MICHELE M. MANSMANN; RONALD A. WEISENSTEIN; THERESA A.
MANSMANN CAMPA; CLAYTON T. CAMPA; ELIZABETH MANSMANN
CHAMPAGNE; KEITH J. CHAMPAGNE; DENISE MANSMANN BIRD; DANIEL L.
BIRD; DANIEL F. CUSICK; MARY SHEILA CUSICK; COLLEEN CUSICK; ANNE
M. MCARDLE; GEORGE R. FOX, III; CARRIE FOX; KELLY FOX; ERIN L.
MARSH; DENNIS J. WELSCH; MARY P. WELSCH; WILLIAM P. MORGAN;
KATHLEEN S. MORGAN; JOHN DOE; JANE ROE
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On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil Action No. 1-12-cv-00326)
District Judge: Honorable Gary L. Lancaster
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Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
September 29, 2014
Before: AMBRO, CHAGARES, and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: October 16, 2014)
Case: 13-1841
Document: 003111767280
Page: 2
Date Filed: 10/16/2014
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OPINION
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AMBRO, Circuit Judge
Paul J. McArdle appeals the District Court’s March 14, 2013, Order dismissing (i)
with prejudice his claim that defendants-appellees (“Appellees”) conspired to deprive
him of his civil rights and (ii) without prejudice his pendent state-law claims. For the
following reasons, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
McArdle filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Western
District of Pennsylvania against 36 defendants. He claimed that Appellees conspired to
hinder his ability “to earn a livelihood though the practice of law; to interfere with a
normal life; and to cause him other severe damages,” purportedly in violation of 42
U.S.C. § 1985(3). Compl. at ¶ 56. McArdle also brought counts of trespass, conversion,
trespass to chattel, and defamation under Pennsylvania law.
Appellees filed six Motions to Dismiss for failure to state a claim and lack of
subject matter jurisdiction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), 12(b)(1). The Magistrate Judge
filed a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) that the Motions be granted. She held that
McArdle’s federal claim was without merit, and that the District Court lacked diversity
jurisdiction and should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law
claims. After de novo review, the District Court approved and adopted the R&R.
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On appeal McArdle raises five issues: (1) his Complaint meets the pleading
standards of Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662 (2009); (2) the Magistrate Judge lacked the authority to render her R&R;
(3) the District Court erred in requiring that McArdle be a member of a protected class to
invoke 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3); (4) he is a member of a protected class in any event; and (5)
the District Court had diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 or should have
exercised supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
II. DISCUSSION
The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331,
and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
In reviewing a district court’s dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), we apply the same
standard that the District Court is required to apply. Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1 F.3d 176, 183
(3d Cir. 1993). “We therefore accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and
give the pleader the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be fairly drawn
therefrom.” Id. (citing Wisniewski v. Johns-Manville Corp., 759 F.2d 271, 273 (3d Cir.
1985)). However, we are not required to ‘“accept as true unsupported conclusions and
unwarranted inferences.”’ Maio v. Aetna Inc., 221 F.3d 472, 499 (3d Cir. 2000) (quoting
City of Pittsburg v. W. Penn Power Co., 147 F.3d 256, 263 n.13 (3d Cir. 1998)).
a. McArdle’s Complaint Does Not State A Plausible Claim For Relief.
McArdle asserts that his Complaint states a claim for relief that is “plausible on its
face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570; Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. As his Complaint is 24 pages
and 114 paragraphs long, he argues there is no room for “doubt as to who is being sued,
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what they did, when they did it, what damage they caused, and what relief is requested.”
Appellant’s Br. at 60–61.
We review the substance and not the length of a complaint. It may be as short as
one page, provided it contains facts that, when presumed to be true, lead a court
reasonably to infer that the required elements of a claim can be satisfied. In order to
plead a conspiracy under § 1985(3), a complaint must contain facts that plausibly allege:
(1) a conspiracy; (2) for the purpose of depriving a person or class of persons equal
protection under the law or equal privileges and immunities under the law; (3) an act in
furtherance of the conspiracy; and (4) injury to a plaintiff’s property or his person, or
deprivation of a right or privilege of a U.S. citizen. Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88,
102–03 (1971).
Appellees are all private individuals, not state actors. The Supreme Court has
recognized only two rights as protected by § 1985(3) against private conspirators: the
right to be free from involuntary servitude and the right to interstate travel. Brown v.
Phillip Morris, Inc., 250 F.3d 789, 805 (3d Cir. 2001). McArdle does not allege
Appellees conspired to deprive him of either. Instead, his Complaint alleges that
Appellees conspired to injure his ability to earn a living practicing law, to prevent him
from having a normal life, and to cause him other damages. We know no authority to
extend § 1985(3) to protect earning a living through the practice of law or to having “a
normal life.” Thus, the District Court correctly dismissed McArdle’s § 1985 claim.
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b. The Magistrate Judge Exercised Proper Authority In Issuing Her
Report and Recommendation.
McArdle states magistrate judges are not authorized “to hear and determine . . . a
motion . . . to dismiss for failure to state a claim,” as this is a matter reserved solely for
Article III judges. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). He also contends that the District
Court failed to show the case was properly referred to the Magistrate Judge per 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(b)(1)(B), and, in any event, she failed to conduct a hearing before submitting her
R&R.
These arguments fail. Magistrate judges may issue reports and recommendations
on motions to dismiss under § 636(b)(1)(B). They are simply that—a report of the facts
and law coupled with a recommendation of what a district court should decide. That is
what was done here. We also find no indication that the District Court failed properly to
refer this matter to the Magistrate Judge. That she did not hold a hearing is not important
in McArdle’s case, as it is not required.
c. To Be Afforded A Remedy Under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), McArdle Must
Be A Member Of A Protected Class.
McArdle contends next that 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) does not require membership in a
protected class. However, the Supreme Court has held “that there must be some racial, or
perhaps otherwise class-based, invidiously discriminatory animus” for relief under 42
U.S.C. § 1985(3). Griffin, 403 U.S. at 102. McArdle’s failure to allege his membership
in a protected class provided another proper basis for the District Court to dismiss the
§ 1985 claim.
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d. McArdle Failed To Plead That Being A Licensed Attorney With A
Traditionally Irish Name Was The Reason Behind The Alleged
Conspiracy.
McArdle claims that, if § 1985(3) requires membership in a protected class, he
satisfies that criterion as a licensed attorney with a traditionally Irish name. He asserts
that “[t]here are still people in American society who will discriminate against those
having Irish names” and this animus was the driving force behind Appellees’ conspiracy.
Appellant’s Br. at 56.
Members of a protected class under § 1985(3) have at least one of certain
“immutable characteristics.” Lake v. Arnold, 112 F.3d 682, 687 (3d Cir. 1997). These
include race, gender, national origin, and mental handicap. Id. While McArdle’s Brief
mentions race and national origin, his statements concerning a conspiracy are conclusions
without supporting facts. This fails to state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).
e. The District Court Correctly Determined There Is No Diversity Of
Citizenship And Did Not Err In Declining To Exercise Supplemental
Jurisdiction.
“District courts have diversity jurisdiction only if the parties are completely
diverse, which means no plaintiff may have the same state or territorial citizenship as any
defendant.” Mala v. Crown Bay Marina, Inc., 704 F.3d 239, 247 (3d Cir. 2013)
(emphasis added). According to McArdle’s Complaint, at least 30 Appellees share
Pennsylvania citizenship with him. Hence, there is clearly no diversity of citizenship
within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Furthermore, we see no abuse of discretion in
the District Court’s dismissal of McArdle’s remaining state-law claims. Under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1367(a), “district courts shall have supplemental jurisdiction over all other claims that
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are so related to claims in the action within such original jurisdiction that they form part
of the same case or controversy.” However, they may decline to exercise supplemental
jurisdiction once all claims over which they have original jurisdiction have been
dismissed. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3). Nothing in the record suggests that the District Court
abused its discretion in dismissing without prejudice McArdle’s state-law claims once it
dismissed his § 1985(3) claim. 1
We thus affirm.
1
We note that the District Court’s Order failed to mention Count Five of the Complaint
(defamation). We assume this was a clerical error and the Court meant to dismiss this
claim. As such, Count Five is dismissed without prejudice as well.
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