Young v. United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Education

Filing 30

ORDER granting 21 Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate this action and enter judgment accordingly. Signed by Judge G Murray Snow on 12/4/2013.(ALS)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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No. CV-13-08024-PCT-GMS

Jeanette Young,

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ORDER

Plaintiff,

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v.

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United States Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Education; et al.,

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Defendants.

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Pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary

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Judgment on Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint. (Doc. 21.) For the reasons discussed below,

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the Motion is granted.

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BACKGROUND

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Plaintiff, Jeannette Young, was an employee of Defendant United States

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Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Education (the “BIE”). (Doc. 12.) She was

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terminated by the BIE on May 20, 2011. (Id.) On January 29, 2013, Plaintiff filed a

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Complaint with this Court (Doc. 1), alleging that the BIE violated her religious freedom

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by terminating her because of her refusal to be “saved.” (Doc. 20 at ¶ 7(d).) Plaintiff

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brought claims against the BIE under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Bivens v. Six Unknown

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Federal Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). (Doc. 1 at 1.) On June 21, 2013, the

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Court granted Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss / Motion for Summary Judgment after

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Plaintiff failed to file any response to that Motion. (Doc. 15.) On July 12, 2013, the Court

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granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Reopen the Case, without opposition from Defendant. (Doc.

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19.) On August 12, 2013, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint. (Doc. 20.) In her

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Amended Complaint, Plaintiff again alleges employment discrimination based on her

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religion and brings her claims under § 1983 and as a Bivens action against the BIE and

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two named defendants. (Id. at ¶1.) Defendants now moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s Amended

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Complaint or for summary judgment. (Doc. 21.)

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DISCUSSION

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In its June 21, 2013, Order, this Court dismissed Plaintiff’s § 1983 claims and

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Bivens claims against the BIE. (Doc. 15.) Plaintiff alleges these identical claims against

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the BIE in her Amended Complaint. (Doc. 20.) Further, in her Response to Defendant’s

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Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint and for Summary Judgment, Plaintiff

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concedes to the dismissal of the BIE. (Doc. 28.) Therefore, and for the reasons described

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in the June 21, 2013, Order, Plaintiff fails to establish any cognizable claim against the

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BIE and her claims against the BIE are dismissed.

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The sole change Plaintiff did make in her Amended Complaint was to add two

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individual defendants, Velma Eisenberger, the principal at the school from which

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Plaintiff was terminated, and Lemuel Adson, a BIE Education Line Officer. (Doc. 20 at ¶

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6.) Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s sole remedy in this case was to bring a Title VII

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claim of employment discrimination based on religion, and that she failed to do so. (Doc.

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21 at 6–7.) Plaintiff does not respond to this or to any other argument made by

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Defendants in her Response. (Doc. 28.) Instead, Plaintiff states that she is “bringing a

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Bivens case against the named federal agents” and that she has filed summonses for these

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newly added defendants with the Court. (Id.) Plaintiff neither submitted her own

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Statement of Facts in response to Defendants’ Statement (Doc. 22), nor does she contest

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any of Defendants’ characterization of the facts in her Response.

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In Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, the Supreme Court

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“recognized for the first time an implied private action for damages against federal

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officers alleged to have violated a citizen’s constitutional rights.” Corr. Servs. Corp. v.

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Malesko, 534 U.S. 61, 66 (2001). In that case, the Court recognized this implied damages

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remedy under the Fourth Amendment, and in subsequent cases the Court recognized that
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same remedy under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and Cruel and

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Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment. 534 U.S. at 67. In determining

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whether to create a Bivens remedy in a new constitutional context, a court looks to

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existing congressionally created remedies for the alleged violation and to “special factors

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counseling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress.” Bivens, 403 U.S.

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388, 395 (1971).

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In Bush v. Lucas, the Supreme Court declined to extend the Bivens remedy to a

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federal employee’s suit alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights because his

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claims arose “out of an employment relationship that is governed by comprehensive

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procedural and substantive provisions giving meaningful remedies against the United

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States.” 462 U.S. 367, 368 (1983). The Court found that in that case, the existing

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administrative scheme available to the employee had been “constructed step by step, with

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careful attention to conflicting policy considerations” and that the Court would not

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augment that system by creating a new judicial remedy for the alleged violation of the

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employee’s First Amendment rights.” Id. at 388.

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “provides the exclusive judicial remedy

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for claims of discrimination in federal employment.” Brown v. Gen. Servs. Admin., 425

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U.S. 820, 835 (1976). Here, Plaintiff asserts claims of religious discrimination against her

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employer. As this claim falls within the ambit of Title VII, her sole remedy is to bring a

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claim under that statute and to comply with all applicable requirements for exhaustion of

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administrative remedies. Plaintiff cites to no authority to suggest that a Bivens claim

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exists in this case despite the existence of a comprehensive, congressionally-created

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remedial scheme, and she makes no arguments to suggest that this scheme is somehow

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inadequate for her claim. The Court finds that Plaintiff cannot avoid the requirements of

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that scheme by bringing a Bivens claim in this context. Thus, Plaintiff’s claims against

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Defendants Eisenberger and Adson are dismissed. Therefore,

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IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary

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Judgment (Doc. 21) is granted. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate this action

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and enter judgment accordingly.

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Dated this 4th day of December, 2013.

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