Young v. Peralta Community College District et al

Filing 29

Order re defendants' 18 Motion to Dismiss. (jdlc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/10/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RONA YOUNG,

Case No. 14-cv-05351-JD

Plaintiff,
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v.

ORDER RE MOTION TO DISMISS

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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PERALTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DISTRICT, et al.,

Re: Dkt. No. 18

Defendants.
Pro se plaintiff Rona Young is suing her former employer, Peralta Community College

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District, for refusing to provide her with reasonable accommodations after she sustained a work-

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related injury. She brings claims under the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”), the Age

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Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As

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defendants note, neither the ADEA nor Title VII protects against employment discrimination on

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the basis of disability -- these statutes protect against discrimination based on age, race, religion

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and other protected classes. But plaintiff alleges only disability discrimination, and has failed to

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exhaust her administrative remedies for any other claims. The ADEA and Title VII claims are

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therefore dismissed.

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Plaintiff’s ADA claim is timely and will move forward but only against Peralta

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Community College District. The parties agree that the individual defendants -- Robert Adams,

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Gregory Valentine and Arthur London (who has not yet been served) -- were improperly named.

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Dkt. No. 18 at 5-6; Dkt. No. 27 at 2; see Miller v. Maxwell's Int’l Inc., 991 F.2d 583, 587 (9th Cir.

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1993) (Title VII and the ADEA do not impose individual liability on employees); see also Walsh

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v. Nevada Dept. of Human Resources, 471 F.3d 1033, 1038 (2006) (“individual defendants cannot

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be held personally liable for violations of the ADA”). Consequently, the individual defendants are

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dismissed with prejudice.

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BACKGROUND
As alleged in the complaint, Rona Young was hired as a Staff Marketing Specialist by the

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Peralta Community College District (“PCCD”) in 1994 and promoted to Public Information

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Officer at Merritt College (which is within the PCCD) one year later. Dkt. No. 1 at 4. She

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remained in that position for fifteen years. Id.

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While working at Merritt College on August 25, 2009, Young injured her right knee and

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back. Id. at 4, Ex. G. As a result of the injury, she eventually received a total knee replacement

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on May 4, 2010. Id. at 4. After her injury but before the surgery, Young’s supervisor -- Dr.

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Robert Adams (President of Merritt College) -- agreed to allow Young to work from home and
come onto campus as necessary. Id. On January 3, 2010, when walking became too difficult, Dr.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Jacob Rosenberg, Young’s treating physician, suggested to PCCD that Young be accommodated

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with a motorized wheelchair or placed on Temporary Total Disability (“TTD”) if she could not be

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properly accommodated. Id. at 4-5, Ex. G. On January 14, 2010, because the use of a motorized

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wheelchair was deemed “hazardous,” the request was denied. Id. Young was placed on industrial

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leave and continued to receive her full salary. Id. On March 2, 2010, Dr. Rosenberg again

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requested a wheelchair accommodation or, in the alternative, extended TTD. Id. The

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accommodation request was again denied, and Young’s TTD was continued. Id.

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On April 29, 2010, shortly before the May 4, 2010 surgery, Young’s treating physician

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notified Dr. Adams that her post-operative recovery could take up to three or four months. Id. at

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4, Ex. G. On May 7, 2010, three days after the surgery, Dr. Adams told Young that he “had

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decided to eliminate [her] position” and transfer her. Id. at 4. Young alleges that PCCD

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eliminated her Merritt College position because of her disability and because she “had suffered

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multiple bodily injuries over the fifteen years” she worked for PCCD. Id. at 7.

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On May 28, 2010, Young received a layoff notice; she was given the option of being

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reassigned to her same position at the College of Alameda or being placed on a reemployment list.

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Id. at 5-6, Ex. G. She chose the former, and was transferred on August 15, 2010. Id. at Ex. G.

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Dr. Jannett Jackson, President of the College of Alameda, agreed to allow Young to use a

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motorized wheelchair. Id. at 8. But according to Young, she was never told that she would be
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accommodated. Id. Instead, she claims that she only discovered this fact four years later, in

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November 2014, through a FOIA request. Id. Young contends that as a result of this omission,

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she was forced to retire on November 10, 2010. Id.

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Young filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

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(“DFEH”) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on May 16, 2011. Id.

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at 6, Ex. G. On June 6, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”)

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informed Young that it, and not the DFEH, would process her complaint. Id. The EEOC issued a

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right-to-sue letter on August 29, 2014. Dkt. No. 27, Ex. A. Plaintiff filed suit in this Court on

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December 3, 2014, alleging violations of the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”), the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dkt.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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No. 1.

DISCUSSION

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A complaint must be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil

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Procedure if the facts, as alleged in the complaint, are not sufficient to make out a legal claim. See

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SmileCare Dental Group v. Delta Dental Plan of Calif., Inc., 88 F.3d 780, 783 (9th Cir. 1996).

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All material allegations of the complaint are taken as true and considered in the light most

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favorable to the nonmoving party. See Parks Sch. of Bus. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th

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Cir. 1995). The complaint must contain sufficient factual matter to “state a claim to relief that is

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plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). When a court

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dismisses for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), it should normally grant leave to

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amend unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other

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facts. Cook, Perkiss & Liehe v. N. Cal. Collection Serv., 911 F.2d 242, 247 (9th Cir. 1990).

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I.

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ADMINISTRATIVE EXHAUSTION
In addition to an ADA claim, plaintiff’s complaint also attempts to state violations of Title

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VII and the ADEA. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color,

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religion, sex or national origin, while the ADEA prohibits employment discrimination against

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individuals between the ages of 40 and 70. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2; 29 U.S.C. § 613(a).

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As an initial matter, the Court notes that the complaint is bereft of facts showing

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discrimination on any of the grounds these statutes address. The complaint alleges facts

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supporting disability discrimination alone. This is also true for Young’s administrative charge

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with the DFEH.

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Mainly for the sake of completeness, then, if nothing else, the Court will address whether it
has jurisdiction over plaintiff’s ADEA and Title VII claims. To establish federal subject matter

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jurisdiction, a plaintiff asserting workplace discrimination must exhaust the remedies available

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through the EEOC. See Sosa v. Hiraoka, 920 F.2d 1451, 1456 (9th Cir. 1990); see also Lyons v.

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England, 307 F.3d 1092, 1103 (9th Cir. 2002) (“a plaintiff is required to exhaust his or her

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administrative remedies before seeking adjudication of a Title VII claim”); Sanchez v. Pac.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Powder Co., 147 F.3d 1097, 1099 (9th Cir. 1998) (same for ADEA claims). This requirement

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“serves the important purposes of giving the charged party notice of the claim and narrowing the

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issues for prompt adjudication and decision.” B.K.B. v. Maui Police Dep’t, 276 F.3d 1091, 1099

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(9th Cir. 2002) (citations omitted). A plaintiff satisfies the exhaustion requirement if the civil

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claim is within the scope of the actual or likely EEOC charge and investigation. 42 U.S.C. §

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2000e–5(b), (c), (d), (e), f(1). The Court cannot consider allegations of discrimination not

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included in the administrative charge unless the new claims are “like or reasonably related to the

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allegations contained in the EEOC charge.” B.K.B., 276 F.3d at 1100 (citations omitted).

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In the administrative charge, Young only identified “disability” as the basis of the alleged

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discrimination. Dkt. No. 1, Ex. G. She did not check the boxes marked “age,” “sex,” “race,” or

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any other box. Id. The “Particulars” section of her Charge reads in its entirety:

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I.
I was denied a reasonable accommodation in January 2010
and constructively terminated on May 7, 2010 which forced me to
retire on November 10, 2010. I was hired as a Public Information
Officer in February 1994 and earning $5,600 a month.
II.
Mr. Greg Valentine, Risk Manager, told me that the
reasonable accommodation (the ability to use a motorized
wheelchair at work) was denied by Dr. Robert Adams, President of
Merritt College, Karen Ulrich, Human Resources Manager and
himself, Greg Valentine.

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III.
I believe that I was denied a reasonable accommodation, and
constructively terminated because of my disability (spine, shoulder
and hands) for the following reasons:

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A. On May 7, 2010, I was denied the ability to use a
wheelchair at work. My doctor’s note dated October
2010 indicating my ability to go back to work with a
reasonable accommodation (the use of a motorized
wheelchair) was ignored.

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B. The denial of my request for a reasonable
accommodation forced me to constructively terminate
my employment and forced me to take my retirement on
November 10, 2010.

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C. I could have performed the essential job functions with
this minimal accommodation.

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Id.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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These allegations could not reasonably have been expected to trigger an investigation of

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any type of discrimination other than disability discrimination, and they do not provide notice to

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defendants of any other claim. Even construing the administrative charge “with utmost liberality,”

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as the Court is required to do, plaintiff’s charge was narrow in scope, focusing exclusively on

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disability discrimination. B.K.B., 276 F.3d at 1100 (quotations and citation omitted). She brought

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the claim because she was denied a disability accommodation -- the ability to use a motorized

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wheelchair at work -- and explicitly states that she was “denied [this] reasonable accommodation,

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and constructively terminated because of [her] disability (spine, should and hands).” Dkt. No. 1,

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Ex. G. As the defendants note, “[t]he allegations in Plaintiff’s DFEH complaint pertain only to

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discrete acts specifically related to the purported denial of requests for [disability]

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accommodation.” Dkt. No. 18 at 7-8. The sole focus of the claim and investigation is also clear

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throughout the EEOC investigator’s notes. See Dkt. No. 1, Ex. G. Nowhere does plaintiff allege

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facts suggesting discriminatory conduct for any reason other than her disability; she includes no

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allegations or facts suggesting that she was discriminated against because of her race, color,

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religion, sex, national origin or age, the classes protected by Title VII and the ADEA.

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Consequently, the Court finds that plaintiff did not exhaust her Title VII or ADEA claims at the

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administrative level, and to the extent they are brought in her complaint, they are dismissed with

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prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
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II.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
Defendants contend that plaintiff’s claims should be dismissed with prejudice because they

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are untimely. The federal limitations period for bringing an ADA claim -- plaintiff’s sole

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remaining claim -- is 90 days from receipt of a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC. 42 U.S.C. §

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2000e–5(f)(l); see Stiefel v. Bechtel Corp., 624 F.3d 1240, 1245 (9th Cir. 2010). This ninety-day

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filing period acts as a statute of limitations on an ADA claim. Stiefel, 624 F.3d at 1245. The start

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of the limitations period is measured from the date on which a right-to-sue notice letter arrived at

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the claimant’s address of record. Payan v. Aramark Mgmt. Servs. Ltd. P’ship, 495 F.3d 1119,

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1122 (9th Cir. 2007). “Where that date is known, we will deem the claimant to have received
notice on that date, regardless of whether the claimant personally saw the right-to-sue letter.” Id.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Where the date of actual receipt is unknown, the court will presume that the notice arrived at the

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claimant’s address three days after it was mailed. Id. at 1122, 1125.
According to the plaintiff, she received the notice on September 4, 2014. Dkt. No. 27 at 3.

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Consequently, she was required to commence this action by December 3, 2014, 90 days after she

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received the notice. The action was filed that day, and is therefore timely.

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Defendants ask the Court to presume that the plaintiff received the notice on September 1,

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2014, three days after it was sent, which would render her claims untimely. Dkt. No. 18 at 5. Not

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only is that presumption impossible (the United States Postal Service was closed on September 1,

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2014 for Labor Day), but it applies, if at all, only “[w]here the date of actual receipt is unknown.”

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See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(6)(A); Payan, 495 F.3d at 1122. Here, taking all allegations of material

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fact as true and construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the date of actual

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receipt -- September 4, 2014 -- is known. The presumption does not apply.

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III.

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MORE DEFINITE STATEMENT
Defendants seek a more definite statement under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e).

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Under this rule, a party may move for a more definite statement of a pleading “which is so vague

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or ambiguous that the party cannot reasonably prepare a response.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(e). A Rule

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12(e) motion is proper only where the complaint is so indefinite that the defendant cannot

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ascertain the nature of the claim being asserted and cannot reasonably be expected to frame a

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proper response. Id.

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The request is denied. Plaintiff’s only remaining claim is a disability discrimination claim

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under the ADA against Peralta Community College District. The facts now support one claim

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against one defendant, which is stated with adequate clarity.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: August 10, 2015

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________________________
JAMES DONATO
United States District Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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