Jefferson v. Delgado Community College Charity School of Nursing

Filing 14

ORDER AND REASONS denying defendant's 5 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim. Signed by Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle on 10/4/2013. (ijg, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

LENETRA JEFFERSON

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 13-2626

DELGADO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
(CHARITY SCHOOL OF NURSING)

SECTION "B"(1)

ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. (Rec. Doc.
No. 5). In response, Plaintiff filed a Memorandum in Opposition.
(Rec. Doc. No. 7). Defendant filed a reply thereto. (Rec. Doc. No.
12). Accordingly, and for the reasons enumerated below IT IS
ORDERED that said motion is DENIED.
Cause of Action and Facts of the Case:
This

case

arises

out

of

Plaintiff

Lenetra

Jefferson’s

employment with Defendant Delgado Community College, Charity School
of Nursing. Jefferson served as an educational coordinator with the
school’s Practical Nursing program. (Rec. Doc. No. 1-5, at ¶ 4).
Jefferson

alleges

she

was

retaliated

against

and

suffered

discrimination after she reported discriminatory treatment toward
African American students at the school. (Id. at ¶¶ 4, 14). She
alleges violations of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e and other statutory or
regulatory prohibitions against discrimination and harassment. (Id.
at ¶ 14).
The case was originally filed on January 29, 2011 in the Civil

District Court for the Parish of Orleans. (Rec. Doc. No. 1-5). The
case was then removed to this Court on May 3, 2013. (Rec. Doc. No.
1). The Louisiana Department of Justice now seeks to dismiss the
petition under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(4) and (6), contending that
the Defendant named in the suit is not an entity with capacity to
sue or be sued.
Law and Analysis:
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17 governs the capacity of a
party to sue or be sued. Rule 17(b)(3) instructs that, if the party
being sued is neither a corporation or an individual, then the law
of the state where the federal court is located determines the
capacity of the party to be sued. In the instant case, Defendant
"Delgado Community College (Charity School of Nursing)" is neither
a corporation nor an individual, but rather a state operated
school. (Rec. Doc. No. 5-2 at 1). Therefore, the Court must look to
Louisiana law to determine whether the school has the capacity to
be sued.
Louisiana law instructs that, in order to sue or be sued,
"[a]n entity must qualify as a juridical person." Dejoie v. Medley,
945 So. 2d 968, 972 (La. App. 2006). When this test is applied to
local government units, the relevant consideration is whether the
entity sued is an autonomous body of government. As the Louisiana
Supreme Court has stated, "a local government unit may be deemed to
be a juridical person separate and distinct from other government
entities, when the organic law grants it the legal capacity to

function independently and not just as the agency or division of
another governmental entity." Roberts v. Sewerage and Water Board
of New Orleans, 634 So.2d 341, 347 (La. 1994). Thus, a government
body may not be sued if it is merely a dependant sub-body of a
larger government agency. See Dejoie, 945 So. 2d at 972 (rejecting
claim that an en banc panel of the Civil District Court for the
Parish of Orleans was a juridical person). But where a governmental
body has authority to regulate its own functions, or where the
State is in fact the party of interest and is being sued "through"
the government agency, the juridical person requirement is met. See
Roberts, 634 at 347 (concluding the Sewerage and Water Board of New
Orleans is a juridical person); see also Dejoie, 945 So. 2d at 972
(finding the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans(CDC) to
be a proper defendant when the State was a named defendant and was
sued "through" the CDC).
Here, the Louisiana Department of Justice does not challenge
that the Delgado Community College, Charity School of Nursing, is
an agency of the State of Louisiana. Indeed, in their Motion to
Dismiss, the Department concedes that the named Defendant is one of
"our clients" which include "Louisiana agencies and agents." (Rec.
Doc. No. 5-2 at 2). The only claim raised by the Department in its
Motion to Dismiss is that the Defendant listed was improperly
named.
In Dejoie v. Medley the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit held that where the State of Louisiana is sued

"through" one of its governmental subdivisions, the juridical
person requirement is satisfied. 945 So. 2d 968, 972 (La. App.
2006). There, Plaintiff named the State of Louisiana through the
Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans (CDC) as Defendants.
Id. at 970. Defendants claimed that the CDC was not a juridical
person capable of being sued. Id. at 973. The court rejected this
argument, holding "Defendants focus on whether the CDC itself is a
juridical person, they fail to appreciate that the State is the
named defendant in the suit. The State is an entity that can be
sued." Id. (citing La. Const. art. 12, § 10).
Here, like in Dejoie, the State of Louisiana is the ultimate
party being sued through one of its agencies. In her original
complaint, Plaintiff listed as Defendant "Delgado Community College
(Charity School of Nursing) . . . upon information and belief an
agency or instrumentality of the government of the State of
Louisiana." (Rec. Doc. No. 1-5 at ¶ 2). Plaintiff served process on
the Louisiana Attorney General and the Louisiana Office of Risk
Management, and indicated in her citation that she was suing the
"Delgado Community College" "through" "the Louisiana Attorney
General" and "the Louisiana Office of Risk Management." (Rec. Doc.
No. 4-5 and 4-6). Thus, the State has been given adequate notice
that it has been sued through one of its agencies, and has been
given ample opportunity to defend that suit.

Accordingly, and for the reasons pronounced above, IT IS
ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 4th day of October, 2013.

_______________________________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE