Lamour v. Cambridge Public Schools

Filing 8

Judge Rya W. Zobel: ORDER entered granting 5 Motion to Dismiss. Judgment may be entered dismissing the complaint. (Urso, Lisa)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
CIVIL ACTION NO. 10-11359-RWZ

NEKITA P. LAMOUR
v.
CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ORDER
August 25, 2011
ZOBEL, D.J.
Plaintiff, pro se, Nekita Lamour sues “Cambridge Public Schools” because, she
says, her tenure as a schoolteacher was terminated and she was fired. She asks this
court “to intervene so she can get justice, solve this matter and peacefully continue her
dedicated service as an educator and life long educator.” Compl. ¶ 8, Docket # 1.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and one of those limitations is the
requirement that the court possess subject matter jurisdiction over the lawsuit. See
U.S. Const. Art. III, § 1. The two usual bases for subject matter jurisdiction, and the two
most likely to be relevant to a case such as this, are the existence of a federal question,
28 U.S.C. § 1331, or diversity among the parties, id. at § 1332.
It is the plaintiff’s burden to establish the existence of subject matter jurisdiction,
see, e.g., Aversa v. U.S., 99 F.3d 1200, 1209 (1st Cir. 1996), and the complaint must
contain “a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction,” Fed. R.
Civ. P. 8(a)(1). The complaint in this case does not contain such a statement. Further,

it appears from the complaint that both plaintiff and defendant are citizens of
Massachusetts and there are no federal claims. Accordingly, this court lacks
jurisdiction over plaintiff’s lawsuit.
Defendant’s motion to dismiss (Docket # 5) is ALLOWED. Judgment may be
entered dismissing the complaint.

August 25, 2011
DATE

/s/Rya W. Zobel
RYA W. ZOBEL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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