Akins v. Jeffries et al

Filing 8

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order and in the court's Memorandum and Order dated May 27, 2014, this matter is dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. A separate judgment will be entered in accordance with this Memorandum and Order. Ordered by Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf. (Copy mailed to pro se party)(ADB)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
SAMAR AKINS,
Plaintiff,
v.
ROYEE JEFFRIES, CHRISTIAN
YATES, BETTIE TRUMBLE, RITA
GRIESS, ARNOLD NESBITT, only
minority African American, ERIC
DRUMHELLER, JANET
PALMTAG, and BARBARA
ALBERS,
Defendants.

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4:14CV3034

MEMORANDUM
AND ORDER

This matter is before the court on its own motion. On May 27, 2014, the court
conducted an initial review (Filing No. 6) of Plaintiff’s Complaint. The court
determined the Complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on June 16, 2014. (Filing No. 7.)
Plaintiff alleges in his Amended Complaint that he is African American and he
has filed more than 20 charges of discrimination with the Nebraska Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (“NEOC”). He alleges Defendants, employees
of the NEOC, have issued “no reasonable cause finding[s]” in all of his cases. He
further alleges they have done so because all but one of them are white and “the
corporations[,] entit[ies], or persons [he has] filed against were white.” (Filing No.
7 at CM/ECF p. 2.) Plaintiff claims “[i]t is reasonable to believe that all white
commissioners ruleing [sic] in favor of all white respondents 10 out of 10 times
against a Black complaintant [sic] was a racist discriminative, arbitrary and capricious
process.” (Id.)

As best as the court can tell, Plaintiff is attempting to raise an equal protection
claim against Defendants. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
provides that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. The clause essentially directs
“that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” City of Cleburne v.
Cleburne Living Center, 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985). To state an equal protection
claim, a plaintiff must establish that he was treated differently from others similarly
situated to him. Johnson v. City of Minneapolis, 152 F.3d 859, 862 (8th Cir. 1998).
Here, Plaintiff has not alleged that he was treated differently from others
similarly situated to him. Plaintiff’s conclusory allegations of discrimination are not
sufficient to state a claim for an equal protection violation against Defendants.
Accordingly,
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1.
For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order and in the
court’s Memorandum and Order dated May 27, 2014, this matter is dismissed without
prejudice for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
2.
A separate judgment will be entered in accordance with this
Memorandum and Order.
DATED this 30th day of July, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
Richard G. Kopf
Senior United States District Judge
*This opinion may contain hyperlinks to other documents or Web sites. The U.S. District Court for the District
of Nebraska does not endorse, recommend, approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services or products they
provide on their Web sites. Likewise, the court has no agreements with any of these third parties or their Web sites. The
court accepts no responsibility for the availability or functionality of any hyperlink. Thus, the fact that a hyperlink ceases
to work or directs the user to some other site does not affect the opinion of the court.

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