Scott v. NH Police Standards and Training Council et al

Filing 13

///ORDER granting 5 Motion to Dismiss. So Ordered by Judge Paul J. Barbadoro.(jna)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

David B. Scott
v.

Case No. 12-cv-435-PB
Opinion No. 2013 DNH 031

NH Police Standards and
Training Council, et al.

O R D E R
David Scott was offered a job as a full-time police officer
with the Barnstead, New Hampshire, Police Department.

He later

enrolled at the New Hampshire Police Academy, but he did not
graduate because he was unable to pass the Academy’s final
fitness test.

As a result, he is not eligible to work as a

full-time police officer in New Hampshire.
Scott has sued the New Hampshire Police Standards and
Training Council and the State of New Hampshire.

He argues that

defendants are liable under Title VII because the Academy’s
final fitness test improperly discriminates against male cadets.
Defendants have moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to
state a claim.

Their principle argument is that they are not

subject to Title VII because they do not qualify as Scott’s
“employers.”

Title VII provides a cause of action against employers.1

It

does not authorize claims against third parties who interfere
with employment relationships.
69, 89 (1st Cir. 2009).

Lopez v. Massachusetts, 588 F.3d

In determining whether a defendant

qualifies as an employer, a court must look to common law agency
principles to determine the existence of an employer-employee
relationship.

Id. at 83.

In the present case, Scott does not cite any facts that
would support a claim that either of the defendants could be
considered his employer under common law standards.

Instead, he

argues that defendants should be treated as employers because
they set standards that he must meet in order to be eligible for
employment by others.

This is nothing more than a contention

that the defendants should be treated as his employers for
purposes of Title VII because they interfered with his attempt
to obtain employment elsewhere as a local police officer.
Because the First Circuit has expressly rejected the theory of
liability on which Scott’s claim is based, I agree with the
defendants that Scott’s complaint must be dismissed.

1

Title VII also covers employment agencies and labor unions.
See Lopez v. Massachusetts, 588 F.3d 69, 83 n.12 (1st Cir. 2009)
(citing 42 U.S.C.§§ 2000e(c)-(d)). Scott has failed to present
any credible argument that defendants qualify under either
provision.
2

The motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 5) is granted.

The clerk

shall enter judgment for the defendants and close the case.
SO ORDERED.

/s/Paul Barbadoro
Paul Barbadoro
United States District Judge
March 8, 2013
cc:

David B. Scott, pro se
Nancy J. Smith, Esq.

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