Butler v. Elsayed et al
Filing
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ORDER granting Defendants' 14 Motion to Dismiss. All of Plaintiff's claims are dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice, and without leave to amend. Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Dkt. # 18 ) is denied as moot. Signed by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. (PM) cc: plaintiff via first class mail
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE
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TERRY BUTLER,
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Case No. C18-0650 RSM
Plaintiff,
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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO DISMISS
v.
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BASEM ELSAYED, et al.,
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Defendants.
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I. INTRODUCTION
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This matter comes before the Court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Dkt. #14.
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Defendants argue that Plaintiff fails to state any claim upon which relief could be granted. Id.
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Plaintiff opposes the motion, arguing that he has clearly shown a set of facts upon which a jury
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could rule in his favor.1 Dkt. #15. The Court disagrees with Plaintiff and now GRANTS
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Defendants’ motion to dismiss for the reasons set forth below.
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II.
BACKGROUND
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Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint on June 26, 2018. Dkt. #9. He alleges that
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he was sexually harassed by a pharmacist at a local Wal-Mart pharmacy. Id. Plaintiff appears
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to be an African-American male, although he does not explicitly plead that he is African-
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Plaintiff filed an impermissible Second Response to Defendants’ motion six days after the
motion noting date. Dkt. #17. The Court’s Local Rules do not provide for a second response,
even if it had been timely. LCR 7(d). Accordingly, the Court does not consider Plaintiff’s
Second Response in ruling on this motion.
ORDER
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American. See Dkt. #9 at 2. He claims that pharmacist Basem Elsayed, who is also a male, made
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unwanted comments to Plaintiff, motivated by the pharmacist’s alleged desire to have oral sex
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with Plaintiff. Such comments included asking Plaintiff to teach him (pharmacist) how to play
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the bass guitar. Id. at 3. Plaintiff further asserts that the pharmacist also: told him he looked like
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someone famous; asked if he wanted to go on a date to a jazz club; and would make “crude sexual
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remarks” such as, “aren’t you going to say hello to me too?” Id. at 4. He also alleges that the
pharmacist has followed him in a car and calls him at home. Id. at 5.
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Plaintiff then alleges that when he reported the harassment to “upper management,” they
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failed to investigate, so he was forced to bring the instant lawsuit to protect his civil rights and
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his safety. Id. at 5. He alleges that the failure to investigate also constitutes retaliation for his
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complaints. Id. at 5-8.
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Plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from sexually harassing him
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or discriminating against him and directing Defendants to comply with their sexual harassment
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policies, as well as $300,000 in damages for his pain and suffering.
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III.
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DISCUSSION
A. Legal Standard for Motions to Dismiss Under 12(b)(6)
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On a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
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12(b)(6), all allegations of material fact must be accepted as true and construed in the light most
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favorable to the nonmoving party. Cahill v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 80 F.3d 336, 337-38 (9th Cir.
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1996). However, the court is not required to accept as true a “legal conclusion couched as a
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factual allegation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v.
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Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). The Complaint “must contain sufficient factual matter,
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accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 678. This
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ORDER
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requirement is met when the plaintiff “pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the
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reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. Absent facial
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plausibility, Plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570.
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B. Claims for Race Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
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In his Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated his rights
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under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Dkt. #9 at 1. The Court
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agrees with Defendants that Plaintiff has failed to plead facts sufficient to maintain a claim under
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those statutes.
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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 governs discrimination in the employment
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context, including retaliation against employees based on their complaints of discrimination. See
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42U.S.C. § 2000e-2 and 3(a). Although “[a] direct employment relationship is not a prerequisite
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to Title VII liability[,] ‘there must be some connection with an employment relationship for Title
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VII protections to apply[.]’” Ass’n of Mexican-American Educators v. State of Cal., 231 F.3d
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572, 580 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting Lutcher v. Musicians Union Local 47, 633 F.2d 880, 883 (9th
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Cir. 1980)). In this case, Plaintiff does not allege any employment relationship, but rather that
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he was a customer of Wal-Mart. In fact, Plaintiff recognizes that he is not an employee, but
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asserts, without legal basis, that the same laws should be extended to customers. Dkt. #9-1 at 6.
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The Court is not persuaded. As a result, Plaintiff has not asserted a cognizable claim under Title
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VII.
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Likewise, Plaintiff does not have a cognizable claim against Defendants under 42 U.S.C.
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§ 1981. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has long held that while Section 1981 authorizes a
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discrimination claim on account of race, Section 1981 does not provide a claim based on sex
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discrimination or sexual harassment. Jones v. Bechtel, 788 F.2d 571, 574 (9th Cir. 1986). Thus,
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ORDER
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Plaintiff cannot maintain a claim for sexual discrimination or harassment under the statute. Given
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that he has also failed to plead any facts suggesting a claim based on racial discrimination, he has
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no claim under Section 1981.
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Finally, even if Plaintiff had pleaded his sexual harassment claim against Defendants
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under a cognizable legal theory, he has failed to plead any facts sufficient to support such a claim.
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Plaintiff’s sole basis for alleging sexual harassment and/or discrimination against Defendants is
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that the subject pharmacist made “crude sexual remarks” to Plaintiff, such as asking Plaintiff
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about: teaching the pharmacist to play bass guitar; going to a jazz club together; and asking
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Plaintiff to say hello to the pharmacist. Plaintiff then speculates that these comments were
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motivated by the pharmacist’s “sexual desire to have [oral sex] with plaintiff.” Dkt. #9. Such
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speculation is insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss. See Associated Gen. Contractors v.
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Metropolitan Water Dist. of S. California, 159 F.3d 1178, 1181 (9th Cir. 1998)(internal citations
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omitted) (holding that unwarranted inferences are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss).
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Accordingly, all of Plaintiff’s Title VII claims and Section 1981 claims are dismissed.
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C. Breach of Fiduciary Duty
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Plaintiff has also listed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty in the caption of his Second
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Amended Complaint. Dkt. #9 at 1. However, the complaint is devoid of any allegations in
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support of such a claim. Indeed, Plaintiff does not mention such a claim in the body of his
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complaint, and he does not allege how he has a fiduciary relationship with any of the Defendants
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or how they breached that fiduciary duty to him. Accordingly, any claim for breach of fiduciary
duty is also dismissed.
D. Washington Law Against Discrimination
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ORDER
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Finally the Court notes that, rather than directly responding to Defendants’ legal argument
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on their motion to dismiss, Plaintiff asserts he has adequately alleged claims under Washington’s
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Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”). Dkt. #15. However, Plaintiff does not raise any such
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claims under the WLAD in his Second Amended Complaint. See Dkt. #9. In fact, he does not
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even mention the WLAD in his Second Amended Complaint. Id. However, even if Plaintiff had
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alleged such claims, he has failed to plead sufficient facts to support them. To establish a prima
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facie case of impermissible discrimination in the public accommodations context, a plaintiff must
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prove that: (1) he is a member of a protected class; (2) the defendant is a place of public
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accommodation; (3) the defendant discriminated against the plaintiff, directly or indirectly; and
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(4) the discrimination occurred because of the plaintiff’s protected status. Floeting v. Group
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Health Cooperative, 200 Wn. App. 758, 766, 403 P.3d 559 (2017) (quoting State v. Arlene’s
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Flowers, 187 Wn.2d 804, 821-22, 389 P.3d 543 (2017) (vacated on other grounds)). Further,
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“the asserted discriminatory conduct must be objectively discriminatory.” Id. at 773-74. In this
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case, the alleged statements to Plaintiff, even accepted as true, are not objectively discriminatory.
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No reasonable person could infer sexual harassment from the statements allegedly made to
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Plaintiff. Accordingly, Plaintiff could not maintain a claim under the WLAD on the facts as they
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are alleged.
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E. Leave to Amend
Ordinarily, leave to amend a complaint should be freely given following an order of
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dismissal, “unless it is absolutely clear that the deficiencies of the complaint could not be cured
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by amendment.” Noll v. Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987); see also DeSoto v. Yellow
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Freight Sys., Inc., 957 F.2d 655, 658 (9th Cir. 1992) (“A district court does not err in denying
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leave to amend where the amendment would be futile.” (citing Reddy v. Litton Indus., Inc., 912
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ORDER
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F.2d 291, 296 (9th Cir. 1990)). The Court declines to grant such leave in this case. The Court
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concludes that granting leave to amend the dismissed claims would be futile given the legal
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deficiencies described above, and given that Plaintiff has twice amended his Complaint to date.
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F. Motion for Temporary Restraining Order
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Plaintiff has recently filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, which actually
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appears to be a request for an Order directing Defendants not to destroy any documents and/or
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recordings related to this matter, and to comply with Plaintiff’s discovery requests. Dkt. #18.
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Because Plaintiff’s claims are being dismissed without leave to amend, the motion for temporary
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restraining order will be denied as moot. Further, the Court presumes that Defendants and their
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counsel will comply with their ethical and legal duties to preserve evidence while this matter is
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proceeding, unless or until the Court has reason to presume otherwise.
IV.
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CONCLUSION
The Court, having reviewed Defendants’ motion to dismiss, Plaintiff’s opposition
thereto, and the reply in support thereof, along with the remainder of the record, hereby finds
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and ORDERS:
1. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. #14) is GRANTED. All of Plaintiff’s claims
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are dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice, and without leave to amend.
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2. Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Dkt. #18) is DENIED AS
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MOOT.
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3. This matter is now CLOSED.
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//
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ORDER
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DATED this 24th day of August 2018.
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RICARDO S. MARTINEZ
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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ORDER
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