NELSON v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
Filing
2
MEMORANDUM AND/OR OPINION. SIGNED BY HONORABLE MICHAEL M. BAYLSON ON 8/2/2013. 8/6/2013 ENTERED AND COPIES MAILED TO PRO SE.(tomg, )
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION
CRYSTAL NELSON
v.
NO. 13-4353
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
MEMORANDUM
BAYLSON, J.
AUGUST
~
, 2013
Plaintiff Crystal Nelson brings this action against the
City of Philadelphia, pursuant to Title VII, 42 U.S.C.
~;
§
§
2000e et
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C.
~;
621, et
U.S.C.
§
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42
~;
12112 et
and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act
(PHRA), 43 Pa. Cons. Stat.
in forma pauperis.
§
951, et seq.
She seeks to proceed
The Court will grant plaintiff leave to
proceed in f orma pauperis and dismiss her complaint because she
has failed to articulate any facts in support of her claim.
The
dismissal is without prejudice to plaintiff filing an amended
complaint.
I.
FACTS
Plaintiff is employed by the City of Philadelphia; it
appears that she works for the Philadelphia Prison System.
She
filed this action using the Court's form complaint for employment
discrimination.
By marking the appropriate locations on the form
complaint, plaintiff indicated that the City discriminated
against her based on her color ("light skinned complexion") and
her age by failing to promote her and transferring her to a new
1
prison.
The complaint also indicates that the City retaliated
against plaintiff, failed to accommodate her unspecified
disability, and failed to stop work-related harassment.
Plaintiff made a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, and received a Notice of Right to Sue Letter in
April, 2013.
She asks the Court to order the defendant to
promote her and to accommodate her disabilities.
II.
STANDARD OF REVIEW1
The Court grants plaintiff leave to proceed in f orma
pauperis because she has satisfied the criteria set forth in 28
U.S.C. § 1915.
Accordingly, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) (2) (B) applies.
That provision requires the Court to dismiss the complaint if,
among other things, it fails to state a claim.
Whether a
complaint fails to state a claim under§ 1915(e) is governed by
the same standard applicable to motions to dismiss under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) (6), see Tourscher v. McCullough,
184 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir. 1999), which requires the Court to
determine whether the complaint contains "sufficient factual
matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is
plausible on its face."
(2009)
Ashcroft v. Igbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678
(quotations omitted) .
Although any factual allegations
must be taken as true, courts evaluating the viability of a
complaint should "disregard legal conclusions and recitals of the
elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory
1
The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
2
§
1331.
statements."
Cir. 2010)
Santiago v. Warminster TWP., 629 F.3d 121, 128 (3d
(quotations omitted).
Thus, although the Court must
construe plaintiff's allegations liberally because she is
proceeding prose, Higgs v. Att'y Gen., 655 F.3d 333, 339 (3d
Cir. 2011), she must recite more than "labels and conclusions" to
state a claim.
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555
(2007).
III. DISCUSSION
The Court will dismiss the complaint without prejudice to
plaintiff filing an amended complaint because it fails to state a
claim.
To state a claim under any of the statutes listed in the
complaint, plaintiff must allege at least some facts supporting
her allegations of employment discrimination.
See Swierkiewicz
v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 514 (2002); see also Fowler v. UMPC
Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 211 (3d Cir. 2009)
("[T]he plausibility
paradigm announced in Twombly applies with equal force to
analyzing the adequacy of claims of employment discrimination.")
(quotations omitted) .
Here, plaintiff has indicated, by marking
certain locations on the form complaint, that she was
discriminated against based on her color, age, and unspecified
disability, but she failed to state any facts to support those
assertions.
Although she references the claim that she filed
with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she did not
attach a copy of that document an exhibit to her complaint.
Accordingly, the complaint does not contain anything more than
conclusory allegations, and the Court will dismiss it for failure
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to state a claim.
See Khalik v. United Air Lines, 671 F.3d 1188,
1193 (10th Cir. 2012)
("Plaintiff's general assertions of
discrimination and retaliation, without any details whatsoever of
events leading up to her termination, are insufficient to survive
a motion to dismiss.n).
Although the complaint does not state a claim as currently
pled, the Court will give plaintiff leave to file an amended
complaint so that she may cure the above deficiencies.
See
Grayson v. Mayyiew State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 114 (3d Cir. 2002).
In her amended complaint, plaintiff should state the facts that
support her claims, or at least attach a copy of the claim she
filed with the EEOC containing the relevant facts underlying her
allegations of employment discrimination.
IV.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff's complaint will be
dismissed without prejudice to her filing an amended complaint.
An appropriate order follows.
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