Martinez v. constellis/triple Canopy ( 2021 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
LUIS MARTINEZ, :
:
Plaintiff, : Civil Action No.: 20-153 (RC)
:
v. : Re Document No.: 18
:
CONSTELLIS/TRIPLE CANOPY, :
:
Defendant. :
MEMORANDUM OPINION
GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF’S AMENDED COMPLAINT
I. INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff Luis Martinez alleges that his employer, Constellis/Triple Canopy, Inc.,
subjected him to a hostile work environment in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act
(“DCHRA”), D.C. Code § 2-1402.11, and falsely imprisoned him. Mr. Martinez first brought
his hostile work environment claim in December 2019, and Constellis moved to dismiss. This
Court granted the motion with leave for Mr. Martinez to amend his complaint. In response to
Mr. Martinez’s amended complaint, Constellis again moves under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 12(b)(6) to dismiss Mr. Martinez’s claims. For the reasons explained below, the
Court will grant Constellis’s latest motion.
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The Court previously granted Constellis’s motion to dismiss but granted Mr. Martinez
leave to file an amended complaint. See Martinez v. Constellis/Triple Canopy (Martinez I), No.
20-cv-153, 2020 WL 5253851, at *6 (D.D.C. 2020). The Court highlighted that Mr. Martinez
was acting pro se in granting leave to file an amended complaint, stating that “an added measure
of leniency is extended to pro se litigants with regard to procedural requirements.” Id. (quoting
Plummer v. Safeway, Inc., 934 F. Supp. 2d 191, 197 (D.D.C. 2013)). Mr. Martinez obtained an
attorney, see Notice of Appearance, ECF No. 16, and filed his amended complaint, see Am.
Compl., ECF No. 17. Constellis subsequently filed a second motion to dismiss. Def.’s Mot.
Dismiss Pl.’s Am. Compl. (“Def.’s Mot”), ECF No. 18-1. 1
III. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The Court presumes familiarity with its prior opinion in the case. See Martinez I, 2020
WL 5253851. Accordingly, this opinion will describe only the facts and allegations relevant to
the pending motion.
Mr. Martinez is an armed security guard employed by Constellis at the Ronald Reagan
International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 5–6. Mr. Martinez wears a
trimmed beard to cover a raised surgical scar on his face. Id. ¶ 9. He also suffers from chronic
folliculitis, a condition aggravated by shaving. Id. ¶ 10. Because of his scar and folliculitis, Mr.
Martinez was granted an “Indefinite Term Waiver” allowing him to maintain his beard at a
length of no more than one-fourth inch while employed by Constellis. Id. ¶¶ 11–12.
Mr. Martinez alleges that since the start of his employment with Constellis, he has been
subject to questioning and statements about his beard by Mr. Williams, Constellis’ Contract
Manager for Mr. Martinez’s contract. Id. ¶¶ 13–14. He states that Mr. Williams made repeated
“beard-related comments” comparing Mr. Martinez’s face to other employees’ faces and
“requesting the length and shape of his beard.” Id. ¶ 14.
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Constellis argues that the Court should treat its motion to dismiss as conceded because
Mr. Martinez did not file his opposition within fourteen days as required by Local Rule 7(b).
Def.’s Reply at 1–2, ECF No. 20. The Court will excuse Mr. Martinez’s week-late filing
because the delay was brief and did not prejudice Constellis or delay resolution of this motion.
See Local Civ. R. 7(b) (“If such a memorandum is not filed within the prescribed time, the Court
may treat the motion as conceded.” (emphasis added)). But the Court notes counsel’s cavalier
disregard of this Court’s rules.
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Mr. Martinez also alleges unlawful detention by one of his supervisors, Major Rouse.
Am. Compl. ¶¶ 16–35. Specifically, he alleges that Mr. Williams told him that he needed to see
Major Rouse to complete a survey. Id. ¶¶ 18–20. Major Rouse subsequently detained him in a
car for twenty to twenty-five minutes and drove him to an office building for a urinalysis. Id.¶¶ 23–24. Mr. Martinez alleges that he was not told the reason for the drive or the intended
location until he and Major Rouse arrived at the office building, when Major Rouse said, “[B]y
the way, we are here for a random urinalysis.” Id. ¶ 24. After the urinalysis, Mr. Martinez
reentered Major Rouse’s car to return to the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center. Id. ¶ 26.
IV. LEGAL STANDARD
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require a complaint to contain a “short and plain
statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). To
survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must
contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its
face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S
544, 570 (2007)). A complaint is insufficient if it offers mere “naked assertion[s]” without
“further factual enhancement.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557. A court considering a motion to
dismiss for failure to state a claim presumes the complaint’s factual allegations are true, id. at
555–56, but need not accept a complainant’s legal conclusions as true, Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
V. ANALYSIS
A. Hostile Work Environment Claim
This Court has previously analyzed, and found unsupported, Mr. Martinez’s hostile work
environment claim under the D.C. Human Rights Act. See Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at
*4–5. “The law is clear that to establish a claim of discrimination based on a hostile work
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environment under the DCHRA, a plaintiff must show: ‘(1) that he is a member of a protected
class, (2) that he has been subjected to unwelcome harassment, (3) that the harassment was based
on membership in a protected class, and (4) that the harassment is severe [or] pervasive enough
to affect a term, condition, or privilege of employment.’” Campbell-Crane & Assocs., Inc. v.
Stamenkovic, 44 A.3d 924, 933 (D.C. 2012) (quoting Daka, Inc. v. Breiner, 711 A.2d 86, 92
(D.C. 1998)). 2 Severity and pervasiveness are appropriately analyzed objectively and from the
victim’s subjective perception. Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21–22 (1993).
This Court previously found that Mr. Martinez alleged facts sufficient to raise a
“plausible connection” between the alleged harassment and Mr. Martinez’s membership in
protected classes—having a beard and disability. Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at *4–5. That
remains true. However, to state a plausible claim, Mr. Martinez must also show that the alleged
harassment was pervasive or severe enough to “affect a term, condition, or privilege of
employment.” Campbell-Crane, 44 A.3d at 933 (emphasis omitted). He has not done so.
Courts assessing a hostile work environment claim consider “the totality of the
circumstances, including the frequency of the discriminatory conduct, its severity, its
offensiveness, and whether it interferes with an employee’s work performance.” Brooks v.
Grundmann, 748 F.3d 1273, 1276 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (quoting Baloch v. Kempthorne, 550 F.3d
1191, 1201 (D.C. Cir. 2008)). To rise to the level of affecting a term or condition of
employment, the alleged conduct “must be extreme.” Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S.
775, 788 (1998). “[P]etty insults, vindictive behavior, and angry recriminations” reflective of the
2
As stated in the prior opinion, any “passing reference to ‘severe and pervasive’ (as
opposed to Title VII’s ‘severe or pervasive’ standard, see Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S.
17, 21 (1993)) is likely inadvertent.” Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at *6 n.4. The severe or
pervasive standard is the appropriate standard under the DCHRA. See Lively v. Flexible
Packaging Ass’n, 830 A.2d 874, 888–89 (D.C. 2003).
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“ordinary tribulations of the workplace” are not enough. Brooks, 748 F.3d at 1277–78 (citations
omitted). This requirement that the challenged conduct affect a term or condition of employment
ensures that employment law “does not become a general civility code” for the American
workplace. Briscoe v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 61 F. Supp. 3d 78, 86 (D.D.C. 2014) (quoting
Faragher, 524 U.S. at 788).
Mr. Martinez still alleges only three specific incidents related to his beard over the course
of his employment, with nonspecific references to an additional “three beard-related comments
per week” by Mr. Williams beginning “in the months leading up to the October 9, 2019
urinalysis/drug test.” Am. Compl. ¶ 14. The Court again holds that the comments constitute the
“ordinary tribulations of the workplace” that do not give rise to hostile work environment
liability. See Brooks, 748 F.3d at 1277–78 (citation omitted). Although Mr. Martinez has
attempted to color in the relative frequency of the additional comments that this Court found
lacking in the original complaint, see Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at *5, he does not explain
how the comments were any different from the three specific instances he points to, see Am.
Compl. ¶ 14, nor does he suggest that the regularity of the comments in any way “interfere[d]
with [his] work performance,” see Baloch, 550 F.3d at 1201. The Court thus assumes that the
weekly beard-related comments were like the three incidents Mr. Martinez described in detail,
which themselves were not so extreme to “alter a term, condition, or privilege of his
employment.” Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at *5.
Without more, “simple teasing, offhand comments, and isolated incidents” of the type
Mr. Martinez alleges in the three detailed instances “will not amount to discriminatory changes
in the terms and conditions of employment.” Faragher, 524 U.S. at 788 (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted). Mr. Martinez describes only irritating commentary about uniform
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compliance that neither impacted his job performance nor posed “tangible workplace
consequences, whether financial, physical, or professional.” See Baloch, 550 F.3d at 1201; see
also Brooks, 748 F.3d at 1277–78 (finding that repeated insults did not impact conditions of
employment when plaintiff “ha[d] not been shut out from her work” and was “continually
assigned discrete tasks”); Dieng v. Am. Insts. for Rsch. in Behav. Scis., 412 F. Supp. 3d 1, 14–15
(D.D.C. 2019) (finding that plaintiff failed to plead severity or pervasiveness when she alleged
that supervisors repeatedly yelled at her, questioned her work, and denied her teleworking
privileges). Accordingly, the Court holds that Mr. Martinez’s amended complaint, like his
original one, has not sufficiently alleged facts to support a finding that the alleged harassment
was objectively severe or pervasive.
Mr. Martinez also alleges that the events of “October 9, 2019 [were] so severe that this
incident alone rises to the level of a hostile work environment” because Major Rouse’s driving
was “reckless” and because Mr. Martinez was not told where he was being driven. Am. Compl.
¶ 43. Mr. Martinez added detail to his description of the incident on October 9, 2019, but the
detail provided still does not demonstrate a hostile work environment. Again, “there is little to
suggest that either the questionings or the urinalysis was objectively offensive or severe (e.g.,
physically threatening or humiliating).” Martinez I, 2020 WL 5253851, at *5. Mr. Martinez
does not provide additional facts to change the Court’s previous analysis. Consequently, the
Court again holds that the described incidents are the sort of “‘ordinary tribulations of the
workplace’ that the Supreme Court has held cannot form the basis of a hostile work environment
claim.” Id. (quoting Rattigan v. Gonzales, 503 F. Supp. 2d 56, 73 (D.D.C. 2007)).
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B. False Imprisonment
Mr. Martinez next raises a common-law false imprisonment claim, alleging that he was
falsely imprisoned when Major Rouse took him by car to obtain a urinalysis. Am. Compl.
¶¶ 47–51. False imprisonment is “the restraint by one person of the physical liberty of another
without consent or legal justification.” Faniel v. Chesapeake & Potomac Tel. Co. of Md., 404
A.2d 147, 150 (D.C. 1979). The elements of the common-law tort are “(1) the detention or
restraint of one against his will within boundaries fixed by the defendant, and (2) the
unlawfulness of the restraint.” Edwards v. Okie Dokie, Inc., 473 F. Supp. 2d 31, 44 (D.D.C.
2007). To show unlawful detention or restraint, a plaintiff must demonstrate that his movements
were totally restrained through “threats of force, or by exert[ion of] legal authority.” Faniel, 404
A.2d at 151 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 36, cmt. c). Mental restraint alone is
insufficient, and importantly, “[s]ubmission to the mere verbal direction of another,
unaccompanied by force or threats of any character does not constitute false imprisonment.” Id.
at 152.
Mr. Martinez alleges insufficient facts to state a plausible claim of false imprisonment.
He has not alleged facts demonstrating detention or restraint against his will. Instead, Mr.
Martinez describes only the “[s]ubmission to mere verbal direction of another,” found
insufficient in Faniel, 404 A.2d at 152, when he says that “Major Rouse informed [him] that they
had to leave the building” without demonstrating any corresponding coercive tactics, Am.
Compl. ¶ 23. Not only does Mr. Martinez fail to describe any actual threats, but his own factual
description suggests that he was able to walk away from the situation. In fact, Mr. Martinez
states that Major Rouse allowed him to step away to speak with his supervisor, Mr. Williams,
before getting in the car. Id. ¶ 20. And then, after the urinalysis, he voluntarily got back in the
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car with Major Rouse. See id. ¶ 26. Mr. Martinez attempts to distinguish his case from Faniel,
arguing that unlike the plaintiff in Faniel, he was unaware of the intended location when entering
Major Rouse’s car. Pl.’s Opp’n at 9, ECF No. 19. However, his lack of knowledge about the
intended destination, while possibly uncomfortable, 3 is insufficient on its own without a showing
of force or restraint. That Mr. Martinez was able to walk away from the car before getting in it
and that he willingly reentered the car after the urinalysis show a lack of the requisite “detention
or restraint of one against his will.” See Edwards, 473 F. Supp. 2d at 44. For those reasons, Mr.
Martinez has not alleged facts necessary to support a false imprisonment claim.
VI. CONCLUSION
Because Mr. Martinez fails to allege facts sufficient to state either a hostile work
environment or false imprisonment claim, Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s amended
complaint (ECF No. 18) is GRANTED. An order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion is
separately and contemporaneously issued.
Dated: April 1, 2021 RUDOLPH CONTRERAS
United States District Judge
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Mr. Martinez’s dramatic characterization of his alleged subjective fear notwithstanding,
the allegations make clear that he was escorted by another workplace employee, with his
supervisor’s authorization, during daylight work hours, for a short distance from one point in the
city’s central business district to another within the business district. In Faniel, “concern . . .
about [an] unfamiliar route” without objection or a manifest desire to leave the vehicle, was
insufficient to demonstrate restraint against the plaintiff’s will. 404 A.2d at 151–53. Mr.
Martinez’s assertion that he lacked knowledge of the intended destination, on its own, is
similarly insufficient.
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