Adeniji v. US Department of Commerce/US Census Bureau

Background

Oluseyi Adeniji, an employee of the United States Census Bureau, appeared without a lawyer and was allowed to proceed without paying filing fees. In an earlier order, the court dismissed his claims under the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the exclusive remedy for a federal employee alleging employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The court also dismissed Title VII claims against an individual defendant because Title VII does not allow individual liability.

The court gave Adeniji permission to file an amended complaint alleging enough facts to support a Title VII discrimination or retaliation claim. It directed him to name Dr. Steven Dillingham, the Census Bureau’s director, as the sole defendant. In the amended complaint, Adeniji instead named the “U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau NY Regional Office.” He checked boxes asserting claims under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. He alleged discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and national origin and sought $700,000 in damages.

Court’s analysis

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), the court had to dismiss claims filed without paying fees if they were frivolous, malicious, failed to state a claim, or sought money from a defendant protected from such relief. The court also explained that a complaint must contain enough factual detail to make a claim legally plausible, rather than merely state legal conclusions. Although courts read complaints filed without a lawyer liberally, those complaints must still meet the basic federal pleading requirements.

The court dismissed the claims under § 1981, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law because they arose from Adeniji’s federal employment. The court held that Title VII is the exclusive remedy for a federal employee challenging employment discrimination based on the characteristics covered by Title VII, making relief under those other laws unavailable here.

The court separately dismissed the Title VII claims. Adeniji alleged on the form that Census Bureau officials did not hire or promote him because of his race, religion, sex, and national origin, but he supplied no facts suggesting that any adverse employment action occurred for those reasons. The only sentence in his statement of claim said: “I have removed the other defendant from litigation ordered by the Court.”

Disposition

The court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). It also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Adeniji permission to proceed without paying fees for the appeal.