Garnes v. ABM Janitorial Services, Inc.

Background

Mark Garnes proceeded without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee. In an earlier order, the court dismissed his federal claims for failure to state a claim because it found those claims untimely. The court gave him 30 days to file an amended complaint alleging facts showing that the claims were timely or explaining why the applicable filing deadlines should be extended for fairness reasons.

Garnes filed an amended complaint on May 27, 2022. It asserted claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Fair Labor Standards Act, hybrid claims under the Labor Management Relations Act and the National Labor Relations Act, and state law. The opinion’s footnote also states that his original complaint had asserted claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and § 1981.

Court’s Analysis

The court found that the amended complaint alleged no facts showing that the federal claims were timely or that the applicable filing deadlines should be extended. For that reason, and for the reasons stated in the earlier order, the court dismissed the federal claims for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), a statute requiring dismissal of certain claims filed without paying the filing fee when they fail to state a legally sufficient claim.

The court declined to consider the state-law claims under its supplemental jurisdiction, which is the authority to hear related state-law claims in a case involving federal claims. The court therefore dismissed the action.

Disposition

Judge Swain dismissed the action. She dismissed Garnes’s federal claims for failure to state a claim because they were untimely and declined to consider his state-law claims under supplemental jurisdiction. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.