Filed: May 07, 2014
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: Case: 13-13279 Date Filed: 05/07/2014 Page: 1 of 6 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 13-13279 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 2:13-cv-00226-AKK TARRIA MICHELLE HORSLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, DONNA MEESTER, JEANETTE LACKEY, CHRISTOPHER MONTPETIT, et al., Defendants-Appellees, RICHARD STEPHEN MILLER, Defendant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court f
Summary: Case: 13-13279 Date Filed: 05/07/2014 Page: 1 of 6 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 13-13279 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 2:13-cv-00226-AKK TARRIA MICHELLE HORSLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, DONNA MEESTER, JEANETTE LACKEY, CHRISTOPHER MONTPETIT, et al., Defendants-Appellees, RICHARD STEPHEN MILLER, Defendant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court fo..
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Case: 13-13279 Date Filed: 05/07/2014 Page: 1 of 6
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 13-13279
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 2:13-cv-00226-AKK
TARRIA MICHELLE HORSLEY,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA,
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA,
DONNA MEESTER,
JEANETTE LACKEY,
CHRISTOPHER MONTPETIT, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees,
RICHARD STEPHEN MILLER,
Defendant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
________________________
(May 7, 2014)
Case: 13-13279 Date Filed: 05/07/2014 Page: 2 of 6
Before MARCUS, WILSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Tarria Michelle Horsley, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s
dismissal of her complaint, brought pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (“Rehabilitation Act”), 29 U.S.C. § 794, Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and Alabama Code
§§ 16-38-2 and 21-9-1, against the University of Alabama (“UA”), its Board of
Trustees, and several faculty members (collectively, “Defendants”). Concerning
her ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims, Horsley argues that the district court erred
in: (1) failing to apply the four-year “catch-all” statute of limitations under 28
U.S.C. § 1658, for federal claims created after 1990; (2) failing to apply the ten-
year statute of limitations under Alabama Code § 6-2-33, for actions founded upon
a contract or writing under seal; and (3) in concluding that the limitations period
was not equitably tolled. After careful review, we affirm. 1
We review de novo the grant of a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, accepting the
complaint’s factual allegations as true and further construing them in a light most
1
Notably, Horsley does not address the district court’s dismissal of her claims under
FERPA and Alabama Code §§ 16-38-2 and 21-9-1. Therefore, she has abandoned any
arguments related to these claims. See Timson v. Sampson,
518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th Cir. 2008)
(“[I]ssues not briefed on appeal by a pro se litigant are deemed abandoned.”).
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favorable to the plaintiff. Glover v. Liggett Group, Inc.,
459 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th
Cir. 2006). The application of statutes of limitations is likewise subject to de novo
review. Center for Biological Diversity v. Hamilton,
453 F.3d 1331, 1334 (11th
Cir. 2006). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) “on statute of limitations grounds is
appropriate only if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that the claim is
time-barred.” Tello v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc.,
410 F.3d 1275, 1288 (11th Cir.
2005) (quotation omitted). When considering a motion to dismiss, the district
court should limit its consideration to the pleadings and any exhibits attached
thereto.
Id.
A four-year statute of limitations applies to any federal claim that was made
possible by a post-1990 enactment. 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a); see Jones v. R.R.
Donnelley & Sons Co.,
541 U.S. 369, 382 (2004). However, for discrimination
claims under Title II of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, which were both
enacted prior to 1990, the applicable limitations period is governed by the most
analogous state statute of limitations. Everett v. Cobb Cnty. Sch. Dist.,
138 F.3d
1407, 1409-10 (11th Cir. 1998). In Alabama, where this action was brought, the
applicable limitations period is two years. ALA. CODE § 6-2-38(l) (providing that
non-enumerated actions for any injury to the person or rights of another not arising
from contract must be brought within two years).
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A limitations period begins to run when a cause of action accrues. Rozar v.
Mullis,
85 F.3d 556, 561 (11th Cir. 1996). A cause of action ordinarily “will not
accrue, and thereby set the limitations clock running, until the plaintiff[] know[s]
or should know (1) that [she] ha[s] suffered the injury that forms the basis of [her]
complaint and (2) who has inflicted the injury.” Chappell v. Rich,
340 F.3d 1279,
1283 (11th Cir. 2003). In general, once a limitations period has run, the action is
barred, regardless of the merits of the plaintiff’s claims. Arce v. Garcia,
434 F.3d
1254, 1260-61 (11th Cir. 2006).
However, statutes of limitation may be subject to equitable tolling. United
States v. Locke,
471 U.S. 84, 94 n.10 (1985); Cook v. Deltona Corp.,
753 F.2d
1552, 1562 (11th Cir. 1985). Equitable tolling is an extraordinary remedy to be
applied sparingly, and is appropriate when a plaintiff untimely files due to
extraordinary circumstances that are both beyond her control and unavoidable even
with diligence.
Arce, 434 F.3d at 1261. We have emphasized that equitable
tolling typically requires some affirmative misconduct, such as fraud,
misinformation, or deliberate concealment, and that “ignorance of the law does
not, on its own, satisfy the constricted extraordinary circumstances test.” Jackson
v. Astrue,
506 F.3d 1349, 1356 (11th Cir. 2007) (quotation omitted). Likewise, we
have previously rejected the notion that pro se status, ignorance of the judicial
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process, or slow administrative proceedings can warrant the application of
equitable tolling. Wakefield v. R.R. Ret. Bd.,
131 F.3d 967, 970 (11th Cir. 1997).
Here, the district court did not err in dismissing Horsley’s ADA and
Rehabilitation Act claims by applying the two-year statute of limitations.
Horsley’s complaint alleged that she had a disability and that the Defendants
violated Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to
accommodate her disability. While Horsley argued in subsequent pleadings that
her claims were not cognizable before the enactment of the ADA Amendments Act
in 2008 and that she and the Defendants had a contract under seal, our case law
makes clear that dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) on statute of limitations grounds
depends only on “the face of the complaint.”
Tello, 410 F.3d at 1288. Thus, the
district court properly limited its consideration to the face of Horsley’s complaint
and ignored any arguments in Horsley’s subsequent pleadings.
Based on the face of the complaint, the district court properly dismissed
Horsley’s claims as barred by the two-year statute of limitations because the claims
were untimely. See
Everett, 138 F.3d at 1409-10. Horsley received her grades for
the fall semester of 2007 and the spring semester of 2010 in December of 2007 and
May of 2010, respectively. Furthermore, the open confrontation regarding
Horsley’s absences and other personal information took place on February 28,
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2010. Finally, the Defendants’ request that Horsley sign the release of claim form
was made on July 22, 2010. Accordingly, by July 22, 2010 at the latest, Horsley
knew that she had suffered an injury, and that it was a result of the Defendants’
failure to accommodate her disability. See
Chappell, 340 F.3d at 1283. Yet she
failed to file a complaint until February 1, 2013, beyond the two-year statute of
limitations period. See
Everett, 138 F.3d at 1409-10.
Furthermore, Horsley has failed to establish the extraordinary circumstances
that would warrant equitable tolling. Horsley asserted no facts in her complaint
indicating that her untimely filing was the result of circumstances beyond her
control and unavoidable even with diligence. See
Arce, 434 F.3d at 1261. While it
is true that Horsley was actively pursuing numerous appeals during the intervening
period between the time she suffered the injury and the time she filed her
complaint, she has alleged no reason that she could not have concurrently pursued
a federal court action. Moreover, although Horsley alleged in her brief that the
Defendants provided fraudulent information to and withheld information from the
appeals boards, Horsley did not allege any affirmative misconduct in her
complaint. See
Astrue, 506 F.3d at 1356. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of
Horsley’s ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims as time-barred.
AFFIRMED.
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