RICHARD W. STORY, District Judge.
This case comes before the Court on Defendant Purcell Co., Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [64], Defendant Lake Arrowhead Property Owners Association, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [66], and Defendant Lake Arrowhead Yacht & Country Club, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [68]. After reviewing the record, the Court enters the following Order.
This cases arises out of improvements Plaintiff Helen Scott wished to make on her residential property, located in the Lake Arrowhead Community. At the time of Plaintiff's purchase, the Lake Arrowhead Community was owned by Defendant Purcell Co., Inc. ("Purcell") and managed by Defendant Lake Arrowhead Yacht & Country Club, Inc. ("LAYCC"). (Purcell's SOMF, Dkt. [64-2] ¶ 2.) Management and property owners in the Lake Arrowhead community were at that time bound by a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (the "CCR"). The CCR requires property owners to obtain approval from an Architectural Review Committee (the "ARC") before building exterior structures or grading or filling on their property.
In 2009, Dorothy Bonds was hired to serve as the Director of Property Management for the Lake Arrowhead Community. (
Also on June 30, 2014, Plaintiff submitted an Exterior Work Permit seeking permission to extend her driveway. (Purcell's SOMF, Dkt. [64-2] ¶ 16.) In May of 2014, Plaintiff had communicated her intention to regrade her driveway to Bonds. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. [69] at 6.) At that time, Bonds provided a copy of the exterior work application form, requested a drawing showing the measurements of the proposed driveway, and informed Plaintiff that gravel would not be an approved material for driveways in the Lake Arrowhead Community. On July 2, 2014, in the same email communicating approval of Plaintiff's request to install a landscape wall and pavers, Bonds informed Scott that she had not received driveway plans. (
Plaintiff recalls speaking on the telephone with a representative who informed her that her plans were approved. (
On July 28, 2014, Bonds emailed Plaintiff to inform her that white rocks-which Plaintiff had used to fill in parts of her yard-were a material requiring approval and to request that Plaintiff remove the rocks that had already been installed. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. [69] at 9.) By July 30, 2014, Plaintiff had completed the construction work: extending her driveway, installing Astroturf, and filling in parts of her yard with the white rocks. (Purcell's SOMF, Dkt. [64-2] ¶ 21.) LAYCC issued a Stop Work Order. (
On August 14, 2014, LAYCC filed a Verified Complaint in the Superior Court of Cherokee County, Georgia, seeking to enjoin Plaintiff from performing the unapproved improvements to her property as well as to enjoin her to remove the unapproved improvements that had already been performed. (
Plaintiff brings this case under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3617 ("FHA"). Plaintiff is a member of a racial minority and claims that Defendants' conduct has violated the federal civil rights laws. She claims that in denying her application for work on her property, Defendants had an intent to discriminate against Plaintiff on the basis of race. She claims that Defendants' unlawful discriminatory animus is evidenced by their disparate treatment of other homeowners who are not members of a racial minority and who have made similar improvements to their properties in the past. Defendants move for summary judgment on all of Plaintiff's claims.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 requires that summary judgment be granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." "The moving party bears `the initial responsibility of informing the . . . court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.'"
The applicable substantive law identifies which facts are material.
Finally, in resolving a motion for summary judgment, the court must view all evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.
"In order to make out a prima facie case of non-employment discrimination sufficient to withstand a motion for [judgment] as a matter of law under section 1981, a plaintiff must establish that (1) he or she is a member of a racial minority; (2) the defendant had an intent to discriminate on the basis of race; and (3) the discrimination concerned one or more of the activities enumerated in the statute (in this case, the making and enforcing of a contract)."
Here, Defendants move for summary judgment on grounds that Plaintiff has failed to provide evidence of discrimination. Defendant Purcell argues that Plaintiff cannot show discrimination because she received approval for two other work permits and because Plaintiff fails to provide evidence of "similarly situated" persons who received approval where she did not. Defendant LAYCC moves for summary judgment on grounds that Plaintiff cannot establish a prima facie case of discrimination. Finally, Defendant LAPOA also argues that Plaintiff cannot show intentional discrimination, plus, that LAPOA does not have the authority to take the legal action Plaintiff challenges in this action.
The Court agrees that Plaintiff has failed to provide adequate evidence of intentional discrimination such to create a genuine issue of material fact. In her response, Plaintiff concedes there is no evidence in the record that constitutes direct evidence of intentional discrimination. (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. [69] at 11.) And the circumstantial "evidence" that she points to is neither supported by citations to specific facts in the record nor sufficient, even if supported, to sustain a claim under § 1981. (
The FHA makes it "unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of ... any right granted or protected by [the FHA]." 42 U.S.C. § 3617. As the district court noted in
Defendants move for summary judgment on Plaintiff's FHA claims for much the same reasons as on Plaintiff's § 1981 claims. LAPOA argues that Plaintiff cannot show the requisite discriminatory animus and does not allege actionable coercion, intimidation, threats or interference. LAYCC restates its § 1981 arguments. Purcell argues that the conduct Plaintiff complains of does not create a claim under the FHA. Plaintiff's arguments in support of her FHA claim rely primarily on the "nexus between harassment of Scott and her daughter that can reasonably be inferred to have been motivated by racial animus and legal action taken by Defendant LAYCC, through Ms. Bonds, against Plaintiff." (Pl.'s Resp., Dkt. [69] at 16.)
The Court finds that nexus is not strong enough to sustain a claim under the Fair Housing Act. While "a plaintiff may demonstrate intentional discrimination if the `decision-making body acted for the sole purpose of effectuating the desires of private citizens, that racial considerations were a motivating factor behind those desires, and that members of the decision-making body were aware of the motivations of the private citizens,'" Plaintiff has failed to do so here.
In Count III of her Complaint, Plaintiff seeks a declaration that the work she has conducted does not require approval by LAPOA or any other entity. The Court has granted summary judgment for Defendants on all of Plaintiff's federal claims, which leaves only Count III. Because the federal questions of this case have been resolved, the Court has jurisdiction over this remaining claim only if it satisfies the requirements for diversity jurisdiction imposed by 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Here, Plaintiff's Complaint contains no allegation of the amount in controversy. The Court cannot conclude from the face of the well-pleaded Complaint that it has original subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's remaining claim.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367, a district court may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state-law claims related to any claims over which the court has original jurisdiction. But § 1367 is clear in providing that the district court may decline supplemental jurisdiction if "the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction." 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3). Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has held that "when the federal-law claims have dropped out of the lawsuit in its early stages and only state-law claims remain, the federal court should decline the exercise of jurisdiction."
Plaintiff may still be entitled to relief on that claim in state court. But here she simply has not met the high burdens imposed by the federal civil rights laws.
In accordance with the foregoing, Defendant Purcell's Motion for Summary Judgment [64], Defendant Lake Arrowhead Property Owners Association's Motion for Summary Judgment [66], and Defendant Lake Arrowhead Yacht and Country Club's Motion for Summary Judgment [68] are
The Clerk is