ELLEN SEGAL HUVELLE, United States District Judge
Plaintiff Melvin Lee, a resident of the District of Columbia, brings this action against the Corrections Corporation of America ("CCA"). CCA is a Maryland corporation that owns and operates the Correctional Treatment Facility ("CTF"), a private prison that incarcerates inmates in the custody of the D.C. Department of Corrections. Plaintiff was seriously injured when he fell down a flight of stairs while detained at CTF. Plaintiff, who was disabled before his fall, alleges that defendant violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by transferring him from CTF's medical unit to a non-handicap-accessible area of the prison prior to his fall. Plaintiff also alleges that defendant's employees were negligent in ordering him to descend a flight of stairs unassisted. Before the Court is defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). (Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss, June 9, 2014 [ECF No. 10] ("Mot.").) For the following reasons, the Court will grant defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims and deny its motion to dismiss plaintiff's negligence claim.
Plaintiff suffers from numerous physical ailments and must walk with a prosthetic right leg. (Pl.'s First Am. Compl., May 23, 2014 [ECF No. 8] ("Am. Compl.") at 1.) Starting on or about April 7, 2011, he was detained at CTF. (Id.) On April 20, 2011, a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ordered the "United States Marshal and/or his contracting agencies" to provide plaintiff with a prompt medical evaluation and offer him "care and treatment consistent with the standard of care for the illness(es) and/or condition(s) revealed by the evaluation." (Order for Medical Evaluation and Appropriate Treatment of Detainee, April 20, 2011 [ECF No. 10-1].) On or about May 16, 2011, plaintiff was transferred from the CTF medical unit to Unit D, which is not handicap accessible. (Am. Compl. at 1-2.) Plaintiff informed CTF employees in Unit D about his disabilities and was told that he would be transferred back to the medical unit. (Id. at 2.) Before this could take place, however, a CTF employee ordered
On April 1, 2014, plaintiff filed suit against CCA in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia alleging that CCA employees were negligent in that they "disregarded a Court order requiring the [p]laintiff to remain in the medical unit," "knew or should have known that plaintiff's disability would make it impossible for him to safely navigate the steps, especially without a walker or cane," and "knew or should have known that by requiring the [p]laintiff to attempt to navigate the steps he was likely to fall and sustain serious and permanent injuries." (Compl., April 1, 2014 [ECF No. 1-1] ¶¶ 9-11.)
On May 5, 2014, defendant removed the case to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (Notice of Removal, May 5, 2014 [ECF No. 1]) and soon thereafter moved to dismiss plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim (Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss, May 12, 2014 [ECF No. 3]). Plaintiff then amended his complaint to include allegations that, in transferring him from the medical unit to Unit D, defendant violated Title II of the ADA, § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Architectural Barriers Act of 1973 ("ABA"), the D.C. Human Rights Act ("HRA"), and the Eighth Amendment. (Am. Compl. at 4-8.) Defendant again moved to dismiss, after which plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his ABA, HRA, and Eighth Amendment claims. (Stipulation of Partial Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice, June 23, 2014 [ECF No. 12].) Plaintiff, however, maintains his ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and negligence claims. (Pl.'s Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss, June 20, 2014 [ECF No. 11]) at 5-13.
To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). When considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a court must "accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint and draw all inferences in favor of the nonmoving party." Autor v. Pritzker, 740 F.3d 176, 179 (D.C.Cir.2014). However, a "pleading that offers `labels and conclusions' or `a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.'" Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955). "Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders `naked assertion[s]' devoid of `further factual enhancement.'" Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).
Plaintiff fails to state a claim under Title II of the ADA. To state a claim
As a private prison company, defendant is not covered by Title II of the ADA. The ADA's text provides no indication that a private company is a "public entity" for the purposes of Title II. Further, the regulation states that Title II "applies to public entities" that operate or manage prisons through contracts with private entities, not to contractors themselves. Id. § 35.152(a). "A private contractor does not ... become liable under Title II merely by contracting with the State to provide governmental services, essential or otherwise." Edison v. Douberly, 604 F.3d 1307, 1310 (11th Cir.2010) (citing Green v. City of New York, 465 F.3d 65, 79 (2d Cir.2006)). Thus, while Title II of the ADA covers discrimination taking place in prisons, see Pa. Dep't of Corr. v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206, 208, 118 S.Ct. 1952, 141 L.Ed.2d 215 (1998), private prison companies are not directly liable for such violations.
Plaintiff also fails to state a claim under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 provides that:
29 U.S.C. § 794(a)(emphasis added).
Although defendant receives federal funding through its contracts with the Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Marshals Service, it does not receive "Federal financial assistance" within the meaning of the Rehabilitation Act. Courts interpreting § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act have consistently construed "Federal financial assistance" to mean the federal government's provision of a subsidy to an entity, not the federal government's compensation of an entity for services provided. See Nolley v. Cnty. of Erie, 776 F.Supp. 715, 742-43 (E.D.N.Y. 1991) (holding that a correctional facility receiving federal funds for detaining prisoners did not receive "Federal financial assistance" and therefore was not covered by the Rehabilitation Act); see also Shotz v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 420 F.3d 1332, 1335 (11th Cir.2005) (holding that an entity receives "Federal financial assistance" within meaning of the Rehabilitation Act when it receives a subsidy from the federal government). Because plaintiff does not allege that defendant receives subsidies from the federal government, the Court will dismiss his Rehabilitation Act claim.
Plaintiff does, however, state a facially plausible negligence claim. To state a claim for negligence in the District of Columbia, a plaintiff must allege "(1) a duty, owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, to conform to a certain standard of care; (2) a breach of this duty by the defendant; and (3) an injury to the plaintiff proximately caused by the defendant's breach." Dist. of Columbia v. Fowler, 497 A.2d 456, 462 n. 13 (D.C.1985).
As indicated in his amended complaint, plaintiff's negligence theory relates to the actions of defendant's employee in ordering plaintiff down the stairs unassisted, not, as defendant argues, the decision to transfer him out of the medical unit. (Compare Am. Compl. at 4, with Def.'s Reply in Supp. of Its Mot. to Dismiss, June 30, 2014 [ECF No. 13] at 7-8.) Although plaintiff has not identified a specific duty that defendant owed him, his amended complaint states that at the time of his fall he was detained in a prison operated by defendant. (Am. Compl. at 1.) Because the Court draws all inferences in favor of a plaintiff at the motion to dismiss stage, the Court can conclude from these facts that defendant owed plaintiff a common-law "duty of care to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in the
For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services, 73 Fed.Reg. 34,466, 34,495 (June 17, 2008).