ROBERT B. KUGLER, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on the unopposed motion of Ancora Psychiatric Hospital ("Defendant") to dismiss the Amended Complaint of Veronica Graves ("Plaintiff"). Because the Court finds that Plaintiff's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are time-barred, Defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is granted in part. Because the Court also finds that Plaintiff's Title VII allegations are so ambiguous that Defendant cannot reasonably prepare a response, the Court grants Defendant's motion for a more definite statement of Plaintiff's pleadings, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e).
In this employment discrimination and unlawful termination lawsuit, Plaintiff seeks both retrospective monetary damages and reinstatement to her position as a Nursing Clerk Transcriber at Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital. Plaintiff appears to allege that she was kept as a provisional employee for five years, in violation of the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission rules. The facts underlying this matter are not set forth in the Amended Complaint in a manner that is easy to understand, particularly because the Amended Complaint does not match factual allegations with the legal claims they purportedly support. Nevertheless, the Court is able to gather that Plaintiff raises claims of civil rights violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983,
Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiff's § 1983 claims, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), on the basis that they are time-barred, that Defendant is not a "person" within the meaning of § 1983, and that Defendant, as a state entity, is immunized from suit by the Eleventh Amendment, where the state has not waived that immunity or where Congress has not abrogated it. Defendant also moves to dismiss Plaintiff's Title VII claims on the basis that Plaintiff's Amended Complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to plausibly support her claim for relief. In the alternative, Defendant moves, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e), for a more definite statement of Plaintiff's pleading.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) allows a court to dismiss an action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. When evaluating a motion to dismiss, "courts accept all factual allegations as true, construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and determine whether, under any reasonable reading of the complaint, the plaintiff may be entitled to relief."
To make this determination, a three-part analysis is needed.
"A party may move for a more definite statement of a pleading to which a responsive pleading is allowed but which is so vague or ambiguous that the party cannot reasonably prepare a response." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(e). Whether to grant a motion under Rule 12(e) is a matter committed largely to the discretion of the district court.
The prevailing standard employed by district courts in this Circuit is to grant such a motion "when the pleading is `so vague or ambiguous that the opposing party cannot respond, even with a simple denial, in good faith, without prejudice to [itself].'"
Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiff's § 1983 claims on the grounds that they are time-barred. "The length of the statute of limitations for a § 1983 claim is governed by the personal injury tort law of the state where the cause of action arose."
Plaintiff's § 1983 claims arise out of her being allegedly kept as a provisional employee for longer than the period allowed for in the New Jersey Civil Service statute, N.J. Stat. § 11A:4-16, as well as her alleged harassment and humiliation while employed at Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital, and her termination. For the purposes of determining the time at which Plaintiff's claim accrues, the Court finds that the "last event necessary to complete the tort" was the termination itself. Plaintiff's Amended Complaint asserts that she was terminated from employment at Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital in 2007. Although Plaintiff has not included the precise date on which she was terminated, even assuming (as Defendant does) that her termination took place on the last possible date—December 31, 2007—Plaintiff's § 1983 claim is nevertheless time-barred. Plaintiff's original Complaint was filed on January 22, 2010,
Although the factual allegations of Plaintiff's Amended Complaint are difficult to make out, Plaintiff does indicate that this lawsuit is brought under Title VII. Am. Compl. Moreover, because Plaintiff indicates that "other males and whites were not subjected to this treatment and forced to endure two probationary periods," the Court has been able to discern that Plaintiff alleges race and gender discrimination, and it appears that Plaintiff has raised these claims on a disparate treatment theory. Am. Compl., Pl.'s Cert. However, Plaintiff's Amended Complaint does not contain any specific factual allegations that would allow Defendant to affirm or deny Plaintiff's claims. Plaintiff alleges that she "was harassed humiliated and berated by Doris Vacca Supervisor," without enumerating or describing any specific alleged instances of discriminatory treatment. Am. Compl., Pl.'s Cert. Moreover, Plaintiff's Amended Complaint does not indicate the time periods during which Plaintiff was allegedly unlawfully employed as a "provisional" employee, nor does Plaintiff's Amended Complaint make it clear whether Plaintiff intentionally draws a distinction between employment under "provisional" status, versus "probationary" employment. Finally, Plaintiff claims that, "after noticing [its] mistake," Defendant "attempted to repair [its] error by granting plaintiff[] the right to a civil service review and examination after which she was then certified . . . ." Am. Compl., 2. However, Plaintiff fails to explain when or how Defendant noticed its alleged mistake, and does not state when Plaintiff's review, examination, and certification should allegedly have taken place, nor when Plaintiff's review, examination, and certification did take place.
Accordingly, the Amended Complaint does not contain sufficient information that would allow Defendant to affirm or deny Plaintiff's allegations with any certainty. The Court therefore orders Plaintiff to submit a more definite statement of her allegations, and the specific incidents and facts that purportedly support those legal claims. Importantly, because Plaintiff does not clearly match her legal claims with the facts that allegedly underlie them, it is not possible for the Defendant (or this Court) to determine whether or not Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case of racial discrimination or gender discrimination under Title VII.
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's motion to dismiss is