MATTHEW W. BRANN, District Judge.
On June 21, 2019, Plaintiff, Alpha Upsilon Chapter of the Fraternity of Beta Theta Pi, Inc. (hereinafter "House Corp."), filed a seven-count complaint against Defendants, The Pennsylvania State University (hereinafter "Penn State"), Damon Sims ("Sims"), Danny Shaha ("Shaha"), and Eric J. Barron ("Barron"). On August 26, 2019, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and to Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim.
For the reasons that follow, I deny the motion in part and grant it in part. House Corp. will be provided leave to amend its complaint with respect to its due process claim (Count 1) and its third-party beneficiary claim (Count 7). House Corp.'s equal protection, negligence, fraud and deceit, civil conspiracy, and tortious interference claims (Counts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) are dismissed with prejudice.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), the Court dismisses a complaint if it lacks the "very power to hear the case." Mortensen v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 549 F.2d 884, 891 (3d Cir. 1977). "If a party asserts several objections and defenses to a complaint, including a F.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) defense for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, `the cases are legion stating that the district court should consider the Rule 12(b)(1) challenge first because if it must dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the accompanying defenses and objections become moot and do not need to be determined by the judge.'"
Additionally, "[t]he procedure under a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is quite different" from the familiar procedure under Rule 12(b)(6).
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the Court dismisses a complaint, in whole or in part, if the plaintiff has failed to "state a claim upon which relief can be granted." A motion to dismiss "tests the legal sufficiency of a pleading"
Following the Roberts Court's "civil procedure revival,"
Accordingly, after Twombly and Iqbal, "[t]o survive a 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.'"
The plausibility determination is "a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense."
When disposing of a motion to dismiss, the Court "accept[s] as true all factual allegations in the complaint and draw[s] all inferences from the facts alleged in the light most favorable to [the plaintiff]."
As a matter of procedure, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has instructed that:
"Generally, consideration of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) is limited to consideration of the complaint itself."
The relevant facts alleged in the Complaint, which I must accept as true for the purposes of this motion, are as follows.
On or about October 29, 1928, Howard Walton Mitchell, an original organizer of House Corp, and the then-president of the Board of Trustees for The Pennsylvania State College,
All Penn State students are governed by the Office of Student Conduct, which oversees the University's disciplinary process, as administered by the Office of Student Affairs of the Penn State University. Shaha is the Senior Director of the Office of Student Conduct at Penn State and is responsible for complying with the terms of the Code of Conduct and the Student Conduct Procedures, which are particular policies and agreements that govern Penn State student conduct.
Barron is the President of Penn State and is responsible for overseeing the programs, policies, and governing bodies that affect student conduct. This role includes implementing policies and procedures that ensure a safe environment for all students, and assuring compliance with the rules and regulations published by Penn State that govern such conduct.
The Office of Student Affairs of Penn State regulates the conduct of the Penn State student population, including students living in dormitories owned by Penn State and properties not owned by Penn State, such as fraternities, apartments, houses, and other alternative living arrangements. In other words, the Office of Student Affairs purports to exercise disciplinary control over all Penn State students regardless of the living arrangements for any particular student.
As part of the Penn State community, the Chapter also participates in the governing body for fraternities known as the Inter Fraternity Council of the Pennsylvania State University ("IFC"). The IFC is a branch of Penn State that participates in setting and enforcing policies, procedures and regulations relating to Greek life. The IFC regulates the conduct of students living in fraternities. Penn State and the Chapter are signatories to the Conduct Process, an agreement that governs the relationship between the Chapter and Penn State.
Sims is the Vice President of Student Affairs at Penn State and is responsible for complying with the terms of the Conduct Process. He is also responsible for implementing programs and policies to ensure that all Penn State students are safe.
Penn State also acted as House Corp's landlord by collecting, administering and processing payment of rents and other fees for members of the Chapter; withholding registration for Penn State classes if such rent and fees were not paid; and charging a fee on behalf of Penn State for such services provided. Penn State, acting through the IFC, regularly conducted monitoring and approval of social events hosted by the Chapter to confirm compliance with the IFC Code of Conduct. In addition, by the terms of the Deed from Penn State to House Corp., Penn State purported to exercise supervision and/or control of the Beta house.
On or about February 2, 2017, Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student who desired to join the chapter, died while at the Beta house.
After Mr. Piazza's death, Penn State officials, including Defendants, commenced an investigation without regard to the published procedures of the IFC and/or Office of Student Affairs. Penn State, among other things, conducted interviews directly with the local police department, reviewed grand jury information and interviewed grand jury witnesses without notice to House Corp. or the Chapter. House Corp. has repeatedly been denied access to a video recording which was confiscated from the Beta house showing the events of the evening of February 2, 2017.
On February 16, 2017, Penn State issued a press release stating that its Office of Student Conduct was conducting an inquiry into Mr. Piazza's death, "focusing on issues related to the University's Code of Student Conduct and behavioral expectations for the fraternities the University recognizes." Penn State stated that based "on information gained through its inquiry thus far, the University has decided to withdraw immediately recognition of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. This revocation will remain in effect no less than five years and may be made permanent upon completion of the criminal and University investigations now underway." Penn State also announced "additional measures impacting all Interfraternity Council chapters recognized by Penn State at University Park."
On March 30, 2017, Penn State released a second press release announcing that it was permanently banning the Chapter from Penn State, and that the Chapter had no right to appeal this decision. Penn State stated that as its "student conduct investigation of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity continues, more disturbing facts have emerged, including a persistent pattern of serious alcohol abuse, hazing, and the use and sale of illicit drugs. The University has decided to permanently revoke recognition of Beta Theta Pi banning it from ever returning as a chapter at Penn State. This extraordinary action occurs in the context of a continuing criminal investigation into the death of Penn State sophomore Timothy Piazza."
Penn State made the decision to permanently ban the Chapter from Penn State without following any of the published procedures and/or guidelines of the Office of Student Affairs and/or the IFC. As a direct result, House Corp. was forced to vacate the Beta house and House Corp. was cut off from all sources of income and/or ability to function as owner of the Beta house.
In previous situations, Sims and Penn State had recognized that an investigative and deliberative process was critical and needed to be relied upon to make decisions. Per Penn State's own guidelines and policies, a detailed report by the Office of Student Conduct and a hearing with the leadership of a fraternity charged with a violation must occur. Fraternities are private associations existing on private property and are governed by the IFC, which is associated with Penn State.
In purporting to permanently ban the Chapter from conducting business and operating as a Beta Theta Pi chapter, Penn State was attempting to surreptitiously trigger a deed provision purporting to grant Penn State the option of purchasing the valuable real estate owned by House Corp. if the property is not utilized as a Beta Theta Pi Chapter House at below-market rates, in order to convert such real estate for its own purposes. On August 28, 2018, Penn State provided notice of their intent to exercise these alleged property rights based upon their assertion that the property is no longer being used as a Chapter or fraternity house.
There is no private cause of action for damages under the Pennsylvania Constitution. See Pocono Mountain Charter Sch. v. Pocono Mountain Sch. Dist., 442 F. App'x 681, 687 (3d Cir. 2011). The Court therefore dismisses House Corp.'s claims for damages for alleged violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
House Corp.'s alleged claims for breach of contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing and breach of contract under a third-party beneficiary theory each have a four-year statute of limitations.
"Federal law governs a cause of action's accrual date. Under federal law, a cause of action accrues, and the statute of limitations begins to run, when the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury upon which its action is based. The determination of the time at which a claim accrues is an objective inquiry; we ask not what the plaintiff actually knew but what a reasonable person should have known. As a general matter, a cause of action accrues at the time of the last event necessary to complete the tort, usually at the time the plaintiff suffers an injury. The cause of action accrues even though the full extent of the injury is not then known or predictable. Were it otherwise, the statute would begin to run only after a plaintiff became satisfied that he had been harmed enough, placing the supposed statute of repose in the sole hands of the party seeking relief." Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626, 634 (3d Cir. 2009) (internal citations and quotations omitted).
I analyze below the accrual dates of House Corp.'s various non-contract claims. I keep in mind the standards that the Third Circuit laid down in Kach.
House Corp. argues that Defendants violated its substantive and procedural due process rights by depriving it of its property interest in the Beta house and its liberty interest in its reputation.
House Corp. argues that Defendants denied it equal protection by "subjecting the House Corp. to disparate treatment."
House Corp. argues that Penn State's "revocation of the Chapter's recognition" injured House Corp. by "cut[ting it] off from all sources of income and/or ability to function as the owner of the Beta house."
The sections of the Complaint describing House Corp.'s tortious interference claim don't mention Penn State's exercising its Deed right at all. House Corp. premises this claim on "Defendants' unilateral, arbitrary and capricious ban of the Chapter."
The "continuing violations doctrine" could give House Corp.'s equal protection, negligence and tortious interference claims a chance to survive their facial violation of the two-year statutes of limitations. This doctrine tolls a statute of limitations period when a defendant's conduct (here, the ban of the Chapter) "is part of a continuing practice." Cowell v. Palmer Twp., 263 F.3d 286, 292 (3d Cir. 2001). In deciding whether to apply this doctrine, "courts should consider at least [two] factors: (1) subject matter—whether the violations constitute the same type of discrimination, tending to connect them in a continuing violation; [and] (2) frequency—whether the acts are recurring or more in the nature of isolated incidents."
The continuing violations doctrine does not apply here, as House Corp. does not satisfy either of the above factors. As for subject matter, Penn State deciding to revoke its recognition of a fraternity chapter is sufficiently different from Penn State deciding to exercise its rights to obtain property. It does not "constitute the same type of discrimination." See Cowell, 263 F.3d at 294 (acts that each constituted "an independent violation of [plaintiff's] substantive due process rights and therefore [were] individually actionable" were sufficiently different in subject matter).
My analysis on frequency in part follows the same road. Penn State deciding to exercise its rights to obtain property was not an "act[] of substantially similar nature to" Penn State's revocation of its recognition of the Chapter. See Cowell, 267 F.3d at 295 (act that constituted "a different due process claim" was not "substantially similar"). Further, Penn State's exercising of Deed rights happened about seventeen months after the revocation. The Third Circuit has held that, even if a defendant's acts had the same subject matter, "[f]our instances within the context of four years does not rise to a level of recurrence anticipated by the continuing violations doctrine." Bennett v. Susquehanna Cty. Children & Youth Servs., 592 F. App'x 81, 85 (3d Cir. 2014).
Defendants argue that House Corp. does not have standing to bring its due process claim.
The only prudential question here is whether I should prohibit House Corp. from raising the Chapter's legal rights. The Third Circuit has boiled down Supreme Court jurisprudence into the below three factors. I must balance all three; none are individually automatically dispositive.
Leaving the Chapter's travails aside for the moment, House Corp. argues that it is suing to vindicate its own constitutionally-protected interests to continue on "as the fee simple owner of property subject to the Deed provision."
House Corp. has no such right. The Third Circuit has outlined "two general types of contract rights [that] are recognized as property protected under the Fourteenth Amendment: (1) where the contract confers a protected status, such as those characterized by a quality of either extreme dependence in the case of welfare benefits, or permanence in the case of tenure, or sometimes both, as frequently occurs in the case of social security benefits; or (2) where the contract itself includes a provision that the state entity can terminate the contract only for cause." Linan-Faye Const. Co. v. Hous. Auth. of City of Camden, 49 F.3d 915, 932 (3d Cir. 1995). The Deed does not confer a protected status on House Corp. and does not include a provision that Penn State can terminate the Deed only for cause.
Therefore, if House Corp.'s due process claim is to proceed, it must do so under the auspices of House Corp.'s third-party standing to vindicate the Chapter's due process interests and rights.
Defendants seem to concede the first two third-party factors: (1) House Corp. has suffered an injury; and (2) House Corp. and the Chapter have a close relationship. Yet these two factors are not dispositive; I must balance all three. And here, given this case's posture, the third factor does the brunt of the work.
First, House Corp.'s argument that it faced the requisite "obstacle" boils down to an argument that the individual Chapter members didn't have enough incentive to sue Penn State themselves.
Second, Chapter members were also able to sue Penn State themselves in the two years following the ban.
Further, the statute of limitations for Chapter's due process claims has already run. Were I to allow prudential standing here, then, I'd essentially be giving the Chapter another bite at the apple after its statutory time was already up. This counsels in favor of placing more weight on the final third-party standing factor.
I therefore find that House Corp. lacks prudential standing to vindicate the Chapter's interests in due process.
I now proceed to whether House Corp. has stated a claim that, by exercising the Deed provision, Defendants violated House Corp.'s procedural and substantive due process rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Article 1, Sections 1 and 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
House Corp. cannot make out either of these claims because it does not make out that Defendants deprived it of a protected property interest by exercising the Deed provision. First, as I explained above, Penn State's exercising the Deed provision did not deprive House Corp. of a protected property interest. Second, House Corp. does not make out the deprivation of a liberty interest. The Pennsylvania Constitution does protect reputation as a fundamental interest.
I dismiss House Corp.'s due process claim against Penn State with leave to amend.
"Pleadings must be construed so as to do justice."
House Corp. also asserts that it was the third-party beneficiary of "the agreements between the Chapter and Penn State to follow the IFC Conduct Process, the Code of Conduct, and the Student Conduct procedures."
"It is true that a third-party beneficiary may be in contemplation without being specifically or individually designated."
House Corp. has not satisfied the third-party beneficiary test. House Corp. has not shown that Penn State intended for it to be a third-party beneficiary of the IFC Conduct Process, the Code of Conduct, and the Student Conduct procedures. House Corp. points to three allegations regarding Penn State's regulation of student conduct, and argues that these allegations, combined with Penn State's right to control and supervise the House Corp.'s property in the Deed, provides enough evidence of Penn State's intent to benefit House Corp.
Defendants' Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) is granted in part and denied in part. The Court denies the Motion to Dismiss with respect to House Corp.'s breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim (Count V).
The Court grants the Motion to Dismiss with respect to House Corp.'s due process claim (Count V) and its third-party beneficiary claim (Count VII). House Corp. is granted leave to amend.
The Court dismisses House Corp.'s remaining claims; leave to amend is denied. "Among the grounds that could justify a denial of leave to amend are undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, prejudice, and futility."
As such, House Corp. will be given fourteen days from today's date to file an amended complaint with respect to House Corp.'s due process claim (Count 1) and its third-party beneficiary claim (Count 7). If no amended complaint is filed, the Court will summarily dismiss these claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
An appropriate Order follows.