Green Education Foundation v. Denton, 4:16-cv-00795

Plaintiff Green Education Foundation filed a complaint against the City of Denton; the City moved to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
Defendant filed its motion to dismiss on Nov. 29, 2016; Plaintiff responded and Defendant replied; the motion was fully briefed.
The core procedural question was whether the complaint pleaded sufficient factual matter to state a plausible claim for relief under Twombly/Iqbal.
The Court reviewed the complaint, motion, response, and reply and applied the Twombly/Iqbal plausibility standard.
The Court also noted authorities governing consideration of documents referenced in complaints and special treatment for pro se pleadings.
After review, the Court denied the City’s motion to dismiss, finding Plaintiff’s claims plausible at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether complaint pleads plausible claims under Twombly/Iqbal	Complaint contains factual allegations sufficient to raise entitlement to relief	Complaint fails to plead facts that make liability plausible; dismissal warranted	Court: complaint states plausible claims; denial of 12(b)(6) motion
Whether conclusory allegations should be disregarded	Facts pleaded (not mere conclusions) support inference of misconduct	Many allegations are conclusory and not entitled to be assumed true	Court applied Iqbal two-step: disregarded conclusory statements but found remaining facts plausible
Whether court may consider documents attached or referenced / pro se considerations	Attachments and materials filed with complaint (and pro se amendments) may be considered	Court should generally not go outside the complaint absent documents central to claims	Court acknowledged Scanlan and Howard: may consider referenced attachments and treat pro se filings liberally; did not find dismissal appropriate

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (established the plausibility standard for pleading)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (explained two-step plausibility inquiry and treatment of conclusory allegations)
Gonzalez v. Kay, 577 F.3d 600 (Fifth Circuit discussion of plausibility standard)
Scanlan v. Tex. A&M Univ., 343 F.3d 533 (documents referenced in complaint may be considered on a 12(b)(6) motion)
Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190 (Fifth Circuit: accept well-pleaded facts as true and view in plaintiff's favor)
Howard v. King, 707 F.2d 215 (pro se complaints entitled to liberal construction)