Ross v. Timko's Tavern, 1:15-cv-02121

Background

Pro se plaintiff Felicia Ross (African American woman) sued the State of Ohio, the Bedford Police Department (construed as City of Bedford), and Timko’s Tavern claiming she was refused service because of race and gender, was arrested, and suffered mistreatment while jailed; she seeks monetary damages.
Ross alleges an employee at Timko’s Tavern (a Caucasian woman) refused service; Bedford Police were summoned; Ross says she was leaving voluntarily, was questioned, shook hands with two men, said “God Bless You,” and then was arrested.
Ross was charged with criminal trespass/refusal to leave and disorderly conduct; she pled no contest to disorderly conduct in exchange for dismissal of the other charge and was fined $308.
Ross also alleges she was held in a cell for ten hours with poor ventilation and banged on the door; an officer observed no physical distress. She asserts claims for racial and gender discrimination, denial of religious freedoms, false arrest, and excessive force under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The court granted Ross’s in forma pauperis application but screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) and dismissed the action for failure to state a claim.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether State of Ohio and Bedford Police Dept. are proper § 1983 defendants	Ross sued state and police dept. for constitutional violations	State is immune; police dept. is not sui juris and claims should be against City of Bedford	Dismissed: State immune under Eleventh Amendment; police dept. claims construed against City and dismissed for lack of municipal policy/custom allegations
Whether Timko’s Tavern acted under color of state law for § 1983 liability	Ross contends tavern employee’s refusal to serve and resulting arrest violated constitutional rights	Timko’s is a private actor and did not act jointly with the state or exercise state powers	Dismissed: No facts showing state action by Timko’s Tavern
Whether Ross stated a § 1981 claim against Timko’s Tavern for racial discrimination	Ross alleges she was denied service due to race/gender	Defendants require factual allegations showing denial of services or objectively discriminatory treatment in a contractual context	Dismissed: Complaint contains only conclusions and fails to plead the factual elements required under § 1981
Whether complaint met federal pleading standards (Twombly/Iqbal)	Ross provided facts about the incident and arrest	Defendants (and court) require more than legal conclusions to show plausibility	Dismissed: Allegations are conclusory and do not raise plausible claims for relief

Key Cases Cited

Boag v. MacDougall, 454 U.S. 364 (1982) (pro se pleadings are liberally construed)
Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (1972) (liberal construction of pro se complaints)
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319 (1989) (§ 1915 dismissal where claim lacks arguable basis in law or fact)
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) (complaint must state a plausible claim for relief)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (legal conclusions insufficient; factual allegations must raise plausibility)
Bibbo v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 151 F.3d 559 (6th Cir. 1998) (pleading construed in light most favorable to plaintiff)
Mumford v. Basinski, 105 F.3d 264 (6th Cir. 1997) (Eleventh Amendment immunity of state)
Monell v. Department of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (municipal liability under § 1983 requires policy or custom)
Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922 (1982) (private party is state actor only when actions are fairly attributable to the state)
Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345 (1974) (state action principles and private entities)
Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527 (1981) (§ 1983 requires defendant acted under color of state law)
Christian v. Wal–Mart Stores, Inc., 252 F.3d 862 (6th Cir. 2001) (elements of § 1981 claim in non-employment context)
Amini v. Oberlin College, 440 F.3d 350 (6th Cir. 2006) (§ 1981 applies to private actors in contractual contexts)
Keck v. Graham Hotel Sys., Inc., 566 F.3d 634 (6th Cir. 2009) (§ 1981 standards)
DePiero v. City of Macedonia, 180 F.3d 770 (6th Cir. 1999) (monell analysis for municipal liability)