Abbas v. DixonAbbas v. Dixon
Andrea Oser, Assistant Solicitor General (Martin A. Hotvet, Assistant Solicitor General, of counsel; Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York, on the brief), Albany, NY, for amicus curiae.
Before: LEVAL and STRAUB, Circuit Judges, and UNDERHILL, District Judge.*
UNDERHILL, District Judge.
Plaintiff-Appellant Mohamed Abbas appeals an order entered sua sponte by the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (David G. Larimer, then Chief Judge), dismissing most of his complaint as untimely. Specifically, the District Court held that the three-year statute of limitations for claims made pursuant to
Abbas is a prisoner who was formerly housed at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. Abbas has alleged that, on four separate occasions, prison officials, and inmates under the prison officials’ control, physically assaulted him. The alleged assaults occurred in February 1999, May 1999 and July 1999. Abbas also alleges that, after the attacks, prison officials deprived him of necessary medical treatment. Abbas claims that he sought help from the Wyoming County District Attorney‘s Office and Sheriff‘s Office, but that they failed to assist him.
In his complaint, Abbas alleges that, on February 24, 1999, the same day as the first attack, prison officials fabricated several disciplinary charges against him. After a hearing on March 13, 1999, Lieutenant Dixon found Abbas guilty of the trumped-up charges and sentenced Abbas to 180 days in keeplock. Abbas appealed Dixon‘s decision to Donald Selsky, but Selsky denied Abbas‘s appeal in May or June 1999. On August 16, 1999, Abbas filed a petition in New York state court pursuant to
Sometime between October 17, 2002 and November 15, 2002, Abbas filed a complaint1 pursuant to
II. Discussion
Because Abbas filed his complaint pro se, we must liberally construe his pleadings, and must interpret his complaint to raise the strongest arguments it suggests. Weixel v. Board of Education of New York, 287 F.3d 138, 146 (2d Cir. 2002). The policy of liberally construing pro se submissions is driven by the understanding that “[i]mplicit in the right to self-representation is an obligation on the part of the court to make reasonable allowances to protect pro se litigants from inadvertent forfeiture of important rights because of their lack of legal training.” Traguth v. Zuck, 710 F.2d 90, 95 (2d Cir. 1983).
Because Abbas proceeded in forma pauperis, the District Court predicated its dismissal of Abbas‘s complaint upon
Although
Providing a plaintiff with notice and an opportunity to be heard is often necessary to establish the fairness and reliability of a dismissal. Snider v. Melindez, 199 F.3d 108, 113 (2d Cir. 1999). Indeed, “courts must take care lest judicial haste in dismissing a complaint in the long run makes waste.” Phelps v. Kapnolas, 308 F.3d 180, 185 (2d Cir. 2002) (per curiam) (internal quotations omitted). Specifically, “[u]ntimely dismissal may prove wasteful of the court‘s limited resources rather than expeditious, for it often leads to a shuttling of the lawsuit between the district and appellate courts.” Lewis v. State of New York, 547 F.2d 4, 6 (2d Cir. 1976). “[U]nless it is unmistakably clear that the court lacks jurisdiction, or that the complaint lacks merit or is otherwise defective, we believe it is bad practice for a district court to dismiss without affording a plaintiff the opportunity to be heard in opposition.” Mojias v. Johnson, 351 F.3d 606, 610-11 (2d Cir. 2003) (quoting Snider, 199 F.3d at 113). Indeed, failure to afford an opportunity to oppose a contemplated sua sponte dismissal may be, “by itself, grounds for reversal.” Acosta v. Artuz, 221 F.3d 117, 124 (2d Cir. 2000) (quotations omitted).
In this case, the District Court dismissed Abbas‘s complaint sua sponte. In so doing, the Court looked only to the face of Abbas‘s complaint and found “no basis to toll the limitations period.” Abbas v. Kelly, No. 02-cv-809Sr at 5 (W.D.N.Y. Nov. 27, 2002). The pleading requirements in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, however, do not compel a litigant to anticipate potential affirmative defenses, such as the statute of limitations, and to affirmatively plead facts in avoidance of such defenses. See Jones v. Bock, 127 S.Ct. 910, 920, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007) (holding that
B. Is it Appropriate to Remand the Case for Further Proceedings?
Notwithstanding the sua sponte dismissal of his complaint against most of the defendants, Abbas received notice and an opportunity to be heard on his tolling arguments in the district court. Abbas‘s claims against Dixon and Selsky survived sua sponte dismissal and proceeded in district court. Dixon and Selsky moved to dismiss Abbas‘s claims on statute of limitations grounds. Through the course of the proceedings on the motion to dismiss, Abbas had a full and fair opportunity to brief, and to offer affidavits in support of, his tolling arguments.3 The District Court ultimately rejected Abbas‘s arguments on the merits. In addition, Abbas, through very capable pro bono counsel, had the opportunity to, and did, raise his tolling arguments on appeal.
We have considered Abbas‘s tolling arguments with the benefit of a full record and we find them to be without merit. Abbas asserts that the statute of limitations should be tolled for the period of time during which he pursued his Article 78 proceeding in state court. We have held, however, that a plaintiff‘s pursuit of a state remedy, such as an Article 78 proceeding, does not toll the statute of limitations for filing a claim pursuant to section 1983. See Meyer v. Frank, 550 F.2d 726, 728-30 (2d Cir. 1977); see also Williams v. Walsh, 558 F.2d 667, 673 (2d Cir. 1977).
Abbas also asserts several grounds for tolling the statute of limitations under New York law. Although federal law determines when a
Abbas contends that his claims are timely because they were filed less than three years after Dixon reversed the disposition of his disciplinary appeal. Even assuming (without deciding) that the limitations period for prisoner suits under
In this case, the administrative decision became final when Abbas exhausted his administrative appeals because, at that point, Abbas had no additional administrative steps available to fight the disciplinary charges. See Essex County v. Zagata, 91 N.Y.2d 447, 453, 672 N.Y.S.2d 281, 281, 695 N.E.2d 232, 232 (1998) (holding that an agency decision is final when the decision “may not be prevented or significantly ameliorated by further administrative action or by steps available to the complaining party“) (internal quotations omitted). In addition, because Dixon summarily reversed the disciplinary charges without holding a new hearing or receiving new evidence, the reversal of discipline did not start the statute of limitations clock ticking anew. See Arce, 233 A.D.2d at 642, 650 N.Y.S.2d 48. Moreover, Abbas has not claimed that Dixon‘s reversal of the disciplinary decision caused him any harm, nor could he. If anything, Abbas benefitted from Dixon‘s decision. Thus, the reversal neither constituted actionable conduct by Dixon, nor reinstituted the harmful effects of earlier actionable conduct by any of the defendants.
Under New York law, the doctrines of equitable tolling or equitable estoppel “may be invoked to defeat a statute of limitations defense when the plaintiff was induced by fraud, misrepresentations or deception to refrain from filing a timely action.” Doe v. Holy See (State of Vatican City), 17 A.D.3d 793, 794, 793 N.Y.S.2d 565, 565 (N.Y.App.Div.2005) (internal quotations omitted); Kotlyarsky v. New York Post, 195 Misc.2d 150, 757 N.Y.S.2d 703, 706 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.2003). “Due diligence on the part of the plaintiff in bringing [an] action,” however, is an essential element of equitable relief. Holy See, 17 A.D.3d at 796, 793 N.Y.S.2d 565. The plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the action was brought within a reasonable period of time after the facts giving rise to the equitable tolling or equitable estoppel claim “have ceased to be operational.” Id. If a plaintiff cannot “articulate[] any acts by defendants that prevented [him] from timely commencing suit” then he has “failed to meet [his] burden of showing that [he was] wrongfully induced by defendants not to commence suit.” Id. As such, even if we were to agree with Abbas that he was the victim of “fraud, misrepresentations or deception,” Abbas has failed to show that any of those circumstances prevented him from timely filing his complaint. Abbas‘s tolling arguments are thus without merit.
III. Conclusion
Although the District Court erred when it dismissed Abbas‘s claims sua sponte, it would be futile to vacate the District Court‘s order and remand the case for further proceedings because Abbas had notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard on his tolling arguments in the district court and on appeal, and because his tolling arguments are without merit. The decision of the District Court is therefore AFFIRMED.