Summary
This District Court of Guam decision grants the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's amended complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The court finds that the plaintiff failed to adequately allege administrative exhaustion, properly plead disparate treatment claims under Title VII and the ADEA, or sufficiently allege individual liability against the named defendants. New claims were dismissed as improperly added without leave, and time-barred allegations are limited to background evidence.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded a Title VII disparate‑treatment claim.
- Whether the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded an ADEA disparate‑treatment claim.
- Whether the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded a retaliation claim under Title VII and the ADEA.
- Whether the newly pleaded breach‑of‑contract, fair‑employment‑practice, and hostile‑work‑environment claims should be dismissed as untimely.
- Whether the plaintiff exhausted administrative remedies required under Title VII and the ADEA.
Holdings
- The motion to dismiss the Title VII claim is GRANTED.
- The motion to dismiss the ADEA claim is GRANTED.
- The motion to dismiss the retaliation claim is GRANTED.
- The motion to dismiss these newly pleaded claims is GRANTED.
- The motion to dismiss for lack of administrative exhaustion is GRANTED.
Key quotations
“Plaintiff may not add new claims or parties without leave of the court or stipulation of the parties . . . .”
“To survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a plaintiff must assert factual allegations that suggest that the claim has at least a plausible chance of success.”
Factual background
Plaintiff Ye‑Kyong Kim, a 53‑year‑old Asian woman, was a professor at the University of Guam. She alleges discriminatory treatment in pay, exclusion from decision‑making, and repeated failures to be hired for senior positions between 2009 and 2021, asserting claims under Title VII, the ADEA, and retaliation for prior EEOC complaints.
Procedural history
Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging Title VII and ADEA discrimination on 11/21/2023. The court dismissed the original complaint and granted leave to amend. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on 12/2/2024. Defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint, arguing insufficient pleading, untimely claims, and lack of administrative exhaustion. The court considered the motion and issued this decision.