Employment & Labor Law
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Schneider v. Department of Corrections, State of Florida
17 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D319a (N.D. Fla. February 11, 2004)
Plaintiff, Tim Schneider, sued the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for age and gender discrimination and retaliation. FDOC moved to dismiss, arguing that Schneider's complaint failed to state a claim because it was devoid of factual allegations which supported Schneider's boilerplate claims to relief. The court held that a discrimination complaint need only meet the short and plain statement requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) and need not allege all of the facts required to support a prima facie case. Here, Schneider only alleged one fact to support his discrimination claims. He alleged that Dr. Tyll, a 38-year-old female supervisor, made comments to him to the effect that she does not like him because he reminds her of her father. The court found this fact fell short of meeting even the liberal standard of Rule 8. However, the court held the same could not be said about his allegations regarding retaliation. In his complaint, Schneider argued that, after he filed an internal charge of discrimination with FDOC, he was unjustly reprimanded and suspended. These allegations, while minimal, are sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.
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