Opinion ID: 541732
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: principles affecting appellate review

Text: 8 In the Rule 12(b)(6) milieu, an appellate court operates under the same constraints that bind the district court, that is, we may affirm a dismissal for failure to state a claim only if it clearly appears, according to the facts alleged, that the plaintiff cannot recover on any viable theory. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-48, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-03, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 16. In making that critical determination, we accept plaintiff's well-pleaded factual averments and indulge every reasonable inference hospitable to his case. Gooley, 851 F.2d at 514. 9 In the menagerie of the Civil Rules, the tiger patrolling the courthouse gates is rather tame, but not entirely ... toothless. Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 16. Despite the highly deferential reading which we accord a litigant's complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), we need not credit bald assertions, periphrastic circumlocutions, unsubstantiated conclusions, or outright vituperation. See Chongris v. Board of Appeals, 811 F.2d 36, 37 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1021, 107 S.Ct. 3266, 97 L.Ed.2d 765 (1987). Moreover, the rule does not entitle a plaintiff to rest on subjective characterizations or conclusory descriptions of a general scenario which could be dominated by unpleaded facts. Dewey v. Univ. of New Hampshire, 694 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 944, 103 S.Ct. 2121, 77 L.Ed.2d 1301 (1983). We understand that, for pleading purposes, the dividing line between sufficient facts and insufficient conclusions is often blurred. Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 16. But the line must be plotted: 10 It is only when such conclusions are logically compelled, or at least supported, by the stated facts, that is, when the suggested inference rises to what experience indicates is an acceptable level of probability, that 'conclusions' become 'facts' for pleading purposes. 11 Id. 12 There is another principle at work as well. We have frequently recognized that, in cases where civil rights violations are alleged, particular care is required to balance the liberality of the Civil Rules with the need to prevent abusive and unfair vexation of defendants. See, e.g., id.; Dewey, 694 F.2d at 3; Slotnick v. Staviskey, 560 F.2d 31, 33 (1st Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1077, 98 S.Ct. 1268, 55 L.Ed.2d 783 (1978). A civil rights complaint must outline facts sufficient to convey specific instances of unlawful discrimination. Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 16. Put another way, a plaintiff may not prevail simply by asserting an inequity and tacking on the self-serving conclusion that the defendant was motivated by a discriminatory animus. The alleged facts must specifically identify the particular instance(s) of discriminatory treatment and, as a logical exercise, adequately support the thesis that the discrimination was unlawful. See Dartmouth Review, 889 F.2d at 20; see also Keyes v. Secretary of the Navy, 853 F.2d 1016, 1026-27 (1st Cir.1988); Johnson v. General Elec. Co., 840 F.2d 132, 138 (1st Cir.1988); Springer v. Seaman, 821 F.2d 871, 880 (1st Cir.1987). Discrimination based on unprotected characteristics or garden-variety unfairness will not serve. 13 With these precepts squarely in mind, we proceed to evaluate Correa's allegations.