Opinion ID: 768122
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Application of the statute of limitations to the S 1983 claims.

Text: 32 DeGrassi contends that the district court erred when it dismissed those of her S 1983 claims based on acts occurring more than one year before the filing of the action on September 23, 1997, as barred by the one-year statute of limitations. We apply California's personal injury statute of limitations to S 1983 actions. See Fink v. Shedler, 192 F.3d 911, 914 (9th Cir. 1999) (holding that in California the one-year statute applies to a S 1983 action). Federal law determines when a civil rights cause of action accrues. See id. 33 DeGrassi argues that her S 1983 claims are saved by the continuing violation doctrine under which `a systematic policy of discrimination is actionable even if some or all of the events evidencing its inception occurred prior to the limitations period.'  Sosa v. Hiraoka, 920 F.2d 1451, 1455 (9th Cir. 1990) (quoting Williams v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 665 F.2d 918, 924 (9th Cir. 1982)). She maintains that defendants engaged in continuous improper activities both before and after September 23, 1996, and that these activities were part of the chain of events in a continuing campaign of intimidation and harassment. 34 She alleges that the City Manager, Arthur Cook, threatened her on three occasions in 1994 concerning statements and questions during City Council meetings, telling her to keep quiet and do as she was told. She alleges that another Council member, Sue Bauer, also threatened her in 1994, telling DeGrassi to vote for her. She charges that Cook and other Council members excluded her from participating in assessments of City commission and board member applications in June of 1994, preventing her from obtaining information about appointments; that they adopted a resolution in 1994 that required all City Council members to obtain Cook's approval before making requests of the City Attorney or department heads, but applied the resolution exclusively to her; that in December 1994, they excluded her from a City Council meeting concerning an unrelated pending lawsuit due to an alleged conflict of interest; and that Cook deniedher information about police cadets and threatened to sue her. DeGrassi further alleges that several actions taken by defendants two years later, immediately before and during the Andrews action, also constitute part of this campaign. On August 27, 1996, the Glendora Chief of Police, Paul Butler, allegedly refused to provide DeGrassi with reports relating to the alleged molestations occurring in the Andrews' building because the record was sealed. All of this conduct antedated the filing of the complaint in this action by more than one year. 35 On September 24, 1996, DeGrassi received a phone call from a Council member informing her that other Council members, Cook, and Butler knew the Andrews family intended to file suit against her. In October of 1996, defendants excluded DeGrassi from Council meetings in which the Council members allegedly discussed her defense, and refused to disclose to her what took place during these meetings. She claims other Council members and personnel were permitted to attend such meetings in the past. In December of 1997, the City's lawyers directed Council members not to listen to DeGrassi, and to ignore her questions during a Council meeting. Finally, she alleges that the City's offer of a conditional defense was also part of the defendants' campaign of intimidation and harassment. 36 Plaintiff relies principally on Sosa v. Hiraoka , which held that a pattern of racially discriminatory acts that denied Sosa a promotion established a continuing violation. See 920 F.2d at 1456. As the court put it: [A]ll the acts Sosa alleged are plausibly related as acts of discrimination against Sosa because of his identification as a Mexican-American. Id. Similarly, in Gutowsky v. County of Placer, 108 F.3d 256 (9th Cir. 1997), the court found a continuing violation where a female employee alleged that her employer maintained a discriminatory policy and practice in its hiring and promotion of women: Gutowsky contends that the widespread policy and practices of discrimination of which she complains continued every day of her employment, including days that fall within the limitation period. Id. at 260; see also Reed v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 613 F.2d 757 (9th Cir. 1980) (finding allegations included sweeping attack on defendant's systems of promotion, compensation, and training that discriminated against women). 37 Because this is not a case involving a discriminatory system, DeGrassi must state facts sufficient . .. [to] support[ ] a determination that the `alleged discriminatory acts are related closely enough to constitute a continuing violation,'  and that one or more of the acts falls within the limitation period. See Green v. Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schs., 883 F.2d 1472, 1480 (9th Cir. 1989) (citation omitted). DeGrassi's allegations do not meet this test. What she claims is that defendants engaged in a campaign of harassment and intimidation but her allegation that there is a continuing wrong is conclusory. DeGrassi's allegations may show a long-standing state of animosity and hostility, marked by incidents of personal conflict between her and other City officials, but they do not establish a series of related wrongful acts. Accordingly, the one-year statute bars her claims for conduct prior to September 23, 1996. 38