Opinion ID: 2981351
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The City’s Motion to Dismiss

Text: Having carefully considered the record, as well as Plaintiffs’ arguments, we conclude that Plaintiffs have advanced no arguments on appeal that would merit reversing the district court’s dismissal of the complaint against the City.6 A cause of action fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted when it lacks “plausibility in th[e] complaint.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 564. A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” 6 The record on appeal contains no transcript of the hearing held before the magistrate judge. See 28 U.S.C. § 753(f); Fed. R. App. P. 10(b). 9 No. 11-6146, Thompson, et al. v. City of Memphis, et al. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 677-78 (2009) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)). Plaintiff is not required to include detailed factual allegations, but must provide more than “an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Id. at 678. A pleading that offers “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders “naked assertion[s]” devoid of “further factual enhancement.” Id. at 557. It must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. The plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556. Where a complaint pleads facts that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability, it “stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” Id. at 557 (brackets omitted). Plaintiffs’ complaint does not satisfy these standards.