Opinion ID: 8704908
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The District of Columbia Housing Authority

Text: Mr. Quezada similarly alleges that the D.C. Housing Authority paid to his ex-wife rent that was due to him. Once again, he alleges no federal constitutional or statutory right to those payments, nor any basis for a fiduciary duty owed to him. He makes one additional allegation against the Housing Authority alone: that it retaliated against him for demanding payment by chasing potential tenants away from his building. Construing the complaint very liberally indeed, this may be an allegation that Mr. Quezada’s equal protection rights were violated. He does not suggest that the alleged retaliation was motivated by his membership in any protected class, but even a “class of one” can prevail in certain circumstances. See Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073, 145 L.Ed.2d 1060 (2000) (per curiam) (holding that the Fourteenth Amendment — and therefore also the Fifth Amendment — “gives rise to a cause of action on behalf of a ‘class of one’ where the plaintiff did not allege membership in a class or group”). There are “two essential elements” to a “ ‘class of one’ equal protection claim: (1) disparate treatment of similarly situated parties (2) on no rational basis.” 3883 Conn. LLC v. District of Columbia, 336 F.3d 1068, 1075 (D.C.Cir.2003) (citing Village of Willowbrook, 528 U.S. at 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073 (“Our cases have recognized successful equal protection claims brought by a ‘class of one,’ where the plaintiff alleges that she has been intentionally treated differently from others similarly situated and that there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment.”)). Mr. Quezada fails to allege the first element: the existence of a “similarly situated person ... who was treated differently.” Tate v. District of Columbia, 627 F.3d 904, 910 (D.C.Cir.2010) (citing Village of Willowbrook, 528 U.S. at 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073). This requirement is not a mere formality. Rather, it serves to distinguish claims to the treatment that was afforded others, which can be cognizable under principles of equal protection, from bare complaints of governmental unfairness, which cannot. Cf. Ruston v. Town Bd. for Town of Skaneateles, 610 F.3d 55, 59 (2d Cir.2010) (“Class-of-one plaintiffs must show an extremely high degree of similarity between themselves and the persons to whom they compare themselves.”) (brackets and quotation marks omitted); Patin v. Richard, 2011 WL 9118, at  (W.D.La. Jan. 3, 2011) (dismissing a claim where plaintiff “fails to allege any other similarly situated person, much less a class of such persons”); Fan v. Brewer, 2009 WL 1743824, at  (S.D.Tex. June 17, 2009) (denying leave to amend on the same grounds); Retzlaff v. de la Vina, 606 F.Supp.2d 654, 658 (W.D.Tex.2009) (granting summary judgment). Because Mr. Quezada has not adequately alleged the violation of any federal right, his federal claims against Adrianne Todman and Ronald McCoy, respectively Executive Director and Director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program for the District of Columbia Housing Authority, will be dismissed for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted.