Kinchen v. Gonzalez

Full title: LENORA KINCHEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PAULETTE GONZALEZ…

Court: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Date published: Dec 9, 2020

19-2849-cv (2d Cir. Dec. 9, 2020)

Opinion

19-2849-cv

12-09-2020

LENORA KINCHEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PAULETTE GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellee.

FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT: Lenora Kinchen, pro se, Rye, New York. FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE: Barbara A. Gross, Littler Mendelson, P.C., New York, New York.

FOR THE COURT: Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk

SUMMARY ORDER RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007 IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT'S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION "SUMMARY ORDER"). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.

At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 9^th day of December, two thousand twenty. PRESENT: DENNY CHIN, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., MICHAEL H. PARK, Circuit Judges. FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT: Lenora Kinchen, pro se, Rye, New York. FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE: Barbara A. Gross, Littler Mendelson, P.C., New York, New York.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brodie, J.).

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

Plaintiff-appellant Lenora Kinchen, proceeding pro se, sued her former employer, Saint John's University, and several coworkers, asserting claims under federal and state law, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., and the Federal Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq. She then filed a second lawsuit -- the subject of this appeal -- against her coworker defendant-appellee Paulette Gonzalez, who was also a defendant in the first action. The complaints were substantively identical. The district court dismissed the first action pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim, and the second as duplicative of the first. The district court granted Kinchen two opportunities to amend, but she declined to amend, and instead twice moved for the district judge's recusal. The district court denied the motions and eventually dismissed both actions. We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history, and the issues on appeal.

In a separate summary order filed today, see Kinchen v. St. John's Univ., 19-2818-cv, we affirm the dismissal of Kinchen's complaint in the first action. As the second action against Gonzalez was substantively identical to the first, we affirm for substantially the same reasons. Kinchen waived most of her claims by failing to brief them. And her contention that the district court was biased and should have recused is meritless.

We have considered Kinchen's remaining arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. Kinchen's pending motion to strike defendant-appellee's brief and appendix is DENIED.

FOR THE COURT:

Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk