Willie Johnson v. Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles, a Municipal Corporation

Willie Johnson appeals from a District Court order dismissing his action under the Civil Rights Acts, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq., with prejudice. The court dismissed the complaint on a variety of grounds, including failure to state a claim under the Acts upon which relief could be granted, the statute of limitations, and res judicata. Since we may affirm on any ground which finds support in the record, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. v. Putnam, 429 F.2d 1112, 1115 (9th Cir., 1970), we need go no further than to agree that appellant’s present action is barred by res judicata.

The facts which appellant alleges in his present complaint, including all the operative facts which give rise to the assertion of liability, are identical with those which have been the subject of three separate actions in the California state courts, one of which was voluntarily dismissed and two of which resulted in final judgment adverse to appellant. The Civil Rights Act affords a remedy defined by federal statute and redressable in the federal courts. But where, as here, the same facts have been the subject of state actions and final judgments have been entered there, the principle of res judicata…