Ian Cormier v. All American Asphalt

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Ian L. Cormier appeals the district court’s decision dismissing his Title VII race discrimination lawsuit against his former employer, All American Asphalt, for failure to state a claim. Cormier filed his complaint pro se. We review the district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim de novo. Miller v. Yokohama Tire Corp., 358 F.3d 616, 619 (9th Cir.2004). A pro se complaint “is to be liberally construed, and ... must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 , 127 S.Ct. 2197 , 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We reverse.

The district court concluded that it would have had “little trouble” concluding that the allegations in Cormier’s complaint satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A., 534 U.S. 506 , 122 S.Ct. 992 , 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002). It concluded, however, that under Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 , 127 S.Ct. 1955 , 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 , 129 S.Ct. 1937 , 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), Cormier’s…