Johnathon Watkins v. Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. et al.

Rapid City, South Dakota civil rights lawyer represented Plaintiff who sued Defendants on job discrimination theory.



Johnanthon Wakins' complaint against his former employer was dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and dismissed with prejudice against his co-workers because Title VII does not impose liability on individuals.



The district court did not err in dismissing the complaint as to Smithfield, as the complaint made no allegations concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies. See Miles v. Bellfontaine Habilitation Ctr., 481 F.3d 1106, 1107 (8th Cir. 2007) (per curiam) (noting that a Title VII plaintiff must exhaust administrative remedies before bringing suit and that Miles had adequately alleged exhaustion by stating she had filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and by attaching her right-to-sue letter to her complaint); Brooks v. Midwest Heart Grp., 655 F.3d 796, 801 (8th Cir. 2011) ("[T]he statement in Brooks's complaint that she 'timely filed charges of Employment Discrimination before the U.S. EEOC' was sufficient to meet the liberal pleading standard of Rule 8(a)."). We likewise agree with the district court that dismissal of the individual defendants was warranted. See Powell v. Yellow Book USA, Inc., 445 F.3d 1074, 1079 (8th Cir. 2006).

Affirmed on appeal.