F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
PUBLISH
NOV 17 2004
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
TENTH CIRCUIT
WADE F. EXUM, M.D.,
Plaintiff - Counter-Defendant -
Appellant - Cross-Appellee,
v.
UNITED STATES OLYMPIC
COMMITTEE, a corporation,
Nos. 03-1256, 03-1280
Defendant - Counter-Claimant -
Appellee - Cross-Appellant,
and
UNITED STATES ANTI-DOPING
AGENCY, a not for profit Colorado
corporation,
Defendant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Colorado
(D.C. Nos. 00-N-1421 and 00-RB-1421 (PAC))
John W. McKendree, Law Offices of John W. McKendree, Denver, Colorado, for
Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee.
William A. Wright, Sherman & Howard, L.L.C., Denver, Colorado (Raymond M.
Deeny, Sherman & Howard, L.L.C., Colorado Springs, Colorado, with him on the
brief) for Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee-Cross-Appellant.
Before EBEL, KELLY and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.
EBEL, Circuit Judge.
Wade Exum, former Director of Drug Control Administration for the
United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”), alleges that he was discriminated
against in the terms and conditions of his employment because of his race. In
particular, he claims that he was constructively discharged and denied various
promotions and appointments because he is African-American, in violation of 42
U.S.C. § 1981. He also brings several state law claims against the USOC.
The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the USOC as to all
of Plaintiff’s § 1981 race discrimination claims. It consequently declined to
exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s state law claims, and dismissed
those claims without prejudice. We AFFIRM.
BACKGROUND
The USOC hired Plaintiff as its Director of Drug Control Administration in
1991. During his tenure at the USOC, Plaintiff’s relationship with USOC
management was less than harmonious. Plaintiff complains that, although he was
responsible for any failures in doping control, he was not given adequate
authority to solve drug use problems in amateur sports. Plaintiff accuses the
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USOC of “encouraging and covering up or ignoring doping by Olympic athletes,”
and asserts that his anti-doping efforts put him “in an inherent conflict with the
rest of the USOC.” He also acknowledges that “[t]hroughout his employment
with the USOC, [he] was criticized for not being a ‘team player.’”
Plaintiff, who is African-American, held the title of Director of Drug
Control Administration throughout his employment at the USOC. During that
time, some other USOC employees were promoted. For example, Scott
Blackmun, who is white, was appointed Senior Managing Director of Sport
Resources in 2000.
According to Plaintiff, he had been promised that the USOC would create a
position called Chief Medical Officer and give him that job, but the USOC did
not actually create such a position. Additionally, when the United States Anti-
Doping Agency (“USADA”) was established in 2000, USOC officials did not
submit Plaintiff’s name to that organization for consideration for the position of
USADA’s Chief Executive Officer.
Plaintiff’s conflict with his superiors at the USOC reached its crescendo
when Plaintiff’s supervisor ordered him to turn over certain medical records to
the newly-established USADA. Plaintiff refused to follow that order. He
explains that he believes that doing so would have violated his duty to keep
medical records confidential. According to Plaintiff, his supervisor then called
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him insubordinate, repeated his order, and stated that Plaintiff “could leave the
USOC ‘sooner rather than later.’” Plaintiff claims that this encounter caused him
a great deal of stress, and that a psychologist told him that he ought to resign for
the sake of his physical and emotional well-being.
Plaintiff tendered his resignation on June 5, 2000. In his letter, he stated
that he was resigning “under duress and protest” because of the “USOC’s actions
at encouraging doping activities among athletes, as well as its hostile attitude
towards racial minorities.”
On the next day, the USOC responded with a letter suggesting alternatives
to resignation and stating that it was willing to investigate Plaintiff’s allegations
if he replied by June 9. Otherwise, the USOC would accept Plaintiff’s resignation
on that date. Plaintiff did write back on June 9, but was not particularly receptive
to the options proposed by the USOC. Plaintiff refused to participate in any
investigation, and stated that “[m]y resignation, contrary to your interpretation,
was not seeking your acceptance.” Plaintiff has testified that he was represented
by counsel with respect to his various disputes with the USOC since about
October 1999.
In the instant action, Plaintiff’s only federal claims against the USOC
alleged various instances of racial discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C.
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§ 1981. He also brought several state law claims against the USOC. 1 In turn, the
USOC brought several state law counterclaims against Plaintiff. 2
The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the USOC as to
Plaintiff’s § 1981 claims. It then declined to take supplemental jurisdiction over
Plaintiff’s state law claims or the USOC’s counterclaims, and dismissed each of
those claims without prejudice. We AFFIRM. 3
DISCUSSION
On appeal, Plaintiff raises several distinct allegations of discriminatory
employment action. Specifically, Plaintiff claims (1) that he was constructively
discharged, (2) that he was not promoted to the position of Chief Medical Officer,
(3) that he was not promoted to the position of Senior Managing Director of Sport
Resources, and (4) that the USOC did not submit his name to the USADA as a
1
Plaintiff’s state law claims were based upon false light invasion of
privacy, fraud and misrepresentation, breach of contract, promissory estoppel,
wrongful termination in violation of public policy, and tortious interference with
prospective financial advantage. Plaintiff has abandoned his false light invasion
of privacy claim.
2
The USOC asserts that, after Plaintiff resigned, he retained certain
confidential documents. The USOC’s state law counterclaims include allegations
of civil theft and breach of the duty of loyalty.
3
Plaintiff also brought a § 1981 discrimination claim against the USADA.
The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the USADA, and the
parties to that dispute subsequently settled. Accordingly, that claim is not before
us on appeal.
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candidate for that organization’s Chief Executive Officer position. He further
asserts that each of these adverse employment actions was motivated by his race. 4
A. Introduction
Section 1981 forbids all intentional racial discrimination in the making or
enforcement of private or public contracts. See Saint Francis Coll. v. Al-
Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604, 609 (1987); McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transp. Co., 427
U.S. 273, 295 (1976); Fitzgerald v. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co., 68 F.3d
1257, 1262 (10th Cir. 1995). In particular, § 1981 protects employees from racial
discrimination both in entering into an employment contract and in enjoying the
4
Plaintiff raised a number of other issues before the district court. He
argued unsuccessfully that his compensation and certain other benefits were
discriminatory and that he was not promoted to the position of Senior Director of
Sport Services on account of his race.
Plaintiff did not mention these issues anywhere in the argument section of
his brief on appeal. They have therefore been waived. The Federal Rules of
Appellate Procedure require appellants to provide, under an appropriate heading,
an argument containing “appellant’s contentions and the reasons for them, with
citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies.”
Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(9). Scattered statements in the appellant’s brief are not
enough to preserve an issue for appeal. See Murrell v. Shalala, 43 F.3d 1388,
1389 n.2 (10th Cir. 1994). Appellees are not expected to respond to every
grievance that may be alluded to in the appellant’s statement of facts. Cf. Stump
v. Gates, 211 F.3d 527, 533 (10th Cir. 2000) (considering waived issues robs the
appellee of the opportunity to respond).
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benefits, privileges, terms and conditions of employment. Harris v. Allstate Ins.
Co., 300 F.3d 1183, 1186-87 (10th Cir. 2002). 5
Having no direct evidence of intentional racial discrimination, Plaintiff
relies upon circumstantial inference. Section 1981 plaintiffs may prove
discrimination circumstantially under the familiar burden-shifting framework
outlined in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973). See
English v. Colo. Dep’t of Corr., 248 F.3d 1002, 1007-08 (10th Cir. 2001).
Under that framework, the plaintiff has the initial burden of presenting a
prima facia case of discrimination. McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802. As a
general matter in a failure to hire, failure to promote or a discharge case, a prima
facie case of employment discrimination consists of a showing that (1) the
plaintiff belongs to some protected class, (2) the plaintiff was qualified for the
position or benefit at issue, (3) the plaintiff suffered an adverse employment
action, and (4) the plaintiff was treated less favorably than others (e.g., the
position at issue remained open after the adverse employment action). See
Kendrick v. Penske Transp. Servs., Inc., 220 F.3d 1220, 1229 (10th Cir. 2000);
5
Section 1981(a) reads: “All persons within the jurisdiction of the United
States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce
contracts ... as is enjoyed by white citizens.” 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a). The phrase
“make and enforce contracts” includes enjoying all of the benefits, privileges,
terms and conditions of the contractual relationship. 42 U.S.C. § 1981(b).
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see also Sanchez v. Denver Pub. Sch., 164 F.3d 527, 531 (10th Cir. 1998). 6 A
prima facie case raises an inference of discrimination by eliminating the most
common nondiscriminatory reasons for the defendant’s conduct. Texas Dep’t of
Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 254 (1981) (“[T]he prima facie case
raises an inference of discrimination only because we presume these acts, if
otherwise unexplained, are more likely than not based on the consideration of
impermissible factors.”) (quotation omitted).
Next, if the plaintiff sufficiently establishes a prima facie case, the burden
shifts to the defendant to produce some nondiscriminatory reason for its behavior.
McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802. Finally, if the defendant satisfies its
production burden, the plaintiff must show that the reasons proffered by the
defendant are pretextual. Id. at 804. “A plaintiff can show pretext by revealing
weaknesses, implausibilities, inconsistencies, incoherencies, or contradictions in
the employer’s proffered legitimate reasons for its action such that a reasonable
factfinder could rationally find them unworthy of credence.” Garrett v. Hewlett-
Packard Co., 305 F.3d 1210, 1217 (10th Cir. 2002) (quotation and alteration
omitted). A showing that the employer’s justifications for its behavior are
pretextual permits a finding of intentional discrimination, but does not compel it.
6
The precise articulation of what is required to establish a prima facie case
may vary somewhat depending on the context of the plaintiff’s claim. See
McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802 n.13; Kendrick, 220 F.3d at 1227.
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Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 146-47 (2000); St.
Mary’s Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 511 (1993).
Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no material factual dispute
that a factfinder could reasonably resolve in favor of either party. See Anderson
v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986). Accordingly, with respect to
each of Plaintiff’s § 1981 claims, we look to whether the evidence in the record
would have permitted an inference of intentional race discrimination under the
McDonnell Douglas framework. We turn now to that analysis.
B. Constructive Discharge
First we address Plaintiff’s argument that he was constructively discharged
due to his race. We have no difficulty concluding that Plaintiff failed to present
evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue that he suffered a constructive
discharge. Because he failed to demonstrate any adverse employment action, he
consequently failed to establish a prima facie case as to this claim.
A constructive discharge occurs when an employer, through unlawful acts,
makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the
employee’s position would feel forced to resign. Pennsylvania State Police v.
Suders, 124 S. Ct. 2342, 2351 (2004); Sprague v. Thorn Americas, Inc., 129 F.3d
1355, 1367 (10th Cir. 1997). Working conditions must be so severe that the
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plaintiff simply had no choice but to quit. Lighton v. Univ. of Utah, 209 F.3d
1213, 1222 (10th Cir. 2000); Yearous v. Niobrara County Mem’l Hosp., 128 F.3d
1351, 1357 (10th Cir. 1997). In contrast, a plaintiff who voluntarily resigns
cannot claim that he or she was constructively discharged.
“The question is not whether working conditions at the facility were
difficult or unpleasant.” Yearous, 128 F.3d at 1357; see also Lee-Crespo v.
Schering-Plough Del Caribe Inc., 354 F.3d 34, 45 (1st Cir. 2003) (“It is not
enough that a plaintiff suffered the ordinary slings and arrows that workers
routinely encounter in a hard, cold world.”) (quotation omitted). Rather, Plaintiff
must show that, at the time of his resignation, his employer did not allow him the
opportunity to make a free choice regarding his employment relationship.
Yearous, 128 F.3d at 1357. We have previously held that even requiring an
employee to choose between resignation and termination is not necessarily a
constructive discharge, unless the employee’s decision is, for some reason,
involuntary. See Lighton, 209 F.3d at 1222; Parker v. Bd. of Regents of Tulsa
Junior Coll., 981 F.2d 1159, 1162 (10th Cir. 1992). We judge the voluntariness
of an employee’s resignation under an objective standard, looking to whether his
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or her working conditions were so intolerable that a reasonable employee would
have had no other choice but to quit. Yearous, 128 F.3d at 1356. 7
In the instant case, Plaintiff argues that he was constructively discharged
because he was given an unethical order and because he was subjected to racial
harassment and hostility. 8 We hold that the record does not come close to
demonstrating that Plaintiff’s resignation was objectively involuntary.
Instead of resigning, Plaintiff could have chosen to comply with his
superior’s order or, alternatively, refused to comply and faced the possible
consequences of that choice. Cf. Lighton, 209 F.3d at 1222. Furthermore, even
after Plaintiff submitted his resignation, the USOC provided him with alternatives
to quitting and offered to investigate his complaints. Despite these options,
Plaintiff insisted upon terminating his employment relationship with the USOC.
The nature of his decision to quit was apparent, and Plaintiff was
represented by counsel at that time with respect to his ongoing disputes with the
USOC. Plaintiff was given almost a full work week to rescind his resignation.
7
We have previously explained that the fact that a plaintiff subjectively
considers his or her workplace stressful and may have suffered personal health
problems as a result is not an objective criterion used to determine if a reasonable
employee would have been compelled to resign. See Sanchez, 164 F.3d at 534.
8
Plaintiff’s allegation of racial harassment and hostility is unsupported by
record evidence. Plaintiff has submitted evidence that the USOC did not employ
any African-Americans in the organizational hierarchy above him. He has not,
however, demonstrated any particular instances of racial harassment or any
circumstances demonstrating racial hostility.
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Nevertheless, Plaintiff insisted that his resignation was effective immediately,
rejecting USOC officials’ efforts to accept his resignation as of a later date.
Plaintiff’s attempt to re-cast his voluntary decision to quit as a constructive
discharge by the USOC thus falls well short of the mark. Because Plaintiff has
failed to show an adverse employment action, it follows that he has failed to
establish a prima facie case as to his discriminatory constructive discharge claim.
C. Failure to Promote
1. Chief Medical Officer
Plaintiff next argues that he was promised that a position of Chief Medical
Officer would be established at the USOC and that he would be given the job, but
that this promise was never fulfilled. He acknowledges that such a job did not
exist at the USOC during his tenure there. Indeed, there is no evidence in the
record that the USOC had considered anyone for such a position.
Plaintiff has not shown that he was treated less favorably than others with
respect to not receiving the Chief Medical Officer position – the USOC did not
hire or consider anyone for that job. Accordingly, we hold that Plaintiff has
failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination as to this claim. See
Kendrick, 220 F.3d at 1229 (a prima facie case requires that the position in
question remained open); see also McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802 (in the
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failure to hire context, a prima facie case requires that the plaintiff “applied for
and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants” and
that the employer continued to seek applicants after rejecting him or her)
(emphasis added); Stone v. Autoliv ASP, Inc., 210 F.3d 1132, 1138 (10th Cir.
2000) (a prima facie case eliminates the most common nondiscriminatory reasons
for the employer’s action, including the absence of a vacancy for the job). An
employer’s failure to promote a plaintiff to a non-existent position is not enough
to support a presumption of intentional racial discrimination.
Plaintiff’s claim mirrors the failure to promote claim we rejected in
Sprague v. Thorn Americas, Inc., 129 F.3d 1355 (10th Cir. 1997). In that case,
the plaintiff was a market analyst in the defendant’s jewelry department who
claimed that she should have been promoted to a position of “assistant product
manager.” Id. at 1359-60. There was no such position in the defendant’s jewelry
department at the time. Id. at 1362. We held that these facts could not support an
inference of gender discrimination. Id. We explained: “It is indeed difficult for
us to understand how [the plaintiff] can maintain that she was the victim of
discrimination due to [the defendant’s] refusal to promote her to the position of
assistant manager of jewelry when such a position did not even exist.” Id.
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Accordingly, Plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case with respect
to his claim that he was not promoted to the position of Chief Medical Officer at
the USOC on account of his race.
2. Senior Managing Director of Sport Resources
Plaintiff also asserts that he should have been promoted to the position of
Senior Managing Director of Sport Resources. Scott Blackmun, who is white,
was appointed to this position in April 2000.
We first hold that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of race
discrimination as to this claim because he has not pointed to any evidence
showing that he was qualified for this position. Indeed, Plaintiff has cited to
nothing in the record suggesting what the USOC’s qualifications for its Senior
Managing Director for Sport Resources might have been. See EEOC v.
Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp., 220 F.3d 1184, 1194 (10th Cir. 2000) (to
establish a prima facie case, a plaintiff must “show[] she is qualified by
presenting some credible evidence that she possesses the objective qualifications
necessary to perform the job at issue”). Plaintiff’s bare assertion that “[t]here
was no objective criteria for the qualifications of this position other than the
perceptions of the individuals who had been discriminating against [him]” is
clearly not sufficient to survive summary judgment absent any record support.
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Furthermore, the USOC has produced a nondiscriminatory justification for
hiring Blackmun rather than Plaintiff, and Plaintiff has not pointed to any record
evidence suggesting that this justification was pretextual. Norman Blake, then-
CEO of the USOC, declared that he selected Blackmun for this position because
Blackmun “had, in effect, been acting as the Chief Executive Officer of USOC
before my appointment and had won the respect of the USOC management and
the NGBs [National Governing Bodies].” Blake further stated that he did not
appoint Plaintiff to that position because he, unlike Blackmun, did not have
credibility with the NGBs. Blake added that “I was aware that the consensus of
Dr. Exum’s supervisors was that he lacked strong leadership skills and was not an
effective manager. My own experience with Dr. Exum confirmed this
assessment.”
To show pretext, the plaintiff must call into question the honesty or good
faith of the USOC’s assessment of his abilities. See Bullington v. United
Airlines, Inc., 186 F.3d 1301, 1318 (10th Cir. 1999), abrogated on other grounds
by Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002). It is not enough
that a factfinder could disagree with the employer’s assessments. “The relevant
inquiry is not whether [the defendant’s] proffered reasons were wise, fair or
correct, but whether [it] honestly believed those reasons and acted in good faith
upon those beliefs.” Id.; see also Giannopoulos v. Brach & Brock Confections,
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Inc., 109 F.3d 406, 411 (7th Cir. 1997) (“[A plaintiff] cannot avoid summary
judgment with an unadorned claim that a jury might not believe [defendant’s]
explanation for his termination; he must point to evidence suggesting that
[defendant] itself did not honestly believe that explanation.”).
Although Plaintiff obviously has his own opinion about his leadership and
managerial skills, he has not demonstrated a genuine factual dispute about the
genuineness of the USOC’s assessment of his abilities. Cf. Bullington, 186 F.3d
at 1317 n.13. Accordingly, Plaintiff failed to meet his burden at the summary
judgment stage of presenting evidence that the USOC’s reasons for not appointing
him as Senior Managing Director of Sport Resources were merely pretextual.
For these reasons, summary judgment in favor of the USOC was proper
with respect to Plaintiff’s claim that he was denied the Senior Managing Director
of Sport Resources position because of his race.
D. Failure to Recommend Plaintiff for CEO of the USADA
Finally, Plaintiff alleges that the USOC discriminated against him on
account of race by not submitting his name to the USADA for consideration for
that organization’s CEO position. We hold that Plaintiff failed to show that the
USOC treated him less favorably than anyone else in this respect, and that
Plaintiff therefore failed to establish a prima facie case as to this claim.
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Plaintiff alleges that he had expressed interest in leading the USADA and
asked USOC officials to submit his name to the USADA for consideration to be
that organization’s Chief Executive Officer. In response to his request, Plaintiff
received an e-mail thanking him for his interest in the position, and stating “I will
make sure they contact you regarding this position.” Plaintiff acknowledges that
others similarly requested USOC officials to submit their names to the USADA
for consideration as its CEO.
In March 2000, the USADA Board of Directors selected Terry Madden,
who is white, as its Chief Executive Officer. Two USOC officials, Barron
Pittenger and Frank Marshall, attended the meeting at which Madden was
selected, but there is no evidence that they participated in any way in the
USADA’s decision-making process. Most significantly, nothing in the record
suggests that the USOC submitted any names to the USADA for consideration.
Plaintiff’s failure to show that he was treated any differently than any other
USOC employee seeking the USADA’s CEO position is fatal to his claim that the
USOC’s failure to submit his name to the USADA was a product of intentional
racial discrimination. Therefore, we hold that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima
facie case of race discrimination as to this claim as well.
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E. State Law Claims
A district court may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a
claim when it has dismissed all claims over which it had original jurisdiction.
See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3); Doe v. Bagan, 41 F.3d 571, 573, 577 (10th Cir. 1994)
(approving dismissal of state law claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction
after summary judgment was granted as to all federal claims); cf. United Mine
Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726 (1966) (“Certainly, if the federal
claims are dismissed before trial . . . the state claims should be dismissed as
well.”). We review the district court’s decision to decline supplemental
jurisdiction for abuse of discretion. See Gold v. Local 7 United Food &
Commercial Workers Union, 159 F.3d 1307, 1310 (10th Cir. 1998), overruled on
other grounds by Styskal v. Weld County Comm’rs., 365 F.3d 855 (10th Cir.
2004).
For the reasons explained above, the district court properly granted
summary judgment in favor of the USOC as to all of Plaintiff’s federal claims.
Having done so, the court was well within its discretion in declining supplemental
jurisdiction over the remainder of Plaintiff’s claims and the USOC’s
counterclaims, and dismissing those claims without prejudice.
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CONCLUSION
We AFFIRM the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment
to the USOC as to all of Plaintiff’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and dismissing
the remaining claims and counterclaims without prejudice.
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