A pleading question

The Comcast argument from two weeks ago featured competing hypotheticals designed to show proximate cause under § 1981, but instead showed the problem of pleading oneself out of court. Following some comments on my prior post, I have been thinking about both (which I would like to use in Civ Pro next semester).

Hypo # 1: African-American not hired by law firm; receives letter saying "You're African American and we don't hire non-lawyers."

Option # 1: Complaint quotes the "You're African-American" language of letter but nothing else. I think the Complaint passes muster, although the defendant may be able to offer the full letter on a 12(b)(6), which would change the analysis.

Option # 2: Complaint quotes entire letter (or attaches letter as written instrument). Complaint fails unless plaintiff alleges fact rebutting the non-lawyer piece of the letter. We would say P has pleaded himself out of court, but including a fact that undermines his claim.

Hypo # 2: Hotel refuses to rent room to African-American, telling him "We don't rent to African-Americans and we are out of rooms."

Option # 1: Complaint only quotes the first statement. Again, I think the complaint passes muster.

Option # 2: Complaint quotes both statements. I think the Complaint would fail for the same reason as the first case. A commenter suggests otherwise, because it may be that the hotel was lying about there being no rooms. But must the plaintiff allege a fact rebutting the statement that there are no rooms, at least on information and belief, to show that it might be false? Just as the lawyer-applicant must allege facts rebutting non-lawyerness as the basis for not hiring? If the "reasonable alternative explanation" language of Iqbal does any work, this would be it--the complaint provided the alternative explanation. Or does drawing all reasonable inferences for the plaintiff allow for the inference that the hotel is lying about the adverse fact?