Berg v. Bethel School District

Opinion

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5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 7 L.K.M. et al., CASE NO. C18-5345 BHS 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 9 v. AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR 10 BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT 11 Defendants. 12

13 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend 14 complaint and change caption. Dkt. 44. 15 On September 3, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint 16 to remove former-Defendant Nancy McKeeman (“McKeeman”) and add proposed- 17 defendant Lori Haugen (“Haugen”). Id. Plaintiffs wish to amend their complaint to 18 include Haugen in their “§ 1983 causes of action based upon her personal liability.” Id. at 19 5. However, the Court granted summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims against 20 the Individual Defendants in this action, concluding that the Individual Defendants are 21 entitled to qualified immunity. Dkt. 65 at 7, 8. A court may deny leave to amend “where 22 the amendment would be futile . . . or where the amended complaint would be subject to 1 dismissal. Saul v. United States, 928 F.2d 829, 843 (9th Cir. 1991). “[A] proposed 2 amendment is futile only if no set of facts can be proved under the amendment to the

3 pleadings that would constitute a valid and sufficient claim or defense.” Miller v. Rukoff- 4 Sexton, Inc., 845 F.2d 2019, 214 (9th Cir. 1988), overruled on other grounds by Ashcroft 5 v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009). Because the Court has previously found that Plaintiffs’ 6 cannot maintain a § 1983 claim due to qualified immunity, Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to 7 amend is futile. 8 Plaintiffs also request leave to change the caption and remove McKeeman

9 pursuant to the parties’ stipulated motion. See Dkts. 24, 25. Defendants have not objected 10 to this proposed amendment. See Dkt. 47. 11 Therefore, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ request to add Haugen as a defendant 12 and GRANTS Plaintiffs’ request to amend the caption and remove McKeeman as a 13 defendant.

14 IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 Dated this 19th day of April, 2021. A 16 17 BENJAMIN H. SETTLE 18 United States District Judge

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