Civil Rights Dept. v. Grimmway Enterprises, Inc.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CIVIL RIGHTS DEPARTMENT, No. 2:21-cv-01552-DAD-AC 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF LEAVE TO FILE SUR-REPLY TO DEFENDANT’S 14 GRIMMWAY ENTERPRISES, INC., MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ITS FAVOR 15 Defendant. (Doc. No. 144) 16

17 18 This matter is before the court on plaintiff’s motion to file a sur-reply in support of its 19 opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment in its favor. (Doc. No. 144.) For the 20 reasons explained below, the court will grant plaintiff’s motion to file a sur-reply. 21 On January 31, 2025, the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. (Doc. Nos. 22 122, 124.) On March 17, 2025, plaintiff filed an opposition to defendant’s motion for summary 23 judgment and defendant filed an opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. (Doc. 24 Nos. 130, 132.) On April 7, 2025, defendant filed a reply in support of its motion for summary 25 judgment, and plaintiff filed a reply in support of its motion for summary judgment. (Doc. Nos. 26 142, 143.) Plaintiff subsequently filed the pending motion for leave to file a sur-reply in support 27 of its opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 144.) Defendant has 28 filed no response to plaintiff’s request in this regard. 1 Parties do not have a general right to file sur-reply briefs. See L.R. 230. However, 2 | “nothing in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prevents the court from granting a party leave to 3 | file a sur-reply.” McGechie v. Atomos Ltd., No. 2:22-cv-01812-DJC-DB, 2023 WL 2918681 at 4 *1 (ED. Cal. Apr. 12, 2023). “A decision to grant or deny leave to file a sur-reply is generally 5 | committed to the sound discretion of the court.” Tounget v. Valley-Wide Recreation & Park 6 | Dist., No. 16-cv-00088-JGB-KK, 2020 WL 8410456 at *2 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2020) (internal 7 | quotation and citation omitted). “Although the [c]ourt may in its discretion permit the filing of a 8 || sur[-]reply, this discretion should be exercised in favor of allowing a sur[-]reply only where a 9 | valid reason for such additional briefing exists, such as where the movant raises new arguments in 10 | its reply brief.” Fedrick v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 366 F. Supp. 2d 1190, 1197 (N.D. Ga. 11 | 2005). 12 In its motion for leave to file a sur-reply, plaintiff argues that defendant’s reply in support 13 | of its motion for summary judgment includes new factual and legal arguments. (Doc. No. 144 at 14 | 2.) Specifically, plaintiff notes that in their reply defendant now urge the court to disregard the 15 || declaration of plaintiffs attorney Mackenzie Anderson and the exhibits attached thereto and have 16 | presented new evidence in the form of the supplemental declaration defendant’s counsel Scott T. 17 | Belden. To respond to these new arguments and evidence, plaintiff seeks to cross-reference 18 | certain pages of plaintiff's reply in support of plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in its 19 || favor. (Doc. Nos. 142 at 10-17; 144 at 6.) The court is persuaded that such a limited sur-reply is 20 || warranted here. 21 Accordingly, 22 1. Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file a sur-reply (Doc. No. 144) is GRANTED; and 23 3. Plaintiff's proposed sur-reply (Doc. No. 144 at 5-6) is deemed filed as of the date 24 of this order. 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. °° | Dated: _ April 30, 2025 Da A. 2, axel 27 DALE A. DROZD 3g UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE