Estate of McFarlin v. City of Storm Lake

277 F.R.D. 384, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1323, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100905, 2011 WL 3957534
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedSeptember 7, 2011
DocketNo. C 10-4092-MWB
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 277 F.R.D. 384 (Estate of McFarlin v. City of Storm Lake) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of McFarlin v. City of Storm Lake, 277 F.R.D. 384, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1323, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100905, 2011 WL 3957534 (N.D. Iowa 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING DAVID MCFARLIN’S MOTION TO JOIN AS A NECESSARY PARTY OR TO DISMISS AND THE DREDGING DEFENDANTS’ JOINDER IN THE MOTION TO DISMISS

MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION..........................................................386

A. Factual Background...................................................386

B. Procedural Background................................................387

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS...................................... 387

A. McFarlin’s Rule 19 Motion To Join ................... 387

B. The Dredging Defendants’ Rule 19 Motion To Dismiss .. 389

1. Arguments of the parties ......................... 389

2. Analysis ........................................ 389

a. Rule 19 standards............................ 389

b. The feasibility analysis....................... 390

c. The necessary party analysis.................. 390

i. Necessary party under Rule 19(a)(1)(A) ... 390

ii. Necessary party under Rule 19(a) (l) (B)(i). 391

iii. Necessary party under Rule 19(a) (l) (B) (ii) 393

d. The equity analyses.......................... 394

III. CONCLUSION..................... ...........................394

Must an estranged father be allowed to join in or force the dismissal of this diversity action arising from the death of a minor child brought by the child’s mother on behalf of the child’s estate and on behalf of herself and her surviving child for bystander emotional distress and loss of consortium? The mother opposes joinder or dismissal, because the estranged father would destroy diversity jurisdiction, but one group of defendants agrees that this action must be dismissed, because the estranged father is a necessary party, but cannot feasibly be joined. I must determine not only the merits of the estranged father’s demand to join the action or dismiss it, but the proper procedural vehicle for him to assert that demand.

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Factual Background

The facts giving rise to the present lawsuit are few, but tragic. Plaintiff Jamie Laass (Laass) alleges that, on May 31, 2010, she was riding with her two children, David Paul McFarlin (David) and S.L., in a boat operating on Storm Lake in Buena Vista County when the boat struck a submerged dredge pipe causing the boat’s motor to flip up into the boat with the propeller still running. The motor, including the spinning prop, struck David, causing his death. David was ten years old when he died.

[387]*387 B. Procedural Background

On October 1, 2010, Laass filed her Complaint (docket no. 1) initiating this lawsuit on behalf of David’s estate, herself, and her surviving minor child, S.L., to recover damages related to the boating accident that resulted in David’s death. Laass named as defendants the owner and operator of the boat, Harry Foote; the manufacturer of the boat’s motor, Brunswick Corporation, d/b/a Mercury Marine and Lund Boat Company (Mercury Marine/Lund); and the parties allegedly responsible for the dredge pipe and dredging operation on Storm Lake, the City of Storm Lake, Buena Vista County, the Lake Improvement Commission, Randy Re-dig, Fussell Harrington, and David Botine (collectively, the Dredging Defendants). Laass asserts a claim on behalf of David’s estate for damages related to David’s injury and death allegedly resulting from the defendants’ negligence. She also asserts claims on behalf of herself and her surviving minor child, S.L., for damages for emotional distress related to their presence as bystanders during the accident and for loss of consortium.1 The Lake Improvement Commission filed an Answer (docket no. 4) on October 20, 2010, and an Amended Answer (docket no. 5) on October 25, 2010; Mercury Marine/Lund filed an Answer (docket no. 8) on October 29, 2010; the remaining' Dredging Defendants (Buena Vista County, City of Storm Lake, Redig, Harrington, and Botine) filed an Answer (docket no. 11) on November 9, 2010; and Foote filed an Answer (docket no. 12) on November 18, 2010.

Laass brought this action in federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, on the basis of divei’sity of citizenship and an amount in controversy in excess of $75,000. The Complaint and Answers reveal that Laass is a citizen of Nebraska; Harry Foote and the Dredging Defendants are all citizens of Iowa; and Mercury Marine/Lund is a Delaware corporation authorized to do business in Iowa. Thus, there is, at present, complete diversity between the plaintiff and the defendants.

On June 15, 2011, David MeFarlin (MeFar-lin), an Iowa citizen and David’s father, filed a Motion To A. Join As A Party Per FRCP 19; Or, In The Alternative, To B. Dismiss The Within Action (docket no. 23), which is now before me. On July 1, 2011, the Dredging Defendants (including the Lake Improvement Commission) filed a Partial Resistance To Motion To Intervene/Dismiss (docket no. 24), resisting intervention or joinder of MeFarlin on the ground that allowing intervention or joinder would deprive the court of diversity jurisdiction, but joining in MeFar-lin’s motion to dismiss so that a new action including MeFarlin could be filed in state court. On July 5, 2011, Laass filed her Resistance (docket no. 25), asserting that McFarlin’s motion to “join” as a required party, pursuant to Rule 19, is properly a motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 24, but that neither his intervention nor dismissal of this action is appropriate.

I regret that the press of other matters, including a two-week stint as a visiting judge in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands, prevented me from reaching this matter sooner.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

A. McFarlin’s Rule 19 Motion To Join

MeFarlin, a non-party to the suit, moves to be joined in this action as a necessary or “required” party pursuant to Rule 19 [388]*388of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or, if joinder is not feasible, to dismiss the action so that the parties can join their claims in a state forum. However, MeFarlin’s motion pursuant to Rule 19 is procedurally inappropriate: Only parties to a suit may move to join a necessary party pursuant to Rule 19. Arrow v. Gambler’s Supply, Inc., 55 F.3d 407, 409 (8th Cir.1995). Alternatively, the court may order the joinder of a necessary party sua sponte. Fed.R.Civ.P. 19(a)(2).

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277 F.R.D. 384, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1323, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100905, 2011 WL 3957534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-mcfarlin-v-city-of-storm-lake-iand-2011.