Great American Insurance Company v. Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation

Opinion

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 10 GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE Case No. 1: 21-cv-01556-AWI-SAB ORDER ENTERING STIPULATION RE: 12 Plaintiffs, FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

13 v. (ECF No. 17)

CORPORATION, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 On February 10, 2022, a stipulation was filed whereby the parties appearing in this action 18 have agreed that the first cause of action for Carmack Amendment Liability shall not be pursued 19 against Defendant Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation. (ECF No. 17.) The stipulation 20 specifies that should Plaintiff later seek leave to pursue this cause of action against Defendant 21 Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation, Plaintiff must seek leave of the Court or submit a 22 stipulation. (Id.) 23 Rule 15 is the proper mechanism to dismiss individual claims against defendants. See 24 Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 687 (9th Cir. 2005) (“In the 25 specific context of Rule 41(a)(1), we have held that the Rule does not allow for piecemeal 26 dismissals. Instead, withdrawals of individual claims against a given defendant are governed by 27 [Rule 15].”); Ethridge v. Harbor House Rest., 861 F.2d 1389, 1392 (9th Cir. 1988) (holding a plaintiff cannot use Rule 41 “to dismiss, unilaterally, a single claim from a multi-claim 1 | complaint.”); but_see Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997) (“The 2 | Plaintiff may dismiss some or all of the defendants, or some or all of his claims, through a Rule 3 | 41(a)(1) notice.”). The Court finds it proper to construe the parties’ stipulation as consent to 4 | amend the complaint under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Hells Canyon 5 | Pres. Council, 403 F.3d at 689 (“The fact that a voluntary dismissal of a claim under Rule 41(a) 6 | is properly labeled an amendment under Rule 15 is a technical, not a substantive distinction.”) 7 | (quoting Nilssen v. Motorola, Inc., 203 F.3d 782, 784 (Fed. Cir. 2000)). Therefore, the Court 8 | will give full effect to the parties’ stipulation through a Rule 15 amendment. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, the 10 | Plaintiff's operative complaint (ECF No. 1) is DEEMED AMENDED and the first cause of 11 | action is no longer alleged against Defendant Cardinal Logistics Management Corporation. 12 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. FA. ee 14 | Dated: _ February 10, 2022

Is UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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