James Aery v. Ernie Beitel

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 24-2924

___________________________

James Paul Aery

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant

v.

Ernie Beitel; Calandra Allen; Summit Food Service, LLC

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees

____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota

____________

Submitted: May 7, 2025 Filed: May 12, 2025

[Unpublished]

____________

Before GRUENDER, KELLY, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.

____________

PER CURIAM.

James Aery appeals following the district court’s1 dismissal of some of his pro se civil rights claims, and adverse grant of summary judgment as to his remaining claims.

After careful review of the record and the parties’ arguments on appeal, we conclude that the district court properly dismissed Aery’s official-capacity claims, see Kelly v. City of Omaha, 813 F.3d 1070, 1075 (8th Cir. 2016) (reviewing de novo Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal for failure to state claim); and that summary judgment was proper as to his remaining claims, see Stearns v. Inmate Servs. Corp., 957 F.3d 902, 906 (8th Cir. 2020) (reviewing grant of summary judgment de novo). Finally, we discern no abuse of discretion in the denial of Aery’s motions to compel, for sanctions, and for counsel. See Vallejo v. Amgen, Inc., 903 F.3d 733, 742 (8th Cir. 2018) (reviewing discovery and sanctions rulings for abuse of discretion); see also Ward v. Smith, 721 F.3d 940, 942 (8th Cir. 2013) (per curiam) (reviewing denial of motion for appointment of counsel for abuse of discretion).

Accordingly, we affirm.

______________________________

1 The Honorable Katherine M. Menendez, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota, adopting the report and recommendations of the Honorable Douglas L. Micko, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota.