Lucas v. County of Fresno

Opinion

JAMI LUCAS, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01488-DAD-EPG Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING STIPULATION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ MONELL CLAIM v. PREMISED UPON ALLEGED CUSTOM OF UNSAFE FIREARM HANDLING (ECF No. 64) Defendant. On December 22, 2021, the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss “Plaintiffs’ Monell claim premised upon the alleged custom of unsafe firearm handling with prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(ii), of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” (ECF No. 64.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) “does not allow for piecemeal dismissals” and “withdrawals of individual claims against a given defendant are governed by [Federal Rule of Civiil Procedure] 15, which addresses amendments to pleadings.” Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 687 (9th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). As the Ninth Circuit has explained:

[A] plaintiff may not use Rule 41(a)(1)(i) to dismiss, unilaterally, a single claim from a multi-claim complaint. Instead, . . . Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) is the appropriate mechanism where a plaintiff desires to eliminate an issue, or one or more but less than all of several claims, but without dismissing as to any of the defendants. Id. at 687-88 (Internal citations and quotation marks omitted). According to the First Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs’ Monell claim against the County of Fresno is premised on several alleged patterns, customs, policies, practices, and/or procedures, including those related to handling firearms, training and supervision, approval of backup firearms and holsters, and covering up violations of constitutional rights. (See ECF No. 9 at 17- 18.) The parties’ stipulation seeks to dismiss only the portion of the Monell claim related to handling firearms. (See ECF No. 64.) However, Rule 41(a)(1) does not allow for piecemeal dismissals of claims and Plaintiff has not sought leave to amend the complaint pursuant to Rule 15. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties’ stipulation seeking to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Monell claim based on handling firearms (ECF No. 64) is DENIED.!

IT IS SOORDERED. Dated: _ January 4, 2022 [Jee ey UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE The Court’s order is without prejudice to the parties seeking a resolution under another mechanism, including but not limited to amending the complaint pursuant to Rule 15 or summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56.