Palmer v. Milnor

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: March 31, 2020
• Docket: 2:19-cv-00961
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

HONORABLE RICHARD A. JONES 1

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 GENE PALMER, 9

Plaintiff, 10 Case No. 2:19-cv-00961-RAJ v. 11 ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND TIENNEY MILNOR, HER HUSBAND 12 AND THEIR MARITAL COMMUNITY, 13 MELANIE TRATNIK, HER HUSBAND AND THEIR MARITAL COMMUNITY, 14 STATE OF WASHINGTON, OFFICE OF 15 ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES, 16 LABORERS’ INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA LOCAL 292, 17 AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF 18 LABORERS WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO, 19 Defendants. 20

21 22 The matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion to amend. Dkt. # 22. 23 Amendment to pleadings is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a). 24 Rule 15(a) “provides that a party’s right to amend as a matter of course terminates 21 days 25 after service of a responsive pleading or 21 days after service of a motion under Rule 12(b), 26 (e), or (f), whichever is earlier.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1)(B). “In all other cases, a party 27 may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written consent or the court’s leave. 1 The court should freely give leave when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). “In 2 exercising this discretion, a court must be guided by the underlying purpose of Rule 15 to 3 facilitate a decision on the merits, rather than on the pleadings or technicalities.” Roth v. 4 Garcia Marquez, 942 F.2d 617, 628 (9th Cir. 1991); United States v. Webb, 655 F.2d 977, 5 979 (9th Cir. 1981). Further, the policy of favoring amendments to pleadings should be 6 applied with “extreme liberality.” DCD Programs, Ltd. v. Leighton, 833 F.2d 183, 186 7 (9th Cir. 1987). 8 Having considered the Rule 15 factors, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion to 9 amend. The Court orders that Plaintiff comply with the format requirements set forth in 10 Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(b) and Local Civil Rule 10(e), including fully numbering the paragraphs 11 in the Amended Complaint and the use of numbered paper. Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint 12 shall be filed no later than 21 days following this order. Having granted Plaintiff leave to 13 amend, the Court DENIES as moot Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 24) and 14 Plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time (Dkt. # 27).

15 DATED this 31st day of March, 2020. 16 A 17 18 The Honorable Richard A. Jones 19 United States District Judge 20

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