(PS) Williams v. State of CA Workers Compensation Appeals Board

District Court, E.D. California·Decided November 10, 2022·No. 2:22-cv-00302·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 APRIL PREMO WILLIAMS, No. 2:22-cv-00302 KJM AC (PS) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER and 14 STATE OF CALIFORNIA WORKERS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS COMPENSATION BOARD and THE 15 HOME DEPOT, 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff is proceeding in this matter pro se, and pre-trial proceedings are accordingly 19 referred to the undersigned pursuant to Local Rule 302(c)(21). Home Depot’s motion to dismiss, 20 ECF No. 13, came on for hearing on November 9, 2022. Plaintiff appeared on her own behalf, 21 and Mae G. Alberto appeared on behalf of Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. ECF No. 23. For the 22 reasons that follow, the undersigned recommends this case be DISMISSED in its entirety for 23 failure to properly serve defendants. Plaintiff’s miscellaneous filings are also addressed below. 24 I. Background 25 The 43-page complaint is styled as a removal action, although the proceeding plaintiff 26 attempts to remove is not a lawsuit but a pending workers’ compensation matter. See ECF No. 1. 27 The action arises from plaintiff’s employment at The Home Depot, an associated on-the-job 28 injury, and subsequent proceedings before the state Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. 1 ECF No. 1 at 1, 2-3. Plaintiff alleges that she was injured at work due to The Home Depot’s 2 negligence, and that she worked for 8 months after her injury before a doctor took her off work. 3 Id. Plaintiff alleges The Home Depot dismissed her from employment for not returning to work 4 in a timely manner. Id. at 3. Plaintiff alleges she has a mental disability and was not given proper 5 accommodations by the Workers’ Compensation Board. Id. at 4. Plaintiff’s putative causes of 6 action include multiple constitutional violations, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act 7 and Rehabilitation Act, “prejudice and local influence,” “equity of court of chancery,” 8 “segregation” and “hate crime.” Id. at 1 and passim. 9 The complaint was filed on February 17, 2022. On May 24, 2022, the court issued an 10 Order to Show Cause regarding plaintiff’s failure to file proof of service on defendants. ECF No. 11 4. On June 3, 3033, plaintiff filed a document with affidavits of service attached. ECF No. 5 at 12 4, 6. The order to show cause was accordingly discharged. ECF No. 9. On September 12, 2022, 13 Home Depot moved for dismissal of this case for insufficient service pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 14 12(b)(5). ECF No. 13.1 15 II. Home Depot’s Motion to Dismiss 16 A. Legal Standards Governing Motions to Dismiss for Insufficient Service 17 Federal courts do not have jurisdiction over a defendant unless the defendant has been 18 served properly under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. Jackson v. Hayakawa, 682 F.2d 1344, 19 1347 (9th Cir. 1982). Rule 4 governs service of process for all suits in federal court and likewise 20 governs the sufficiency of service of process. See generally, Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 4. Rule 4I(1) 21 requires that “[a] summons must be served with a copy of the complaint.” The United States 22 Supreme Court has recognized that “[s]ervice of process, under longstanding tradition in our 23 system of justice, is fundamental to any procedural imposition on a named defendant.” Murphy 24 Bros., Inc. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., 526 U.S. 344, 350 (1999). “[O]ne becomes a 25 party officially, and is required to take action in that capacity, only upon service of a summons or 26

27 1 Plaintiff has named the private defendant as The Home Depot. ECF No. 1. Defendant has clarified that it is Home Depot U.S.A. Inc., erroneously sued as The Home Depot. ECF No. 13. 28 The court will refer to the moving defendant simply as Home Depot. 1 other authority-asserting measure stating the time within which the party served must appear and 2 defend.” Id. (citations omitted). Before a federal court may exercise jurisdiction over a 3 defendant, “the procedural requirement of service of summons must be satisfied.” Omni Capital 4 Int’l, Ltd. V. Rudolf Wolff & Co., 484 U.S. 97, 104 (1987). 5 Although courts have also held that Rule 4 is flexible and should be liberally construed if 6 a party receives sufficient notice of the complaint and the defects in service are minor, United 7 Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Alpha Beta Co., 736 F.2d 1371, 1382 (9th Cir.1984), 8 absent substantial compliance with the requirements of Rule 4, “neither actual notice nor simply 9 naming the defendant in the complaint will provide personal jurisdiction.” Benny v. Pipes, 799 10 F.2d 489, 492 (9th Cir. 1986). Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states, in 11 relevant part, that “[i]f a defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the 12 court – on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff – must dismiss the action without 13 prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time.” 14 A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(5) for insufficient service of process “is 15 the proper vehicle for challenging the mode of delivery or lack of delivery of the summons and 16 complaint.” Wasson v. Riverside County, 237 F.R.D. 423, 424 (C.D. Cal. 2006). “Once service 17 is challenged, plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing that service was valid under Rule 4.” 18 Brockmeyer v. May, 383 F.3d 798, 801 (9th Cir. 2004). “If the plaintiff is unable to satisfy this 19 burden, the Court has the discretion to either dismiss the action or retain the action and quash the 20 service of process.” Stevens v. Sec. Pac. Nat’l Bank, 538 F.2d 1387, 1389 (9th Cir. 1976). “Of 21 course, the difference between the two results is not substantial. In the case of a dismissal, the 22 plaintiff merely reinstitutes the action and has process served again, making sure that the earlier 23 defect in the summons or the mode of service has been corrected. When process is quashed, only 24 the service need be repeated.” 5B Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. 25 Civ. § 1354 (3d ed. 2022). 26 B. Plaintiff Has Not Properly Served Either Defendant 27 The record includes two affidavits of service, both dated March 1, 2022, and both 28 documenting service of the Complaint—and only the Complaint—in this case. ECF No. 5 at 4, 6. 1 The first of these affidavits identifies Craig Menear as the person to be served,2 and avers that 2 personal service was accomplished on William Shelton, “authorized/registered agent for service,” 3 in Atlanta, Georgia. Id. at 4. Home Depot has filed a declaration from Quintessa L. Malcom, 4 Manager of Risk Management Claims, who explains that William Shelton is a security manager 5 for Home Depot in Atlanta. ECF No. 13-1 at 2. Even assuming that William Shelton is 6 authorized to accept service on behalf of Home Depot, the Malcom declaration and its 7 attachments demonstrate that no summons was served along with the Complaint. Plaintiff’s reply 8 to the opposition fails to address the summons issue. Because she has not provided evidence that 9 service included a summons, plaintiff has failed to meet her burden of establishing proper service.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(PS) Williams v. State of CA Workers Compensation Appeals Board, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

(PS) Williams v. State of CA Workers Compensation Appeals Board ((PS) Williams v. State of CA Workers Compensation Appeals Board) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
463 U.S. 85 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Dossie Wayne Kemp v. Leroy Beasley
352 F.2d 14 (Eighth Circuit, 1965)
Palmer v. Valdez
560 F.3d 965 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Gypsy Oil Co.
10 F.2d 487 (Eighth Circuit, 1925)
Burr v. Duryee
1 U.S. 531 (Supreme Court, 1863)
Turner v. Duncan
158 F.3d 449 (Ninth Circuit, 1998)
Gilbertson v. Albright
381 F.3d 965 (Ninth Circuit, 2004)
Wasson v. Riverside County
237 F.R.D. 423 (C.D. California, 2006)
Jackson v. Hayakawa
682 F.2d 1344 (Ninth Circuit, 1982)