Shallal v. Gates

254 F.R.D. 140, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94278, 2008 WL 4926678
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided November 19, 2008·No. Civil Action No. 07-2154 (RCL)·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.

Pending before the Court is defendant L-3’s motion [28] to strike the plaintiffs complaint and to dismiss the action. The plaintiff has also moved [34] to add Northrop Grumman as a defendant. Upon consideration of the motion [28], the opposition [33], the reply [36], the surreply [42], the entire record herein, and applicable law, the Court will GRANT the defendant’s motion and dismiss the action with prejudice. The Court will DENY plaintiffs motion to add Northrop Grumman as a defendant.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Shallal filed a complaint alleging seven separate counts and seeking relief under various laws, statutes, and treaties on November 29, 2007. Defendant L-3 filed a motion for a more definite statement under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e) on February 6, 2008.1 On July 23, 2008, this Court granted the motion, noting that the Court has discretion to grant a Rule 12(e) motion when a complaint is “unintelligible” and that there were numerous shortcomings in the plaintiffs complaint. (Order [24] at n. 8.) On August 3, 2008, the plaintiff filed a document styled “Response to L-3 Unopposed Motion for More Definite Statement by Mark Shallal” and a supporting affidavit. (Docket entry [27].) Following the plaintiffs filing, defendant L-3 filed a motion to strike the complaint for failure to comply with Rule 12(e) and to dismiss the case with prejudice. (Docket entry [28].) In response, on September 28, 2008, the plaintiff filed an opposition arguing that Rule 12(e) does not require an amended complaint and therefore its earlier “response” constituted a “more definite statement” for the purposes of Rule 12(e). (Mem. in Opp. [33] at 1.) In the alternative, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint and argued that the defendant’s motion was therefore moot. (Mem. in Opp. at 2.) This Court holds that (1) the plaintiffs August 3, 2008 “response” to the motion for a more definite statement did not comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, (2) his “amended complaint” filed in opposition to the motion to dismiss similarly does not comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and does not state a coherent claim that might entitle plaintiff to relief, and (3) because the plaintiff has had three tries to state an intelligible claim but has failed to do so, the Court has no confidence that the plaintiff will ever comply2 with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court will grant the defendant’s motion to strike the complaint and dismiss the action with prejudice pursuant to Rule 12(e).3

II. ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiffs August 3, 2008 filing did not Cure the Defects in the Complaint

As noted above, this Court has already held that the plaintiffs original complaint was deficient in many key respects. (See [142] Order [24] at n. 8.) The plaintiffs additional “response,” filed on August 3, 2008, did not cure these defects.

The defendant argues that the plaintiffs response to the motion for a more definite statement did not comply with Rule 12(e) on its face because the response was not an amended pleading. (Mot. to Dismiss at 4.) Certainly, other federal courts have held that an amended pleading is required. E.g., Sef-ton v. Jew, 204 F.R.D. 104, 106 (W.D.Tex. 2000); F.D.I.C. v. Reiner, 144 F.R.D. 599, 600 (D.Me.1992). It appears that no court in the D.C. Circuit has ruled on this issue, however, and Rule 12 does not explicitly require an amended pleading.4 Nevertheless, the Court need not reach that issue in this case because at a very minimum the plaintiff must cure the defects that rendered the original complaint “vague and ambiguous.” The plaintiffs response to the order for a more definite statement failed to cure the defects in this case.

Shallal’s “response” and the attached affidavit fail to clarify the pleading. The “affidavit,” which does not contain an original signature, is in the form of a bullet-point outline and lists many alleged events that the plaintiff was involved in but does not make specific, comprehensible claims against the defendant. A complaint should be a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief’ and make “a demand for the relief sought.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(b)(1) & 8(b)(2). A pleading should also state a party’s claims in “numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(b). In this case, the plaintiffs complaint and supplemental response is neither short, plain, nor does it specify what relief the plaintiff seeks as compensation for much of the alleged wrongdoing. In addition, the response does not set out the plaintiffs claims in numbered paragraphs. The “response” is no more clear than the plaintiffs original complaint.

As a result of the plaintiffs failure to comply with the Court’s order and file a responsive pleading, the defendant argues that the Court should strike the pleading. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e). If the “pleading to be stricken is the complaint, the sanction has the effect of a dismissal of the action.” Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, 5C Federal Practice & Procedure § 1379 (2008). The plaintiff argues, however, that because he subsequently filed an amended complaint in response to the motion to strike and dismiss, the defendant’s motion to strike the original complaint and response is now moot. Defendant is correct that although the general rule is that a plaintiff may file an amended pleading once as a matter of right, there is some authority for striking a complaint and dismissing an action as a sanction for failure to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e), even after the plaintiff has filed an amended pleading. Thompson v. Johnson,5 253 F.2d 43 (D.C.Cir.1958). As a result, this case would present a difficult question if the plaintiff, after not complying with Rule 12(e) and the Court’s order, had later filed an amended complaint that did state a coherent claim and comply with the Federal Rules. Nevertheless, the Court is not presented with this question because, even considering the amended complaint, the plaintiff has failed to comply with Rule 12(e) and has failed to state a coherent claim.

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

Shallal v. Gates, 254 F.R.D. 140, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94278, 2008 WL 4926678 (D.D.C. 2008).

254 F.R.D. 140 (Shallal v. Gates) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Christmann v. District of Columbia
District of Columbia, 2024
Taylor v. Manis
W.D. Virginia, 2021
Jiggetts v. District of Columbia
319 F.R.D. 408 (D.C. Circuit, 2017)
Chennareddy v. Walker
282 F.R.D. 9 (District of Columbia, 2012)