Torres v. Sugar-Salem School District 322

CourtDistrict Court, D. Idaho
DecidedSeptember 24, 2020
Docket4:17-cv-00178
StatusUnknown

This text of Torres v. Sugar-Salem School District 322 (Torres v. Sugar-Salem School District 322) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Idaho primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Torres v. Sugar-Salem School District 322, (D. Idaho 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

MIRIAM TORRES, fka MIRIAM SEVY, Case No. 4:17-cv-00178-DCN

Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER SUGAR-SALEM SCHOOL DISTRICT #322, a political subdivision of the State of Idaho, and BRYCE OWEN, individually and in his capacity as a former employee of Sugar-Salem District,

Defendants.

I. INTRODUCTION Pending before the Court are Defendant Sugar-Salem School District #322’s (“the District”) first and second Motions to Reconsider. Dkts. 72, 80. In them, the District asks the Court to reconsider its Order (Dkt. 71) granting in part and denying in part the District’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 47). Having reviewed the record and briefs, the Court finds that the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented. Accordingly, in the interest of avoiding further delay, and because the Court finds that the decisional process would not be significantly aided by oral argument, the Court will decide the Motions without oral argument. Dist. Idaho Loc. Civ. R. 7.1(d)(1)(B). Upon review, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES both Motions. II. DISCUSSION The background of this case is set forth in the Court’s prior Order on Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 71, at 2–6), which the Court incorporates by reference here. In its Motions to Reconsider, the District asserts that various changes in the law provide grounds for the Court’s reconsideration of its prior Order. The District also

argues that Torres made a judicial admission that supports reconsideration. A. Legal Standard Granting or denying a motion for reconsideration is a matter within a district court’s discretion. Kona Enters., Inc. v. Estate of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890 (9th Cir. 2000). A district court has inherent authority and wide latitude in controlling—among other things—

its calendar and docket, as well as its orders and decisions. A district court “possesses the inherent procedural power to reconsider, rescind, or modify an interlocutory order for cause seen by it to be sufficient.” City of L.A. v. Santa Monica BayKeeper, 254 F.3d 882, 885 (9th Cir. 2001) (quoting Melancon v. Texaco, Inc., 659 F.2d 551, 553 (5th Cir. 1981)). Ultimately, it is the Court’s duty “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive

determination of every action and proceeding.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 1. In certain circumstances, this may mean that a court must reconsider, modify, or even reverse a prior determination. Other times, this means a court must advance a case. Thus, the need to be right must co- exist with the need for progress in a particular case. While the denial of a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment may be

reconsidered at any time before final judgment, see Preaseau v. Prudential Ins., 591 F.2d 74, 79-80 (9th Cir. 1979), “a party must first establish that they have the right to ask for reconsideration; that is to say, they must establish that one or more of the limited grounds for reconsideration are present. If that is the case, the moving party must then convince the court that their purported reasons rise to the level of reversal,” United States ex. rel. Rafter H Constr., LLC v. Big-D Constr. Corp., 358 F. Supp. 3d 1096, 1098 (D. Idaho 2019). Here, the District claims two bases for the Court’s reconsideration: Rules 54(b) and

60(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. From a procedural standpoint, the District is incorrect that Rule 60(b)(6) provides a basis for reconsideration here because that provision applies only to final judgments, which the Court’s prior Order is not. See United States v. Martin, 226 F.3d 1042, 1048 n.8 (9th Cir. 2000) (“Rule 60(b), like Rule 59(e), applies only to motions attacking final, appealable orders . . . .”); see also Parsons v. Ryan,

949 F.3d 443, 472 (9th Cir. 2020) (“A final decision is typically one which ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute judgment.” (cleaned up)).1 Nevertheless, Rule 54(b) establishes a ground for reconsideration in this scenario. Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b) (providing that non-final orders “may be revised at any time before the entry of a judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties’ rights and

liabilities”); City of L.A., 254 F.3d at 885. However, although a court has the power to revisit its decision, “as a rule the court should be loathe to do so in the absence of extraordinary circumstances such as where the initial decision was clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice.” Christianson v. Colt. Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 817 (1988) (cleaned up). Therefore, the District bears the burden of persuading the

Court to reverse its prior Order.

1 Although unfamiliar to some, “‘cleaned up’ is a new parenthetical used to eliminate unnecessary explanation of non-substantive prior alterations.” United States v. Steward, 880 F.3d 983, 986 n.3 (8th Cir. 2017); see also Jack Metzler, Cleaning Up Quotations, 18 J. App. Prac. & Process 143 (2017). B. Motions to Reconsider In its first Motion to Reconsider, the District asserts that “there have been two intervening changes in controlling law.” Dkt. 72-1, at 2. The first change the District

identifies is whether the applicable notice-of-claim statute, under the Idaho Tort Claims Act (“ITCA”), bars Torres’s state law claims against the District in light of D.A.F. v. Lieteau, 456 P.3d 193 (Idaho 2019). The second is whether this Court’s decision in Jameson v. University of Idaho, No. 3:18-cv-00451-DCN, 2019 WL 5606828 (D. Idaho October 30, 2019), changes the Court’s analysis in this case.

In its second Motion to Reconsider, the District brings Karasek v. Regents of the University of California, 956 P.3d 1093 (9th Cir. 2020), to the Court’s attention.2 The District argues that Karasek is also an intervening change of law that warrants dismissal of Torres’s Title IX claim against the District. Lastly, the District argues that Torres made a judicial admission that alters the Court’s statute of limitations analysis as to all Torres’s

claims against the District. The Court will address these four issues in turn. 1. The ITCA’s Notice-of-Claim and Other Requirements The District raises what it sees as three changes in the law from Lieteau related to the applicable notice of claim, which warrant the Court’s reconsideration. Dkt. 72-1, at 4. None of the District’s arguments ultimately convince the Court to change its ruling. But,

to be fair, the Court acknowledges that its explanation on the notice-of-claim issue was not entirely clear and candidly incorrect in part. For instance, in footnote five of its prior Order,

2 To be precise, the District pointed out Karasek v. Regents of the Univ.

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Torres v. Sugar-Salem School District 322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/torres-v-sugar-salem-school-district-322-idd-2020.