Sebert v. Arizona Department of Corrections et al
Filing
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ORDER denying 28 Motion to Strike. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED withdrawing the reference to the Magistrate Judge on the following fully briefed dispositive motions: State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 13 ); Defendant Villavicencio's Motion to Dismiss and Joinder with the State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14 ); and Defendants Wexford Health Sources, Inc. and Caron Grant-Ellis' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 17 ). Signed by Magistrate Judge Eileen S Willett on 6/17/16.(LSP)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Seth W Sebert, et al.,
No. CV-16-00354-PHX-ROS (ESW)
Plaintiffs,
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ORDER
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v.
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Arizona Department of Corrections, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Plaintiff Asia Lynn Sebert, who is represented by counsel, filed an original
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Complaint and Amended Complaint in the Maricopa County Superior Court (Doc. 1, Att.
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3, 4). On February 6, 2016, Defendant Arizona Department of Corrections filed a Notice
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of Removal (Doc. 1), paid the filing fee, and removed the action to this Court. On
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February 12, 2016, Defendant Arizona Department of Corrections filed an Unopposed
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Motion to Extend Responsive Pleading Deadline (Doc. 4), which was granted in an Order
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filed on February 16, 2016 (Doc. 5). On February 19, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Second
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Amended Complaint (Doc. 6).
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Sources, Inc. and Caron Grant-Ellis filed an Answer to the First Amended Complaint
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(Doc. 7). On February 22, 2016, Defendants Corizon Health Inc., Corizon Inc., Corizon
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LLC, and Corizon Health of New Jersey LLC filed an Answer to the First Amended
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Complaint (Doc. 10).
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Arizona, and ADOC Director Charles Ryan (collectively “State Defendants”) filed a
On February 22, 2016, Defendants Wexford Health
The Arizona Department of Corrections (“ADOC”), State of
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Motion to Dismiss all claims (Doc. 13). Defendant Villavicencio filed a Motion to
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Dismiss and Joinder with the State Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14).
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Defendants Wexford Health Sources, Inc. and Caron Grant-Ellis filed a Motion for
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Judgment on the Pleadings as to Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (Doc. 17).
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Plaintiff has filed a Supplemental Response to State Defendants’ and
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Villavicencio’s Motions to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, Separate Motion for F.R.C.P.
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56(d) Relief (Doc. 26).
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Supplemental Response.
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State Defendants filed a Motion to Strike (Doc. 28) the
The Court has considered all non-dispositive, pending motions and sets forth its
ruling herein.
I. DISCUSSION
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Motion to Strike (Doc. 28)
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State Defendants move to strike Plaintiff’s Supplemental Response to State
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Defendants’ and Villavicencio’s Motions to Dismiss (Doc. 26) pursuant to LRCiv 7.2(m)
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because Plaintiff’s Supplemental Response was not solicited by the Court or authorized
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under LRCiv 7.2(c). Plaintiff’s Supplemental Response was filed after Defendants’
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Reply briefs (Docs. 24, 25) and is deemed a sur-reply. The Court has discretion to permit
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the filing of a sur-reply. In determining whether to allow a sur-reply, a “district court
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should consider whether the movant’s reply in fact raises arguments or issues for the first
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time, whether the nonmovant’s proposed surreply would be helpful to the resolution of
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the pending motion, and whether the movant would be unduly prejudiced were leave to
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be granted.” Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, 69 F. Supp. 3d 75, 85 (D.D.C. 2014)
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(citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
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A new issue is raised in the State Defendants’ Reply. The State Defendants assert
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that “Because Plaintiff submitted exhibits [with Plaintiff’s Response to the Motion to
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Dismiss], this Court may properly deem the motion as converted into one for summary
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judgment.”
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automatically converted into a motion for summary judgment whenever matters outside
(Doc. 24 at 3).
In the Ninth Circuit, “a motion to dismiss is not
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the pleading happen to be filed with the court and not expressly rejected by the court.”
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North Star Int’l v. Arizona Corporation Comm’n, 720 F.2d 578, 582 (9th Cir. 1983)
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(holding that district court properly treated motion as motion to dismiss, despite presence
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of affidavits, where there was no indication of the court’s reliance on outside materials
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and the court expressly stated that it was dismissing for failure to state a claim upon
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which relief could be granted); Keams v. Temple Technical Institute, Inc., 110 F.3d 44, 46
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(9th Cir. 1997) (“12(b)(6) motion need not be converted into a motion for summary
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judgment when matters outside the pleading are introduced, provided that ‘nothing in the
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record suggest[s] reliance’ on those extraneous materials”). Rather, “a district court must
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take some affirmative action to effectuate conversion.” Swedberg v. Marotzke, 339 F.3d
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1139, 1142 (9th Cir. 2003).
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Because the State Defendants’ Reply raises the issue as to whether the Court
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should convert the Motion to Dismiss to a motion for summary judgment, it is
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appropriate to allow the filing of a sur-reply. Moreover, the State Defendants have
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replied to the Supplemental Response and fully articulated their position in opposition to
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Plaintiff’s Supplemental Response.
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Supplemental Response would be unduly prejudicial to Defendants.
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Motion to Strike will be denied.
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The Court does not find that permitting the
Therefore, the
II. CONCLUSION
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For the reasons set forth herein,
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IT IS ORDERED denying Motion to Strike (Doc. 28).
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED withdrawing the reference to the Magistrate Judge
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on the following fully briefed dispositive motions: State Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss
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(Doc. 13); Defendant Villavicencio’s Motion to Dismiss and Joinder with the State
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Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14); and Defendants Wexford Health Sources, Inc.
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and Caron Grant-Ellis’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 17).
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Dated this 17th day of June, 2016.
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