McColm v. State of California et al
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS to Dismiss Case for Failure to State Claim, Failure to Comply with Court Orders, and Failure to Prosecute signed by Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson on 06/12/2019. Referred to Judge O'Neill; Objections to F&R due by 7/1/2019.(Flores, E)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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PATRICIA A. MCCOLM,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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Case No. 1:14-cv-00580-LJO-JDP
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
TO DISMISS CASE FOR FAILURE TO
STATE CLAIM, FAILURE TO COMPLY
WITH COURT ORDERS, AND FAILURE
TO PROSECUTE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al.,
Defendants.
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OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN 14
DAYS
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ECF No. 63
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I.
Introduction
Plaintiff Patricia A. McColm is a former prisoner proceeding in this civil rights action
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under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and § 504 of the
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Rehabilitation Act (“RA”). This case arises from alleged discriminatory and retaliatory
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conduct by the defendants based on plaintiff’s race, age, and disability while confined at
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Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California (“Chowchilla”). Plaintiff has
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since been released from prison and is pursuing this case without the assistance of counsel.
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Plaintiff has filed a second amended complaint. ECF No. 63. We will recommend
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that this case be dismissed with prejudice based on plaintiff’s repeated failure to cure pleading
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deficiencies and to comply with court orders.
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II.
Background
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a. Original Complaint
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Plaintiff filed the complaint initiating this action on April 22, 2014, while she was a
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state prisoner at Chowchilla. ECF No. 1. The complaint was: (1) 27-pages long, (2) written
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in narrative form, and (3) brought against 69 named defendants and Does 1-250 in their
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official and individual capacities. Id.
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The court screened the original complaint and identified several pleading deficiencies:
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First, the court stated that the complaint reads in narrative form and that under Federal
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Rule of Civil Procedure 8, “a plaintiff need only plead sufficient allegations of underlying
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facts to give fair notice and enable the opposing party to defend itself effectively.” Id. at 4
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(quoting Merritt v. Countrywide Fin. Corp., 759 F.3d 1023, 1033 (9th Cir. 2014)). The court
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noted that it was “extremely difficult, if at all possible, to determine from [plaintiff’s
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complaint] which act or acts of each [d]efendant violated which of [p]laintiff’s rights”
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because plaintiff had alleged “a multitude of different acts without clearly specifying which
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Defendant(s) committed which act.” Id.
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Second, plaintiff appeared to have named certain defendants solely in their
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supervisory capacities without alleging that they participated in, directed, or knowingly failed
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to prevent the deprivation of plaintiff’s rights. Id. at 6-7. The court explained that claims
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against supervisors based upon vicarious liability were not supported in civil rights cases
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brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id.
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Third, plaintiff named Doe defendants 1-250 in the caption of her complaint. The
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court explained that the use of Doe defendants is disfavored, but plaintiff could be permitted
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to proceed with the Doe defendants if discovery revealed the identities of the unknown
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defendants. Id. at 8. It was unclear whether plaintiff’s complaint met that standard. Id.
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Finally, the court concluded that it would not exercise supplemental jurisdiction over
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plaintiff’s state law claims unless the same act alleged in the state claim also gave rise to a
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cognizable federal claim. Id. at 8-9.
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The claims against the defendants in their individual capacities were dismissed with
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leave to amend, and plaintiff was ordered to file a First Amended Complaint curing the
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deficiencies by April 3, 2015. Id. at 9-10. Plaintiff received numerous extensions of time to
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file her First Amended Complaint. ECF Nos. 14-41. Over two years elapsed from the time
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plaintiff’s complaint was dismissed until March 13, 2017, when plaintiff filed her First
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Amended Complaint.
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b. First Amended Complaint
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Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) was: (1) 80-pages long; (2) 387
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numbered paragraphs in length; and (3) brought against 72 named defendants and Does 1-100
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in their individual and official capacities. ECF No. 42.
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The court screened the FAC and dismissed it for failure to state a claim on which
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relief may be granted. ECF No. 47. The screening order noted that the FAC suffered from
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the same pleading deficiencies as the original complaint in that it was “so disjointed, littered
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with irrelevant information, and, quite simply, so broad and confusing as to leave the Court
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unable to address individually each of its allegations.” Id. at 6. The court concluded that
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plaintiff failed to cure issues with improper linkage—the FAC referred to “defendants” or
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“Does” in the collective and rarely ascribed conduct to a particular defendant as required by
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42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id. at 3, 6 (“[Plaintiff] may not simply provide a list of bad things that
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happened to her and say that all Defendants or a group of them did or enabled those bad
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things as she has done in her earlier pleadings.”). Finally, the court again identified pleading
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issues concerning the Doe defendants. Id. at 7-8. The court noted that plaintiff had not
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described how each Doe defendant personally participated in a violation of her rights, and
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also noted that plaintiff “must link each individual Doe, identified as Doe 1, Doe 2, and so on,
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to a specific constitutional violation.” Id.
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The court thoroughly analyzed the FAC and recommended dismissal with prejudice of
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all claims except for the following claims: (1) Americans with Disabilities Act, (2) First
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Amendment retaliation, (3) Fourteenth Amendment access to courts, (4) Eighth Amendment
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excessive force, and (5) Eighth Amendment failure to protect. Id. at 18. These five claims
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were dismissed with leave to amend.1
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Plaintiff was directed to file a Second Amended Complaint curing the deficiencies in
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the five claims identified by the screening order within 30 days. Id. at 19. The court warned
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plaintiff that failure to file a Second Amended Complaint comporting with the limits
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identified in the screening order would result in dismissal of the action with prejudice for
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failure to comply with a court order, failure to state a claim, and failure to prosecute. Id.
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Plaintiff was specifically instructed to review the screening order thoroughly and “file an
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amended complaint only with regard to the five claims analyzed in the screening order.” Id.
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at 17-18. The court further advised plaintiff to “be brief” and attempt to file an amended
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complaint of “twenty pages or less.” Id. at 18.
The court ordered plaintiff to file the Second Amended Complaint by September 15,
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2017. Id. at 19. However, plaintiff again requested and received numerous extensions of
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time. ECF Nos. 48-62. Plaintiff ultimately filed a Second Amended Complaint on July 2,
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2018.
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c. Second Amended Complaint
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Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) tracks the content of the FAC, and
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significantly adds to it—with 41 additional pages and approximately 100 paragraphs of new
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allegations. ECF No. 63. Specifically, the SAC (1) is 121 pages long; (2) contains 485
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numbered paragraphs; and (3) is brought against 72 named defendants and Does 1-100 in
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their individual and official capacities. Id. Plaintiff attempts to restate the claims that were
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previously dismissed with prejudice.
III.
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Discussion
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a. Failure to Comply with Federal Pleading Standards
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The SAC should be dismissed primarily for the same reason as the original complaint
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and the FAC: failure to state a claim for relief under Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil
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Procedure. Under Rule 8, a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim
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The presiding district judge adopted the findings and recommendations in full. ECF No. 53.
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showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). A complaint need only
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provide “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v.
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Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). “Specific facts are not necessary; the statement need
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only give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it
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rests.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555
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(internal quotation marks omitted)). However, where the allegations “do not permit the court
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to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct,” the complaint does not state a
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plausible claim for relief and dismissal is appropriate. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679
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(2009) (quoting Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 8(a)(2)).
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A district court may dismiss a complaint for its length and lack of clarity under Rule 8.
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See, e.g., Cafasso, U.S. ex rel. v. Gen. Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc., 637 F.3d 1047, 1058-59 (9th
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Cir. 2011) (collecting authorities). The law does not specify the proper length or the level of
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clarity that satisfies Rule 8, but allegations that violate Rule 8 include those that are
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argumentative, needlessly lengthy, ambiguous, confusing, conclusory, repetitive, irrelevant, or
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incomprehensible. See id. at 1059.
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Here, the allegations in the SAC are violative of Rule 8 in several ways. The
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allegations of the SAC are needlessly lengthy, overly confusing, unnecessarily repetitive, and
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mostly irrelevant. Due to the perplexing manner in which the SAC is pleaded, the court is
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again unable to ascribe specific conduct to particular defendants as required by 42 U.S.C.
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§ 1983. See Lacey v. Maricopa Cty., 693 F.3d 896, 915 (9th Cir. 2012) (explaining that claim
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brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 has a causation requirement with liability extending to those
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state officials who subject, or cause to be subjected, an individual to a deprivation of his
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federal rights). If the court is unable to decipher the nature of the allegations against the
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defendants, each of the 72 named defendants and 100 Doe defendants will likely encounter
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the same difficulty and would, therefore, be unable to defend themselves effectively. The
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SAC thus fails to give fair notice of the claims against the defendants and should be
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dismissed. See Merritt, 759 F.3d at 1033 (under federal pleading standards, a plaintiff need
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only plead sufficient allegations of underlying facts to give fair notice and to enable the
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opposing party to defend itself effectively).
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b. Leave to Amend Should Be Denied
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Rule 15(a)(2) instructs courts to “freely give leave [to amend] when justice so
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requires.” Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 15(a)(2); Arizona Students’ Ass’n v. Arizona Bd. of Regents, 824
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F.3d 858, 871 (9th Cir. 2016). “This policy is to be applied with extreme liberality.” C.F. v.
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Capistrano Unified Sch. Dist., 654 F.3d 975, 985 (9th Cir. 2011). The court may decline to
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grant leave to amend only where there is a strong showing of: (1) undue delay, (2) bad faith or
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dilatory motive, (3) repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed,
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(4) undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, or (5)
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futility of amendment, etc. See Sonoma Cty. Ass’n of Retired Employees v. Sonoma Cty., 708
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F.3d 1109, 1117 (9th Cir. 2013).
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Leave to amend should be denied in this case because plaintiff has repeatedly and
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willfully refused to cure pleading deficiencies identified by the court. None of the three
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complaints filed by plaintiff have come close to satisfying the federal pleading standard.
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When the court screened the original complaint, it stated that it was “extremely difficult, if at
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all possible, to determine from [plaintiff’s complaint] which act or acts of each [d]efendant
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violated which of [p]laintiff’s rights” because plaintiff had alleged “a multitude of different
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acts without clearly specifying which Defendant(s) committed which act.” ECF No. 13 at 4.
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The court encountered the same problem with the FAC. ECF No. 47 at 6 (concluding that the
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FAC “so disjointed, littered with irrelevant information, and, quite simply, so broad and
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confusing as to leave the [c]ourt unable to address individually each of its allegations”). In
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both prior screening orders, the court provided plaintiff with a detailed overview of federal
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pleading requirements. The court specifically instructed to “be brief” and attempt to file an
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amended complaint of “twenty pages or less.” Id. at 18. Plaintiff ignored these instructions,
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filing an amended complaint that added 41 pages and approximately 100 paragraphs of new
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allegations. As discussed above, we are now recommending dismissal of the SAC for the
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same reason as the previous two iterations: failure to state a claim for relief under Rule 8.
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Plaintiff has repeatedly refused to comply with the court’s prior screening orders in
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several additional ways. The presiding district judge has dismissed all but five claims from
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this case with prejudice. ECF No. 53. Plaintiff was directed to file a SAC curing the
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deficiencies identified as to only the five remaining claims. ECF Nos. 53; 47. Plaintiff was
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warned that failure to file a SAC comporting with the limits identified in the screening order
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would result in dismissal of the action with prejudice “for failure to comply with a court
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order, failure to state a claim, and failure to prosecute.” ECF No. 47 at 19. In disregard of
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these instructions, plaintiff did not limit the SAC to the five remaining claims. Instead, she
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filed an amended complaint reasserting all the claims previously dismissed with prejudice.
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Although the court acknowledges that plaintiff has made some incremental progress
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ascribing conduct to particular defendants and Does, the SAC remains woefully inadequate in
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this area despite the court’s repeated instructions. The SAC also attempts to assert claims
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against supervisors relying on vicarious liability despite our having advised plaintiff that this
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is not permitted. These repeated failures warrant denial of leave to amend in this case. See
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Integrated Storage Consulting Servs., Inc. v. Netapp, Inc., No. 5:12-cv-06209, 2016 WL
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3648716, at *5 (N.D. Cal. July 7, 2016) (denying leave to amend as to a fraud claim in light
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of the plaintiff’s repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed).
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c. Dismissal with Prejudice
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The undersigned also recommends that the court dismiss this case for plaintiff’s
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failure to prosecute and failure to comply with a court order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Hells
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Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 689 (9th Cir. 2005). Dismissal for a
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plaintiff’s failure to prosecute or failure to comply with a court order operates as an
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adjudication on the merits unless the court orders otherwise. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).
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Deciding whether to dismiss a case with prejudice for failure to prosecute is a matter
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committed to the court’s discretion. See Pagtalunan v. Galaza, 291 F.3d 639, 640 (9th Cir.
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2002). Involuntary dismissal is a harsh penalty, but a district court has duties to resolve
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disputes expeditiously and to avoid needless burden for the parties. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 1;
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Pagtalunan, 291 F.3d at 642. “In determining whether to dismiss a claim for failure to
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prosecute or failure to comply with a court order, the Court must weigh the following factors:
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(1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage
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its docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to defendants/respondents; (4) the availability of less
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drastic alternatives; and (5) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits.”
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Id. at 642-43.
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The original complaint was filed in 2014, and this case has not proceeded past the
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screening stage. Long delays between the court’s screening orders resulted from plaintiff’s
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repeated requests for extensions. See ECF No. 55 (observing that plaintiff has “routinely
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requested, and generally received, extensions of Court deadlines, delaying the proceedings in
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this case in excess of two years”). The court is now issuing its third screening order under 28
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U.S.C. § 1915A, and plaintiff has yet to file a pleading that has come close to satisfying
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federal pleading standards despite the repeated expenditure of court resources providing
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instruction. This excessive and unnecessary delay weighs in favor of dismissal. See Yourish
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v. California Amplifier, 191 F.3d 983, 990 (9th Cir.1999) (“The public’s interest in
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expeditious resolution of litigation always favors dismissal.”). Although the defendants have
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not yet been served with process, the potential for substantial prejudice to them exists as the
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case grows older. See Pagtalunan, 291 F.3d at 643 (“Unnecessary delay inherently increases
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the risk that witnesses’ memories will fade and evidence will become stale.”).
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We will recommend that the court dismiss the case with prejudice. Although this is a
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harsh sanction, plaintiff has been warned that the failure to comply with the court’s prior
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screening order would result in dismissal of the action with prejudice “for failure to comply
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with a court order, failure to state a claim, and failure to prosecute.” ECF No. 47 at 19.
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Despite this warning, plaintiff refused to comply with the prior order. The public’s interest in
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expeditious resolution of litigation and this court’s need to manage its docket weigh in favor
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of dismissal with prejudice. The court has considered as a possible alternative a lesser
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sanction—dismissal without prejudice. However, if the court dismissed without prejudice,
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the court might again be in the same situation it finds itself in now if plaintiff refiled her case.
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Significant judicial resources have been expended screening plaintiff’s pleadings and
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instructing her on filing an appropriate amended complaint.
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IV.
Recommendation
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We recommend that:
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1. plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 63, be dismissed for failure to state
a claim for relief;
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2. leave to amend be denied for plaintiff’s repeated failure to cure deficiencies by
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amendments previously allowed; and
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3. this case be dismissed with prejudice for failure to comply with court orders and
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failure to prosecute.
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The undersigned submits the findings and recommendations to the district judge
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presiding over this case under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Rule 304 of the Local Rules of
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Practice for the United States District Court, Eastern District of California. Within 14 days
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of the service of the findings and recommendations, plaintiff may file written objections to
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the findings and recommendations with the court and serve a copy on all parties. That
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document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and
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Recommendations.” The district judge will review the findings and recommendations under
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28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). Plaintiff’s failure to file objections within the specified time may
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result in the waiver of rights on appeal. See Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 839 (9th
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Cir. 2014).
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:
June 12, 2019
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UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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