California Department of Toxic Substances Control et al v. Jim Dobbas, Inc. et al

Filing 75

ORDER signed by Senior Judge William B. Shubb on 12/10/2014 GRANTING 68 Plaintiffs' Motion for leave to file a First Amended Complaint. (Kirksey Smith, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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----oo0oo----

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CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL and
the TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL
ACCOUNT,

CIV. NO. 2:14-595 WBS EFB
ORDER

Plaintiffs,

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v.
JIM DOBBAS, INC., a
California corporation;
CONTINENTAL RAIL, INC., a
Delaware corporation; DAVID
VAN OVER, individually;
PACIFIC WOOD PRESERVING, a
dissolved California
corporation; and WEST COAST
WOOD PRESERVING, LLC, a
Nevada limited liability
company,
Defendants,
AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIMS AND
CROSS-CLAIMS.
----oo0oo---Plaintiffs move pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure 15 and 21 for leave to file a First Amended Complaint
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(“FAC”) adding Collins & Aikman Products, LLC (“C&A Products

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LLC”) as a defendant.

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appeared in this action have have filed notices of non-opposition

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to plaintiffs’ motion pursuant to Local Rule 230(c).

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Nos. 70, 71, 72.)

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the opposing party’s written consent or the court’s leave.

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court should freely give leave when justice so requires.”

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R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2).

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(Docket No. 68.)

All defendants who have

(Docket

“[A] party may amend its pleading only with
The
Fed.

As a preliminary matter, C&A Products LLC is a

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cancelled Delaware limited liability company.

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4 (Docket No. 68-1).)

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has the capacity to be sued, plaintiffs have provided the court

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with an order issued by the Delaware Court of Chancery, dated

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December 8, 2014, appointing Brian Rostocki as a receiver for C&A

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Products LLC pursuant to 6 Delaware Code section 18-805.1

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Req. for Judicial Notice Ex. A at 4 (Docket No. 73-1).)

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order grants Rostocki the power to act as receiver for the

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limited purpose of allowing C&A Products LLC to be sued in this

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action.

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against receivers); Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(b)(3).

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(See Pls.’ Mem. at

To assure the court that C&A Products LLC

(Pls.’
The

(Id. at 1-2); see 28 U.S.C. § 959(a) (allowing suits

The court may take judicial notice of the Delaware
Court of Chancery’s order because it constitutes proceedings in
another court that have a direct relation to the addition of C&A
Products LLC as a party. See Schulze v. FBI, 2010 WL 2902518, at
*1 (E.D. Cal. July 22, 2010) (Ishii, J.) (“A federal court may
‘take notice of proceedings in other courts, both within and
without the federal judicial system, if those proceedings have a
direct relation to matters at issue.’” (quoting United States v.
Black, 482 F.3d 1035, 1041 (9th Cir. 2007)); NuCal Foods, Inc. v.
Quality Egg LLC, 887 F. Supp. 2d 977, 984 (E.D. Cal. 2012)
(Mueller, J.) (“Courts have consistently held that courts may
take judicial notice of documents filed in other court
proceedings.”).
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Next, plaintiffs represent that, from 1979 to 1997, C&A

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Products LLC and its predecessor companies owned the site that is

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connected with the alleged cleanup costs that form the basis of

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their CERCLA claim against defendants.

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Compl. at ¶¶ 15, 17, 19, 21 (Docket No. 1).)

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initially name C&A Products LLC as a defendant, but the parties

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stated in their Joint Status Report that they may move to add C&A

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Products LLC if plaintiffs obtained information suggesting that

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there may be potential recovery from the cancelled company’s past

(Pls.’ Mem. at 2; see
Plaintiffs did not

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insurance coverage.

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(Docket No. 15).)

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now make their motion to add C&A Products LLC as a defendant.

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(Pls.’ Mem. at 3-4; see Heller Decl. Ex. B (Docket No. 68-4).)

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(Pls.’ Mem. at 2-3; Joint Status Report at 4
Having obtained such information, plaintiffs

Good cause appearing therefor, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED

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that plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file a FAC be, and the same

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hereby is, GRANTED.

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Dated:

December 10, 2014

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