Evans v. FCA US, LLC

Filing 23

ORDER SUBSTITUTING PARTY signed by District Judge Troy L. Nunley on 5/7/2018 GRANTING 16 Motion to Substitute Party; Lisa Evans ADDED as Plaintiff and Terrance Evans terminated. The parties shall file an updated Joint Status Report within 30 days. (Fabillaran, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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TERRANCE EVANS,

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No. 2:16-cv-01094-TLN-AC

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

FCA USA LLC, a Delaware Limited
Liability Company,
Defendant.

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This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Terrance Evans’s Motion for Substitution of

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Lisa Evans as Plaintiff. (ECF No. 16.) Lisa Evans seeks to substitute in as Plaintiff because

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Plaintiff Terrance Evans passed away on September 9, 2016. (ECF No. 16 at 2; Ex. A, ECF No.

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16-3.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25 permits the substitution of a proper party if a party dies

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and their claim is not extinguished. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25. A court should liberally grant substitution

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of a party plaintiff where the person would adequately represent the decedent’s interests. In re

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Baycol Prods. Litig., 616 F.3d 778, 789 (8th Cir. 2010). In reviewing a motion to substitute the

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court must consider whether: (1) the motion is timely; (2) the claims pled are extinguished; and

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(3) the person being substituted is a proper party. Veliz v. Cintas Corp., No. C 03-1180 RS, 2008

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WL 2811171, at *1 (N.D. Cal. July 17, 2008).

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Lisa Evans filed a substitution of party on March 20, 2018. (ECF No. 16.) Plaintiff
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Terrance Evans died over a year and a half before the filing of a substitution of party. (EX. A at

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2.) Plaintiff’s motion offers no explanation for this delay and there is no reasonable excuse the

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Court can find for Plaintiff’s failure to substitute the party at an earlier date. Thus, the Court in

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good faith cannot say that the motion is timely. However, Plaintiff’s case is saved by the sole fact

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that Defendant FCA USA does not oppose this motion. (ECF No. 20.) The Court will not deny

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an unopposed motion, but it will warn Plaintiff and Counsel that delays like this are unacceptable

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and should be avoided in the future.

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The Court finds that Lisa Evans is a proper party to substitute and Plaintiff Terrance

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Evans’s claims did not extinguish upon his death. See Cal. Code Civ. P. §§ 377.20, 377.31.

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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion to substitute in Lisa Evans as Plaintiff (ECF No. 16) is hereby

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GRANTED. The parties shall file an updated Joint Status Report within thirty (30) days of the

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date of this Order proposing dates to schedule this matter.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: May 7, 2018

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Troy L. Nunley
United States District Judge

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