Sifuentes v. Google Inc.
Filing
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ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR LEAVE FOR RECONSIDERATION MOTION TO ALTER AMEND JUDGMENT AND AMEND COMPLIANT [SIC] AND MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT.(jcslc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/14/2023)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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DAVID A SIFUENTES,
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Case No. 22-cv-03102-JCS
Plaintiff,
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v.
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GOOGLE INC.,
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Defendant.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
LEAVE FOR RECONSIDERATION
MOTION TO ALTER AMEND
JUDGMENT AND AMEND
COMPLIANT [SIC] AND MOTION FOR
RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT
Re: Dkt. No. 72
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I.
INTRODUCTION
On June 26, 2023, the Court granted defendant Google, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss and
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entered judgment in favor of Google. Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s “Motion For Leave
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For Reconsideration Motion To Alter Amend Judgment And Amend Compliant [sic] And Motion
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For Relief From Judgment” (“Motion”). For the reasons stated below, the Motion is DENIED.1
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II.
BACKGROUND
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The history of this case is set forth in the Court’s June 26, 2023 Order. The Court does not
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repeat it here except to provide a brief summary. Before initiating this action, Sifuentes brought a
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case in the Eastern District of Michigan asserting state law claims against Google based on billing
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issues related to his telephone bill. After that court dismissed his complaint as frivolous under a
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screening order and denied leave to file an amended complaint, Sifuentes initiated this action,
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asserting almost identical claims and invoking diversity jurisdiction. Google brought a motion to
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dismiss, but before the Court ruled on it Sifuentes brought a motion to compel arbitration of his
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The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a United States magistrate judge pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 636(c).
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claims, which Google did not oppose, and the case was stayed while Sifuentes pursued arbitration
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of his claims before the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”).
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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When the AAA found it did not have jurisdiction over Sifuentes’s claims, Sifuentes sought
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to return to federal court, asking the Court to lift the stay and to allow him to file an amended
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complaint to add a federal Truth-in-Billing claim under 47 C.F.R. § 64.240. The Court granted the
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request, even though the deadline to amend had already passed, but rejected the proposed amended
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complaint Sifuentes had filed, instructing him to file a second amended complaint that was in
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compliance with Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In his Second Amended
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Complaint, Sifuentes did not comply with the Court’s instructions and he also exceeded the scope
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of the Court’s order by adding new claims based on an alleged data breach (“the data breach
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claims”) that were unrelated to his earlier billing claims.
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Google renewed its motion to dismiss, which the Court granted. In its order, the Court
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struck the data breach claims because they exceeded the scope of the Court’s order granting leave
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to amend. The Court further concluded that Sifuentes’s truth-in-billing claim (which was his only
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federal claim) failed to state a claim and could not be cured by amendment. Finally, it found that
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there was no diversity jurisdiction as to the remaining claims because it was clear from the face of
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the complaint that the amount-in-controversy requirement was not met.
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In the Motion, Sifuentes asks the Court to reopen the case and allow him to file an
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amended complaint in which he would assert claims for “negligent infliction of emotional distress,
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data breach claims and accompanying state law issues.” He states that he now has a better
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understanding of diversity jurisdiction and that there is diversity jurisdiction as to these claims
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because he is “not seeking a refund of the bill” but instead, is seeking $350,000 in actual damages
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and $250,000,000 in punitive damages. Sifuentes also seeks relief from judgment on the basis of
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“surprise” and “excusable neglect” because he intended to discuss these issues at the motion
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hearing on Goggle’s motion to dismiss but the Court vacated that hearing. Had the Court
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conducted held the hearing, he contends, it might have let Sifuentes amend the complaint to
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establish diversity jurisdiction.
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III.
The Court construes Sifuentes’s motion as a motion to alter or amend judgment under Rule
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
DISCUSSION
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59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or, in the alternative, a motion for relief from
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judgment under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.2 The Court finds that
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Sifuentes is not entitled to relief under either rule.
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A.
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Under Rule 59(e), a party may move to have the court amend its judgment within twenty-
Rule 59(e)
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eight days after entry of the judgment. The rule does not set forth specific ground for granting
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such relief, and the Ninth Circuit has found that district courts enjoy considerable discretion in
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granting or denying such a motion. McDowell v. Calderon, 197 F.3d 1253, 1255 n. 1 (9th
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Cir.1999) (en banc) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted). Nonetheless, amending a
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judgment is “an extraordinary remedy which should be used sparingly.” Id. (internal quotation
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marks omitted). A Rule 59(e) motion may be granted on the following grounds: “(1) if such
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motion is necessary to correct manifest errors of law or fact upon which the judgment rests; (2) if
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such motion is necessary to present newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence; (3) if
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such motion is necessary to prevent manifest injustice; or (4) if the amendment is justified by an
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intervening change in controlling law.” Id.
Sifuentes has not pointed to any new evidence or intervening change in the law. Nor has
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he pointed to any manifest error of law or fact in the Court’s order dismissing the case. Finally, he
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has not established any manifest injustice. Although he states that he might have persuaded the
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Court to allow him another opportunity to amend his complaint had the motion hearing not been
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vacated, nothing in the instant Motion suggests that the Court’s determination under Civil Local
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Rule 7-1(b) that a hearing was not required constituted manifest injustice given that Sifuentes had
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filed an opposition to Googles motion that the Court considered in ruling on the Motion.
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To the extent that Sifuentes seeks leave to file a motion for reconsideration under Civil Local
Rule 7-9, that request is denied because such a motion may be brought only before judgment has
been entered on all of the claims in the case.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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B.
Rule 60(b)
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Under Rule 60(b)(1), a court “may relieve a party or its legal representative from a final
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judgment, order, or proceeding for . . . mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect[,]”
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among other things. Sifuentes suggests he was surprised because the Court declined to hold oral
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argument and therefore, the Court should vacate the judgment entered in this case. However, Rule
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60(b) “is to be ‘used sparingly as an equitable remedy to prevent manifest injustice and is to be
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utilized only where extraordinary circumstances prevented a party from taking timely action to
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prevent or correct an erroneous judgment.’ ” .” Harvest v. Castro, 531 F.3d 737, 749 (9th Cir.
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2008) (quoting Latshaw v. Trainer Wortham & Co., Inc., 452 F.3d 1097, 1103(9th Cir. 2006)).
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Here, Sifuentes had an opportunity to (and did) file an opposition brief. Moreover, there is
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nothing in his Motion that would have led the Court to reach a different result had Sifuentes made
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these arguments at the motion hearing. Therefore, Sifuentes has not shown that there are
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extraordinary circumstances that warrant affording relief from the judgment under Rule 60(b).
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IV.
CONCLUSION
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For the reasons stated above, the Motion is DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: November 14, 2023
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JOSEPH C. SPERO
United States Magistrate Judge
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