Johnson v. Bozorghadad et al

Filing 41

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE. Show Cause Response due by 5/28/2020. Signed by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. on 5/28/2020. (ndrS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/26/2020)

Case 4:17-cv-06536-HSG Document 41 Filed 05/26/20 Page 1 of 2

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SCOTT JOHNSON,
Plaintiff,

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ALI BOZORGHADAD, et al.,
Defendants.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

v.

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Case No. 17-cv-06536-HSG

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Plaintiff Scott Johnson filed this action on November 10, 2017, against Defendants Ali

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Bozorghadad, Parisa Bozorghadad, and Bay Area Auto Care, Inc. for violations of the Americans

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with Disabilities Act and the California Unruh Civil Rights Act. See Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiff

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contends that the individual Defendants owned the real property located at 1198 El Camino Real,

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Sunnyvale, California, and Defendant Bay Area Auto Care owned the Alliance Gas business

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located at the same address. See id. at ¶¶ 2–11. After almost two years, Plaintiff moved for

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default judgment as to Defendants. See Dkt. No. 24. This Court adopted Magistrate Judge Susan

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Van Keulen’s report and recommendation denying the motion due to improper service of process.

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See Dkt. No. 30. The Court then held a telephonic case management conference during which the

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Court directed Plaintiff to effectuate proper service on all Defendants by April 24, 2020. See Dkt.

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No. 34.

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On April 24, Plaintiff filed three proofs of service purporting to serve Defendants. See

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Dkt. Nos. 38–40. As of the date of this order, Defendants have not appeared in this action. And in

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reviewing the proofs of service, the Court remains concerned that Defendants have not been

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properly served. The proofs are virtually identical: All three Defendants appear to have been

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served via substituted service on April 23, 2020, at 700 S. Bernardo Avenue, Suite 103, in

Case 4:17-cv-06536-HSG Document 41 Filed 05/26/20 Page 2 of 2

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Sunnyvale, California. Id. From the accompanying documentation, this appears to be the address

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for a gas station called “Hadad Enterprise, Inc.,” an entity that is not a party in this action. Id.

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From a printout from the California Secretary of State website that Plaintiff provided, Defendant

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Ali Bozorghadad appears listed as the agent for service of process for Hadad Enterprise, Inc. But

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in email correspondence from the process server, she explained that “this is a bad address” and

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asked for a different address. Id. The process server also noted that she spoke to someone at the

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business on April 3 “who said he does not know the defendant,” and another person on April 15

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who “said the defendant is not here.” Id. Yet nevertheless, on April 23, for all three Defendants

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the process server “serv[ed] personally Jane Doe who identified herself as person in charge.
Middle Eastern female, 40 yrs. Old, 5’6”, 130 lbs, black hair.” See id. The Court understands that

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Plaintiff may have had some difficulty serving Defendants in this action. Nevertheless, the Court

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remains concerned about this vague identification of the purported person in charge at a business

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that is not a party to this action.

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Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), a plaintiff must serve each defendant with a

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summons and complaint within ninety days of filing the complaint. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). At

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this point, Plaintiff has had ample time to properly serve Defendants—over two years—but has

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failed to do so. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to SHOW CAUSE why the case

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should not be dismissed for failure to serve Defendants as required by Rule 4(m). Plaintiff is

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directed to file his response, of two pages or less, by May 28, 2020.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: 5/26/2020
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HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR.
United States District Judge

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