Miletak v. General Information Services, Inc.
Filing
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ORDER by Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd granting 21 defendant's Motion to Set Aside Default and denying 11 plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment. 3/6/2018 motion hearing vacated. Defendant's response to complaint due within 15 days from the date of this order. Case Management Statement due by 4/24/2018. Initial Case Management Conference set for 5/1/2018 01:30 PM in San Jose, Courtroom 2, 5th Floor. (hrllc2S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/1/2018)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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NICK MILETAK,
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Case No.5:17-cv-07022-HRL
Plaintiff,
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v.
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GENERAL INFORMATION SERVICES,
INC.,
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Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION TO SET ASIDE DEFAULT
AND DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT
Re: Dkt. Nos. 11, 21
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Pro se plaintiff Nick Miletak sues General Information Solutions LLC (GIS)1 for alleged
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violation of federal and state credit reporting laws, defamation, and intentional infliction of
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emotional distress. Plaintiff filed his complaint on December 8, 2017. He subsequently filed a
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proof of service indicating that defendant was served on December 19, 2017, through personal
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service on Elizabeth Haney, GIS’s Director of Human Resources. (Dkt. 6). When GIS failed to
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respond within 21 days thereafter, plaintiff moved for entry of defendant’s default. The Clerk of
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the Court entered GIS’s default on January 22, 2018. (Dkt. 7).
Shortly after, plaintiff moved for entry of default judgment. Several days later, GIS moved
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The complaint names General Information Services, Inc. as defendant. However, defendant says
that following a corporate conversion, it is now known as General Information Solutions LLC and
that General Information Services, Inc. is no longer an active corporate entity.
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to set aside the default. All parties have expressly consented that all proceedings in this matter
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may be heard and finally adjudicated by the undersigned. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c); Fed. R. Civ. P. 73.
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The pending motions are deemed suitable for determination without oral argument, and the March
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6, 2018 hearing is vacated. Civ. L.R. 7-1(b). Upon consideration of the moving and responding
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papers,2 the court grants defendant’s motion to set aside the default and denies plaintiff’s motion
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for default judgment.
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DISCUSSION
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The court finds that it is most efficient to first determine whether defendant’s default
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should be set aside.
The court may set aside an entry of default for good cause. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c). In
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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determining whether there is good cause the court considers three factors: (1) whether GIS
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engaged in culpable conduct that led to the default; (2) whether GIS has no meritorious defense; or
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(3) whether reopening the default would prejudice the plaintiff. United States v. Signed Personal
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Check No. 730 of Yubran S. Mesle, 615 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir. 2010). This standard “is
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disjunctive, such that a finding that any one of these factors is true is sufficient reason for the
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district court to refuse to set aside the default.” Id. “Crucially, however, judgment by default is a
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drastic step appropriate only in extreme circumstances; a case should, whenever possible, be
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decided on the merits.’” Id. (quoting Falk v. Allen, 739 F.2d 461, 463 (9th Cir. 1984)).
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Moreover, the standard is applied more liberally with respect to the entry of default, rather than a
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default judgment, because there is no interest in the finality of the judgment with which to
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contend. Id. at 1091 n.1.
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A.
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A defendant’s conduct is culpable if it receives actual or constructive notice of the filing of
Culpable Conduct
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the action and intentionally fails to answer. Mesle, 615 F.3d at 1092 (citing TCI Group Life Ins.
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Plan v. Knoebber, 244 F.3d 691, 697 (9th Cir. 2001), overruled on other grounds). However, “‘in
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On February 20, 2018, plaintiff filed an unauthorized sur-reply on defendant’s motion to set
aside the default. (Dkt. 32). See Civ. L.R. 7-3(d). The court has nonetheless accepted and
considered that filing, but admonishes plaintiff to abide by the court’s rules in the future.
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this context the term ‘intentionally’ means that a movant cannot be treated as culpable simply for
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having made a conscious choice not to answer; rather, to treat a failure to answer as culpable, the
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movant must have acted with bad faith, such as an intention to take advantage of the opposing
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party, interfere with judicial decisionmaking, or otherwise manipulate the legal process.’” Id.
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(quoting TCI Group Life Ins. Plan, 244 F.3d at 697). The Ninth Circuit has “‘typically held that a
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defendant’s conduct was culpable for purposes of the [good cause] factors where there is no
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explanation of the default inconsistent with a devious, deliberate, willful, or bad faith failure to
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respond.’” Id. (quoting TCI Group Life Ins. Plan, 244 F.3d at 698). And, culpable conduct
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usually involves behavior designed to help a party “avoid liability by staying out of court: for
instance, when companies act to avoid service in order to thwart their customers’ attempts to bring
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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suit against them.” Id. at 1094. Thus, “simple carelessness is not sufficient to treat a negligent
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failure to reply as inexcusable, at least without a demonstration that other equitable factors, such
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as prejudice, weigh heavily in favor of denial of the motion to set aside a default.” Id.
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Here, the record indicates that on December 13, 2017, plaintiff emailed a PDF of his filed
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complaint to Stephanie Morgan, GIS’s Deputy General Counsel. Morgan avers that, upon receipt
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of that email she immediately notified GIS’s outside counsel of the litigation and awaited formal
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service of the summons and complaint. (Dkt. 21-3, Declaration of Stephanie Morgan (Morgan
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Decl.) ¶ 13). As discussed, plaintiff’s proof of service indicates that the complaint was served by
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hand delivery to Elizabeth Haney, GIS’s Director of Human Resources, about a week later on
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December 19, 2017. (Dkt. 6). Although GIS contends that Haney is not authorized to accept
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service of process (Morgan Decl. ¶ 16), it does not challenge the sufficiency of the December 19
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service. Nevertheless, defendant says that, for whatever reason, notice that the December 19
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service occurred never made it to GIS’s legal department. Instead, Morgan attests that she first
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learned of the December 19 service on January 23, 2018, when plaintiff sent her an email advising
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that GIS’s default had been entered. (Id. ¶ 17). Morgan says she immediately notified GIS’s
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outside counsel. (Id.). And, GIS filed its present motion to set aside the default a week later.
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Emphasizing that GIS had at least constructive notice of the lawsuit on December 13 and
formal notice of the lawsuit on December 19, plaintiff argues that defendant’s procedures with
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respect to receipt of service of process are “sloppy and deficient.” (Dkt. 23 at 6). While the
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record indicates that there was some disconnect within the company in the failure to notify GIS’s
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legal department of the December 19 service of process, the court finds no basis on this record to
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conclude that defendant’s conduct was indicative of any bad faith designed to take advantage of
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plaintiff, to interfere with judicial decisionmaking, manipulate the legal process, or to avoid
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liability by staying out of court. Instead, the record indicates that after receiving plaintiff’s
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December 13 email and after learning of the entry of default, GIS’s counsel acted promptly to
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prepare to proceed with the defense of this action. None of plaintiff’s cited cases persuades the
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court to the contrary. Accordingly, this factor supports setting aside the entry of default.
B.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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“A defendant seeking to vacate a default judgment must present specific facts that would
Meritorious Defenses
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constitute a defense. But the burden on a party seeking to vacate a default judgment is not
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extraordinarily heavy.” Mesle, 615 F.3d at 1094. And, as discussed above, the test is applied
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more liberally where, as here, the court is being asked to set aside the entry of default. Id. at 1091
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n.1. Indeed, in any event, GIS’s burden on this factor is “minimal.” Id. at 1094. “All that is
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necessary to satisfy the ‘meritorious defense’ requirement is to allege sufficient facts that, if true,
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would constitute a defense: the question whether the factual allegation [i]s true is not to be
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determined by the court when it decides the motion to set aside the default.” Id. “Rather, that
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question would be the subject of the later litigation.” Id.
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GIS identifies multiple defenses on the merits that it wishes to have adjudicated, including
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that the alleged inaccuracies in the reports at issue are not inaccurate or misleading (and that two
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of them inure to plaintiff’s benefit); that GIS followed reasonable procedures to assure maximum
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possible accuracy of plaintiff’s reports; that plaintiff’s claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3) fails
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as a matter of law; that the defamation and emotional distress claims are preempted; and that,
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under the facts and applicable law, plaintiff has no viable claim for defamation or intentional
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infliction of emotional distress in any event. In response, plaintiff says he agrees that several of
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the alleged inaccuracies in the reports “are negligible and not patently inaccurate or materially
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misleading” and further states that he made mistake in asserting defamation based on the alleged
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reporting inaccuracies. (Dkt. 23, Opp. at 9, 14). But, he otherwise maintains that he has sound
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claims for relief, arguing that the law and the facts of this case clearly establish defendant’s
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liability and his entitlement to damages. Either defendant’s or plaintiff’s arguments might
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ultimately prove correct, but that remains to be seen. This is not the stage at which the court
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makes such determinations, nor is it a reason to deny GIS the opportunity to litigate this matter on
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the merits. Suffice to say that, on this record, the court concludes that defendant has shown that it
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intends to present non-frivolous arguments in its defense and that it is prepared to litigate this case
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on the merits. Accordingly, the court finds that the second factor weighs in favor of setting aside
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the entry of default.
C.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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There is no controversy as to this factor, since plaintiff concedes that he will not be
Prejudice to Plaintiff
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prejudiced if defendant’s default is set aside. Accordingly, this factor also supports setting aside
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GIS’s default.
ORDER
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Having concluded that GIS’s default should be set aside, the court grants GIS’s motion to
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set aside the default and denies plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. Defendant shall respond
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to the complaint within 15 days from the date of this order.
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Additionally, the Initial Case Management Conference is re-set to May 1, 2018, 1:30 p.m.,
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and all related deadlines (see Dkt. 3, Order Setting Initial Case Management Conference and ADR
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Deadlines) are adjusted accordingly.
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SO ORDERED.
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Dated: March 1, 2018
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HOWARD R. LLOYD
United States Magistrate Judge
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