Trujillo et al v. Machol & Johanness, LLC

Filing 31

MINUTE ORDER granting 30 Joint Motion to Sever, by Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty on 8/05/2015.(slibi, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 14-cv-02625-MEH
ALFRED TRUJILLO, and
JOE L. RIVAS, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MACHOL & JOHANNESS, LLC,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
MINUTE ORDER
______________________________________________________________________________
Entered by Michael E. Hegarty, United States Magistrate Judge, on August 5, 2015.
The Joint Motion to Sever [filed August 3, 2015; docket #30] is granted. Plaintiff Alfred
Trujillo and Defendant have reached an agreement to settle the case on a class-wide basis. Motion,
docket #30 at 1. However, the agreement may not be presented to the Court without involvement
of Plaintiff Joe L. Rivas, who ceased communicating with attorneys months ago and allegedly
refuses to sign the settlement agreement. Id. at 1-3.
The Court held a hearing in May to discuss whether to allow Plaintiff Rivas’s attorneys to
withdraw from representing him. See dockets ## 23-25. Mr. Rivas did not appear at that hearing,
and the Court allowed his attorneys to withdraw. See docket #24-25. Plaintiff Trujillo and
Defendant then filed a motion to strike Plaintiff Rivas from the case, which the Court denied without
prejudice for failure to cite relevant authority. See dockets ##27-28. The present Motion cures the
previous deficiencies, providing proper authority to the Court under Fed. R. Civ. P. 21, which allows
the Court to sever a party.
As such, the Court directs the Clerk of Court to sever Plaintiff Rivas from the abovecaptioned case and assign a new case number for Plaintiff Rivas. Furthermore, Plaintiff Rivas is
ordered to file an amended complaint using the new case number on or before August 25, 2015.
The Court notes that failure to file an amended complaint by that date may result in dismissal of
Plaintiff Rivas’s case.