Smith v. Greater New Haven Transit District et al

Filing 42

ORDER: The defendants' "motion to strike references to Brandon E. Foster as a defendant" 31 is granted. See attached order and ruling. Signed by Judge Donna F. Martinez on 2/26/14. (Constantine, A.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
MAURICE SMITH,

:
:
Plaintiff,
:
:
v.
:
:
GREATER NEW HAVEN TRANSIT
:
DISTRICT, DONNA K. CARTER,
:
AL NAUDUS AND TALEIM SALTERS, :
:
Defendants.
:

CASE NO.

3:13CV502(RNC)

ORDER
Pending before the court is the defendant's "Motion to Strike
References to Brandon E. Foster as a defendant."

(Doc. #31.)

The

defendants seek to strike references to Brandon Foster because he
is not named in the caption of the operative amended complaint
(doc. #21) and was not served.
Rule 10(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, entitled
"Caption; Names of Parties," states that "[t]he title of the
complaint must name all the parties."

Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a).

"This establishes a bright line rule for pleadings."

Miro v.

Chiusano, No. 05 Civ. 10570(DAB), 2008 WL 2627146, at *1 (S.D.N.Y.
July 1, 2008).

"As the Second Circuit has recognized, the Federal

Rules require clarity as to the named parties in an action."
Acquisition, LLC v. Patel, No. 3:12cv1819(CSH),
*3 (D. Conn. Jan. 3, 2013).

Weiss

2013 WL 45885, at

"Rule 10(a) requires that the caption

of the complaint include the names of all of the parties to the
action."

Hernandez–Avila v. Averill, 725 F.2d 25, 27 (2d Cir.

1984). Because the plaintiff did not list Foster as a defendant in

the caption of the complaint as required, Foster is not a defendant
in this action.

See Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a). Accordingly the

defendants' motion is granted.
SO ORDERED at Hartford, Connecticut this 26th day of February,
2014.
___________/s/________________
Donna F. Martinez
United States Magistrate Judge