Hilton et al v. Expand Incorporated

Filing 4

ORDER -- Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. On or before Tuesday, August 15, 2017, Plaintiffs may file an amended complaint. Signed by Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. on 8/8/2017. (VMF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
LAURA HILTON; and DANIEL
METZGER,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 6:17-cv-1427-Orl-37TBS

EXPAND INCORPORATED,
Defendant.
_____________________________________
ORDER
In the instant action, Plaintiffs assert claims against Defendant for violations of the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (Doc. 1 (“Complaint”).) For the reasons set forth
below, the Complaint is due to be dismissed without prejudice as an impermissible
shotgun pleading.
Shotgun pleadings come in a variety of forms. See, e.g., Weiland v. Palm Beach Cty.
Sheriff’s Office, 792 F.3d 1313, 1321 (11th Cir. 2015) (describing four categories of shotgun
pleadings). The most common type “is [one] containing multiple counts where each
count adopts the allegations of all preceding counts, causing each successive count to
carry all that came before and the last count to be a combination of the entire complaint.”
Id. at 1321. Such pleadings impose on the Court the onerous task of sifting out
irrelevancies to determine which facts are relevant to which causes of action. See id.
at 1323. Described as “altogether unacceptable,” by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit, when a shotgun pleading is filed in this Court, repleader is required.
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Cramer v. Florida, 117 F.3d 1258, 1263 (11th Cir. 1997); see also Paylor v. Hartford Fire Ins.
Co., 748 F.3d 1117, 1125–28 (11th Cir. 2014). If the Court does not require repleader, then
“all is lost.” Johnson Enters. of Jacksonville, Inc. v. FPL Grp., Inc., 162 F.3d 1290, 1333
(11th Cir. 1998).
Here, the Complaint evidences the most common form of shotgun pleading, as
Counts II and III incorporate each of the preceding allegations. (See Doc. 1, ¶¶ 71, 82.)
This is impermissible; hence the Complaint must be dismissed. If Plaintiffs choose to
replead, the amended complaint must clearly delineate which factual allegations are
relevant to each claim.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
1.

Plaintiff’s Complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

2.

On or before Tuesday, August 15, 2017, Plaintiffs may file an amended
complaint that remedies the deficiencies identified in this Order. Failure to
timely file may result in this action being closed without further notice.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Florida, on August 8, 2017.

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Copies to:
Counsel of Record

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