Meisler v. Chrzanowski et al
Filing
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ORDER denying Plaintiff's 45 Motion for Entry of Clerk's Default; denying Plaintiff's 64 Motion to Compel the Entry of Default. Signed by Magistrate Judge William G. Cobb on 8/6/2015. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - KR)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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MICHAEL CHARLES MEISLER,
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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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NADINE CHRZANOWSKI, et al.,
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Defendants.
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______________________________________)
3:12-cv-00487-MMD-WGC
ORDER
re: Doc. ## 45, 64
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Before the court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel the Entry of Default Against Sprint-Nextel, Inc.
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(Doc # 64.1) Plaintiff’s motion represents he served Sprint-Nextel’s resident agent, a company named
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CSC Services of Nevada, Inc. (Id., at 2.) Plaintiff also filed an earlier motion seeking entry of default
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against Sprint-Nextel. (Doc. # 45.) Essentially the representations in this motion (Doc. # 45) are the same
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as in the later filed motion (Doc. # 64.) This order will pertain to both motions.
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Plaintiff’s complaint describes “Sprint-Nextel” as follows:
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Sprint-Nextel, Inc., a defendant, is a Kansas corporation in the business of providing
wireless communication services as a cellular telephone services provider on a global
network and specifically conducts business in the stream of interstate commerce and in
the State of Nevada as a foreign corporation possessing a license and with authority to
do business in the State of Nevada under a certificate of authority issued by the Secretary
of State of the State of Nevada all in accordance with and defined by with NRS §§
704.028 and 707.656, hereinafter referred to as Sprint.
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Doc. # 4 at 5, ¶ 13.
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Plaintiff’s original motion sought to effect a default against “Sprint-Nextel, Inc.” (Doc. # 45.)
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When Plaintiff filed his motion for default on April 1, 2015, Plaintiff’s amended complaint (Doc. # 20)
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was the operative pleading. (Order Adopting Report and Recommendation allowing First Amended
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Complaint to proceed in part, 7/28/14; Doc. # 22.) Plaintiff’s amended complaint, however, changed
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the name from “Sprint-Nextel, Inc.” as it appeared in his initial complaint (Doc. # 4 at 5 ¶ 13), to an
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Refers to court’s docket number.
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entity referred to as “Sprint-Nextel Communications, Inc., a Kansas Corporation, licensed to do business
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in Nevada.” (Doc. # 20 at 4, ¶ 11.) The summons which Plaintiff served, which was after Plaintiff
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amended his complaint, referred to process on Sprint-Nextel, Inc. (not Sprint-Nextel Communications),
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being effected “by serving its resident agent, Prentice Hall Corp. Systems, Inc., 3760 Pecos McCloud
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#3, Las Vegas, Nevada 89121.” (Doc. # 34.) However, the return of service on Plaintiff’s summons does
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not reflect service on Prentice Hall Corp Systems, but rather upon “CSC Services of Nevada.” The
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address for CSC Services is identified as 2215 B. Renaissance Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119, which
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is a different address than the one for Prentice Hall Corporation. Plaintiff submits no documentation that
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“CSC Services of Nevada” is the resident agent for “Sprint-Nextel, Inc.”
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According to the court’s research, the Nevada Secretary of State’s “Nevada Business Search”
states “No Results Found” for a business known as “Sprint-Nextel, Inc., in Nevada. (Exhibit 1.)
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The court next visited the Kansas Secretary of State’s website and did a business entity search
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for “Sprint-Nextel, Inc.” As reflected in Exhibit 2, Kansas Secretary of State also does not identify a
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corporate entity in that state under that name. However, the website did cross reference to an entity
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named “Sprint Communications, Inc.,” an active Kansas corporation in good standing. (Id.) According
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to additional documentation on the Kansas Secretary of State website, Sprint Communications, Inc., was
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formerly known as “Sprint Nextel Corporation.” (Exhibit 3.) However, there is no listing on the Kansas
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Secretary of State website for the currently-named defendant, “Sprint-Nextel Communications.”
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The court returned to another search of the Nevada Secretary of State’s website. No company
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was listed as “Sprint Communications, Inc.” However, a company named “Sprint Communications
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Company Limited Partnership” appeared on the Secretary of State’s website. (Exhibit 4.) The resident
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agent for “Sprint Communications Company Limited Partnership” is reflected as being the Prentice-Hall
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Corporation System, Nevada, Inc. (Exhibit 5.)
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Both motions for default (Doc. ## 45, 64) sought a default against “Sprint-Nextel, Inc. However,
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that is not the entity Plaintiff sued in his amended complaint, i.e., “Sprint-Nextel Communications, Inc.”
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The court expresses no opinion as to whether Sprint Communications Company Limited
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Partnership or Sprint-Nextel Communications, Inc., or either of them, are successors to Sprint-Nextel,
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Inc., the company Plaintiff originally sued. Nevertheless, it reasonably appears Sprint-Nextel, Inc., is not
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a viable entity in either Kansas or Nevada. Additionally, the service affidavit does not reflect service
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upon the entity Plaintiff represented in the summons was the resident agent for whatever Sprint entity
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against which Plaintiff may be proceeding (i.e., Prentice Hall Corp.; Doc. # 34 at 1), but as noted above,
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service was instead made upon a company known as CSC Services of Nevada.
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Plaintiff’s motions are defective in that the entity against which he seeks a default (Sprint-Nextel,
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Inc.) is not the entity Plaintiff has identified in his amended complaint, Sprint-Nextel Communications,
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Inc. The motions are further defective by failing to reflect proper service upon the resident agent,
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whatever the correct corporate entity may be.2
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Plaintiff’s motions (Doc. ## 45, 64) are DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: August 6, 2015.
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____________________________________
WILLIAM G. COBB
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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Exhibit 5, the business entity information from the Nevada Secretary of State website for the entity known as Sprint
Communications Company, identifies the company’s resident agent as the Prentice Hall Corporation System, but again,
Prentice-Hall is not the entity Plaintiff served.
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