Harrington v. Oklahoma City Public Schools et al

Filing 64

ORDER denying 46 Motion for Entry of Default of Holly Waldron Cole; denying 47 Motion for Entry of Default of EEOC; denying 48 Motion for Entry of Default James Habas; denying 49 Motion for Entry of Default of Throy Hollis; denying 50 Motion for Entry of Default of Tamra R. James; denying 51 Motion for Entry of Default of Marilyn Koshiway, as more fully set out. Signed by Honorable David L. Russell on 1/13/15. (jw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
RUBYE L. HARRINGTON,
Plaintiff,
v.
OKLAHOMA CITY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS, et al.,

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

CIV-14-930-R

ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on the Plaintiff's Motions for Entry of Default,
wherein she sought default judgment against the following Defendants: Holly Waldron Cole
(Doc. No. 46); Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (Doc. No. 47); James
Habas (Doc. No. 48); Throy Hollis (Doc. No. 49); Tamra R. James (Doc. No. 50); Marilyn
Koshiway (Doc. No. 51). Defendants filed a joint response to the motions (Doc. No. 54) and
Plaintiff filed a reply (Doc. No. 56), as well as a response to the Entry of the appearance filed
by Rebecca Frazier, Assistant United States Attorney, on behalf of the EEOC and its
employees (Doc. No. 57). For the reasons set forth herein, the Motions for Entry of Default
are DENIED.
Plaintiff contends in each of the motions for entry of default that she properly served
both the EEOC and its employees, who are sued both individually and in their official
capacities. It appears, however, that Plaintiff attempted service by delivering a copy of
process via process server to Patty White at the EEOC offices in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

As noted by Defendants, however, Rule 4(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
provides:
(I) Serving the United States and Its Agencies, Corporations, Officers, or
Employees.
(1) United States. To serve the United States, a party must:
(A)(I) deliver a copy of the summons and of the
complaint to the United States attorney for the
district where the action is brought--or to an
assistant United States attorney or clerical
employee whom the United States attorney
designates in a writing filed with the court
clerk--or
(ii) send a copy of each by registered or certified
mail to the civil-process clerk at the United States
attorney's office;
(B) send a copy of each by registered or certified
mail to the Attorney General of the United States
at Washington, D.C.; and
(C) if the action challenges an order of a nonparty
agency or officer of the United States, send a
copy of each by registered or certified mail to the
agency or officer.
(2) Agency; Corporation; Officer or Employee Sued in an
Official Capacity. To serve a United States agency or
corporation, or a United States officer or employee sued only in
an official capacity, a party must serve the United States and
also send a copy of the summons and of the complaint by
registered or certified mail to the agency, corporation, officer, or
employee.
(3) Officer or Employee Sued Individually. To serve a United
States officer or employee sued in an individual capacity for an
act or omission occurring in connection with duties performed
on the United States' behalf (whether or not the officer or
employee is also sued in an official capacity), a party must serve
the United States and also serve the officer or employee under
Rule 4(e), (f), or (g).

2

It is apparent from Plaintiff's filings that she has not properly served these Defendants in light
of these rules, and therefore, her requests for the entry of default as set forth above are hereby
DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 13th day of January, 2015.

3