Parker v. CSX Transporation, Inc.

Filing 12

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS INITIAL COMPLAINT. Signed by Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson on 6/2/17. (Anderson, S.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
EASTERN DIVISION
______________________________________________________________________________
JAMES PARKER,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
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v.
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No. 17-2262-STA-egb
)
CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC.,
)
)
Defendant.
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______________________________________________________________________________
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS INITIAL COMPLAINT
______________________________________________________________________________
Before the Court is Defendant CSX Transportation, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss (ECF No.
8) filed on May 15, 2017. Defendant’s Motion seeks the dismissal of Plaintiff James Parker’s
initial Complaint. On May 31, 2017, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint (ECF No. 11). It is
well-settled that an amended complaint supersedes the original complaint and renders the initial
pleading a nullity.1 Courts in this Circuit routinely deny motions to dismiss a complaint as moot
after a plaintiff subsequently files an amended complaint.2 In this case Defendant’s initial
Motion to Dismiss is directed at Plaintiff’s opening Complaint. In light of the fact that Plaintiff
has now filed an Amended Complaint, the original Complaint is, strictly speaking, a nullity.
Therefore, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the initial Complaint is DENIED as moot and without
prejudice to raise any issue argued in the Motion to Dismiss in a subsequent dispositive motion.
1

Heyward v. Cleveland Clinic Found., 759 F.3d 601, 617 (6th Cir. 2014) (citation
omitted).
2

E.g., Pinks v. Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc., 83 F. App’x 90 (6th Cir. 2003); Am. Nat’l
Prop. & Cas. Co. v. Stutte, 298 F.R.D. 376, 380 (E.D. Tenn. 2014); Okolo v. Metro. Gov’t of
Nashville, 892 F. Supp. 2d 931, 948 (M.D. Tenn. 2012); Ellis v. Kaye-Kibbey, 581 F. Supp. 2d
861 (W.D. Mich. 2008).
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ S. Thomas Anderson
S. THOMAS ANDERSON
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Date: June 2, 2017

2