French v. Washington State Department of Health

Filing 53

ORDER denying Plaintiff's 52 Motion to reconsider or vacate the judgment. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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NINA FRENCH,

CASE NO. C15-0859JLR
ORDER DENYING MOTION
FOR RECONSIDERATION OR
TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT

Plaintiff,

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v.
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WASHINGTON STATE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, et al.,

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Defendants.

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I.

INTRODUCTION

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Before the court is Plaintiff Nina French’s letter in which Ms. French petitions to
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“reinstate” her case, asks for a magistrate judge to hear the case, or seeks relief from the
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appellate court. (See Mot. (Dkt. # 52) at 1.) The court liberally construes Ms. French’s
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letter as a motion for reconsideration of the court’s May 22, 2017, order or to vacate the
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judgment. (See 5/22/17 Order (Dkt. # 50); 2d Judgment (Dkt. # 51).) The court denies
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Ms. French’s motion for the reasons set forth below.
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ORDER - 1

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II.

BACKGROUND

This case arises out of Ms. French’s employment with divisions of the DOH at

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various periods between 2010 and 2014. (See SAC (Dkt. # 40) at 8.) On June 4, 2015,

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Ms. French, who is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis (“IFP”), filed her first

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complaint against the DOH. (See Compl. (Dkt. # 3); IFP Mot. (Dkt. # 1); IFP Order

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(Dkt. # 2).) After considering and denying Ms. French’s requests for appointment of

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counsel, the court ordered the United States marshal to serve the DOH within 30 days of

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July 8, 2016. (7/8/16 Order (Dkt. # 13) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d)); Orders on Appoint.

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Counsel (Dkt. ## 5, 6, 11).)

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After the marshal served the DOH, Ms. French filed another action, which the

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court consolidated with this matter. (10/4/16 Order (Dkt. # 17).) Because Ms. French

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intended to amend her complaint rather than file the new case, the court construed Ms.

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French’s filing as her amended complaint when it consolidated the two cases. (Id.; FAC

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(Dkt. # 18).) On October 31, 2016, the DOH filed a motion for judgment on the

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pleadings for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. (See MJOP

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(Dkt. # 23) at 1.) On January 25, 2017, the court granted the motion and dismissed Ms.

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French’s amended complaint. (1/25/17 Order (Dkt. # 32).) The court concluded that Ms.

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French had failed to meet her burden of establishing the court’s subject matter

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jurisdiction (id. at 7) and to state a claim (id. at 8). The court also concluded that the

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reasoning behind its order applied with equal force to Defendants WFSE/AFSCME and

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FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine and dismissed Ms. French’s complaint against them

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for failure to state a claim. (Id. at 3 n.3 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(3).)

ORDER - 2

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The court granted Ms. French leave to amend and ordered her to file her second

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amended complaint, if any, no later than 14 days after the entry of the court’s order—

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February 8, 2017. (Id. at 8-9.) In light of Ms. French’s previous difficulty following

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court rules and orders, the court instructed Ms. French to “carefully consider the

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deficiencies” in her amended complaint and indicated that the court would “interpret a

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failure to cure those deficiencies as an indication that further amendment would be

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futile.” (Id. at 8.) The court also instructed Ms. French that any amended complaint she

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filed would supersede her earlier complaints and that she could not rely solely on exhibits

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to construct a cognizable claim. (Id. at 9.) Finally, the court cautioned Ms. French that it

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would not “entertain further requests for favorable treatment” and instructed Ms. French

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to comply with all applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Civil Rules

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for the Western District of Washington. (Id.)
Ms. French’s deadline for filing a second amended complaint passed on February

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8, 2017, and Ms. French had filed nothing further in this matter. (See generally Dkt.;

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2/13/17 Order (Dkt. # 33).) Accordingly, on February 13, 2017, the court dismissed Ms.

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French’s case with prejudice and entered judgment. (2/13/17 Order; 1st Judgment (Dkt.

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# 34).)

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Several days later, Ms. French alerted the court that she had attempted to file a

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second amended complaint on February 9, 2017, one day after the deadline the court

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imposed. (See 2/16/17 Letter (Dkt. # 35).) However, Ms. French had again inadvertently

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opened a new case instead of filing a second amended complaint in this matter. (See id.)

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ORDER - 3

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Ms. French then filed two letters with the court in which she explained her mistake and

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requested that the court reopen the case. (See id.)

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After Ms. French’s first letter was docketed in both matters, the Honorable

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Richard A. Jones transferred Ms. French’s newly opened case—Case No. C17-0210—to

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the undersigned judge as related to this case—Case No. C15-0859. French v. Wash.

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State Dep’t of Health, No. C17-0210JLR, Dkt. # 5 (W.D. Wash.). The court consolidated

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Ms. French’s new case with this matter and construed Ms. French’s letters as a motion

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for reconsideration of the court’s February 13, 2017, order of dismissal and entry of

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judgment. (3/2/17 Order (Dkt. # 37) at 4-6.) After ordering the DOH to respond to Ms.

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French’s motion for reconsideration (id.; see also Resp. to Letter (Dkt. # 38)); Local

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Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(h)(3), the court granted Ms. French’s motion, vacated the

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judgment, and directed the Clerk to file Ms. French’s second amended complaint on the

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docket (3/27/17 Order (Dkt. # 39) at 6, 8).
On April 19, 2017, the DOH moved to dismiss Ms. French’s second amended

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complaint. (MTD (Dkt. # 44).) The court granted the DOH’s motion, concluding that

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Ms. French again failed to meet her burden of establishing the court’s subject matter

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jurisdiction (5/22/17 Order at 7-11) and to state a federal claim for which relief may

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granted (id. at 13-18). In the absence of any claims over which the court had original

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jurisdiction, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state law

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claims Ms. French intended to assert. (Id. at 18-19.) The court also dismissed Ms.

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French’s claims against WFSE/AFSCME for failure to state a federal claim and declined

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//

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to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state law claims against WFSE/AFSCME.1

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(Id. at 20.)

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On May 30, 2017, Ms. French filed a letter with the Clerk’s Office in which she

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petitions to “reinstate” her case, asks for a magistrate judge to hear the case, and seeks

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relief from the appellate court.2 (Mot. at 1.) Ms. French’s letter rehashes many of the

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same details she has already put before the court, recounts personal stories about her

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family and educational pursuits, and describes the experiences of various co-workers

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while Ms. French worked for the DOH.3 (See generally id.) The court liberally construes

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Ms. French’s letter as a motion for reconsideration or to vacate the judgment and

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addresses each of those requests in turn.

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III.
A.

ANALYSIS

Motion for Reconsideration
“Motions for reconsideration are disfavored,” and the court “will ordinarily deny

such motions in the absence of a showing of manifest error in the prior ruling or a

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Ms. French’s second amended complaint dropped the FDA Center for Veterinary
Medicine as a defendant. (See SAC.)
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To the extent Ms. French seeks relief from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (see Mot.
at 1 (“In the absen[c]e of all else, I would then ask to petition for submission to the appel[l]ate
court.”)), Ms. French must seek relief directly from that Court. Ms. French can find the Federal
Rules of Appellate Procedure and Ninth Circuit Rules at http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/rules/. In
addition, the court cannot transfer a closed matter to a magistrate judge. Cf. Local Rules W.D.
Wash. LCR 73 (In a pending case, “parties may request at any time that the court reassign the
case to a magistrate judge.”).
Ms. French also asks whether “in order to have more information for the appel[l]ate
court,” she can “subpoena a witness and then use that in an appeal.” (Mot. at 2.) Ms. French’s
question amounts to a request for legal advice, which the court may not provide.
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showing of new facts or legal authority which could not have been brought to [the

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court’s] attention earlier with reasonable diligence.” Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR

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7(h)(1). Ms. French has not made any of the required showings to warrant

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reconsideration of the court’s May 22, 2017, order and judgment. Ms. French’s motion

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does not address—let alone show—manifest error in the court’s prior ruling or new facts

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or legal authority that could not have been raised earlier. (See generally Mot.) Indeed,

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Ms. French’s motion simply restates facts from her previous filings (see Mot. at 2-3

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(describing her co-workers’ experiences at the DOH)) or raises new facts that she could

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have brought to the court’s attention earlier with reasonable diligence (see id. at 1 (stating

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Ms. French’s age)) or that are irrelevant to Ms. French’s claims (see id. at 2 (describing

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Ms. French’s difficulties in pursuing her education and her older sister’s death), 3

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(discussing an inappropriate work environment while Ms. French was employed

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somewhere other than the DOH)). For these reasons, the court denies Ms. French’s

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motion for reconsideration.

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B.

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Motion to Vacate
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 provides that “[o]n motion and just terms, the

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court may relieve a party . . . from a final judgment” due to (1) “mistake, inadvertence,

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surprise, or excusable neglect,” (2) “newly discovered evidence that, with reasonable

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diligence, could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial,” (3) an

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opposing party’s fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct, (4) a void judgment, (5) a

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satisfied, released, or discharged judgment, or (6) “any other reason that justifies relief.”

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Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1)-(6). Ms. French fails to identify a basis to vacate the judgment.

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(See generally Mot.) As the court discussed above, Ms. French merely reiterates facts

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previously before the court or provides irrelevant reasons for reopening her case. (See

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generally id.); supra § III.A. The court therefore denies the request to vacate the

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judgment.

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IV.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the court DENIES Ms. French’s motion to reconsider or
vacate the judgment (Dkt. # 52).
Dated this 16th day of June, 2017.

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A

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JAMES L. ROBART
United States District Judge

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ORDER - 7