Case Information
*1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Case No. 1:23-cv-00203-JLT-SAB ASHLEY GOMEZ, ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR Plaintiff, DISPOSITIONAL DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED AND DIRECTING CLERK OF THE COURT TO v. TERMINATE FATHI HUSSEIN AS A DEFENDANT IN THIS ACTION EL REY SUPERMERCADO, et al., (ECF No. 8) Defendants.
On April 19, 2023, in response to the parties’ notice of settlement, the Court vacated all pending matters and dates and ordered the parties to file dispositional documents no later than May 9, 2023. (ECF Nos. 6, 7.)
On May 9, 2023, the parties filed a stipulated request for an extension of time to file dispositional documents. (ECF No. 8.) In addition, Plaintiff submitted a notice of dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a) with respect to the dismissal of Defendant Fathi Hussein. (Id.) The dismissal of Defendant Hussein is with prejudice, with the parties to bear their own attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs. (Id. at 3.) The claims against the other named Defendants are not subject to Plaintiff’s notice of dismissal and will remain active until the final dispositional documents are filed. The parties proffer the reason for the instant stipulation and *2 notice is that, while conferring over the dispositional documents, the parties identified a factual dispute as to whether Defendant Hussein was confused with another individual and potentially misnamed as a defendant in this matter. (Id. at 2.) As a result of this discovery, there have been delays in obtaining all required signatures to the settlement agreement. (Id.) The parties therefore request the Court extend the deadline to file dispositional documents under May 23, 2023. (Id. at 3.)
As to Plaintiff’s notice of dismissal, Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a party to dismiss some or all of the defendants in an action through a Rule 41(a) notice. Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997); see also Concha v. London, 62 F.3d 1493, 1506 (9th Cir. 1995) (“The plaintiff may dismiss either some or all of the defendants—or some or all of his claims—through a Rule 41(a)(1) notice.”); Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 687 (9th Cir. 2005) (The Ninth Circuit has “only extended the rule to allow the dismissal of all claims against one defendant, so that a defendant may be dismissed from the entire action.”). “Filing a notice of voluntary dismissal with the court automatically terminates the action as to the defendants who are the subjects of the notice.” Concha, 62 F.3d at 1506.
As to the parties’ stipulated request for an extension of the dispositional documents filing deadline, the Court shall grant the requested extension, up to May 23, 2023, to file dispositional documents. However, the parties are advised that no further extensions of time shall be granted absent a strong showing of good cause. Furthermore, the parties are remined that requests to extend filing deadlines that are made on the eve of a deadline will be looked upon with disfavor and may be denied absent a showing of good cause for the delay in seeking an extension. If such a request is made after a deadline, the party seeking the nunc pro tunc extension must show additional good cause as to why the matter was filed late.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: The parties SHALL FILE dispositional documents no later than May 23, 2023 .
Failure to comply with the Court’s order may result in the imposition of sanctions, including monetary sanctions against all parties and their attorneys of record and *3 dismissal of this action; and The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to terminate Defendant Fathi Hussein as a
defendant in this action.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: May 9, 2023 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
