Shipley v. Reliastar Life Insurance Company ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KELLY SHIPLEY, Case No. 1:22-cv-00819-ADA-SAB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER RE STIPULATION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF’S SECOND CAUSE OF 13 v. ACTION AGAINST DEFENDANT, DEEMING COMPLAINT AMENDED 14 RELIASTAR LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, 15 (ECF No. 13) Defendant. 16 17 On September 20, 2023, the parties filed a stipulation agreeing to dismiss Plaintiff’s 18 second cause of action for insurance bad faith against Defendant with prejudice pursuant to 19 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). (ECF No. 13.) All other causes of action will 20 remain active. (Id.) 21 The Ninth Circuit has held that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) cannot be used 22 to dismiss individual claims against defendants, and that Rule 15 is the proper mechanism to do 23 so. See Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 687 (9th Cir. 2005) (“In 24 the specific context of Rule 41(a)(1), we have held that the Rule does not allow for piecemeal 25 dismissals. Instead, withdrawals of individual claims against a given defendant are governed by 26 [Rule 15].”); Ethridge v. Harbor House Rest., 861 F.2d 1389, 1392 (9th Cir. 1988) (holding a 27 plaintiff cannot use Rule 41 “to dismiss, unilaterally, a single claim from a multi-claim complaint.”); but see Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997) (“The 1 | Plaintiff may dismiss some or all of the defendants, or some or all of his claims, through a Rule 2 | 41(a)(1) notice.”). The Court finds it proper to construe the parties’ stipulation to dismiss the 3 | individual cause of action as consent to amend the complaint under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules 4 | of Civil Procedure. See Hells Canyon Pres. Council, 403 F.3d at 689 (“The fact that a voluntary 5 | dismissal of a claim under Rule 41(a) is properly labeled an amendment under Rule 15 is a 6 | technical, not a substantive distinction.”) (quoting Nilssen v. Motorola, Inc., 203 F.3d 782, 784 7 | (Fed. Cir. 2000)). Therefore, the Court will give full effect to the parties’ stipulation through a 8 | Rule 15 amendment. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, the 10 | Plaintiff's complaint is DEEMED AMENDED and the second cause of action is no longer 11 | alleged against Defendant. 12 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. FA. ee 14 | Dated: _ September 21, 2023 Is UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28