Hardy v. Genesee County Community Action Resource Department (GCCARD) ( 2024 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION GREGORY HARDY, Case No. 24-11190 Plaintiff, Honorable Linda V. Parker Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford v. GENESEE COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION RESOURCE DEPARTMENT, et al., Defendant. ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO STRIKE SUR-REPLY (ECF NO. 28) Plaintiff Gregory Hardy, proceeding pro se, filed a sur-reply to defendants’ motion for partial dismissal. ECF No. 25. Defendants filed a motion to strike Hardy’s sur-reply. ECF No. 28. The general rule is that a non-moving party has no right to respond to a reply brief, and thus the applicable local rule does not allow for a sur-reply. Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Flowers, 513 F.3d 546, 553 (6th Cir. 2008); E.D. Mich. LR 7.1. Because the moving party is entitled to the last word on the matter, sur-replies are highly disfavored when the moving “party’s reply did not raise any new legal arguments or introduce new evidence.” Liberty Legal Found. v. Nat’l Democratic Party of the USA, Inc., 875 F. Supp. 2d 791, 797 (W.D. Tenn. 2012). Thus, the party wishing to file a sur-reply must file a motion for leave that sets forth “good cause.” NCMIC Ins. Co. v. Smith, 375 F. Supp. 3d 831, 835 (S.D. Ohio 2019) Here, Hardy has filed no motion for leave and shown no good cause for filing a sur-reply. As such, the Court GRANTS defendants’ motion requesting that Hardy’s sur-reply be STRICKEN. ECF No. 28. s/Elizabeth A. Stafford ELIZABETH A. STAFFORD United States Magistrate Judge Dated: November 12, 2024 NOTICE TO PARTIES ABOUT OBJECTIONS Within 14 days of being served with this order, any party may file objections with the assigned district judge. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). The district judge may sustain an objection only if the order is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. 28 U.S.C. § 636. “When an objection is filed to a magistrate judge’s ruling on a non-dispositive motion, the ruling remains in full force and effect unless and until it is stayed by the magistrate judge or a district judge.” E.D. Mich. LR 72.2. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned certifies that this document was served on counsel of record and any unrepresented parties via the Court’s ECF System to their email or First Class U.S. mail addresses disclosed on the Notice of Electronic Filing on November 12, 2024. s/Davon Allen DAVON ALLEN Case Manager