Reginald Morgan v. Brown & Williamson

United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 99-1308
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Reginald Morgan, *
*
Appellant, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* Eastern District of Missouri
Brown & Williamson Tobacco *
Corporation, * [UNPUBLISHED]
*
Appellee. *
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Submitted: August 6, 1999
Filed: August 27, 1999
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Before McMILLIAN, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Reginald Morgan appeals from the final judgment entered in the District Court1
for the Eastern District of Missouri granting the Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion of
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation (B & W) to dismiss Morgan&s civil action.
For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
1
The Honorable Carol E. Jackson, United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Missouri.
We review de novo the district court&s dismissal of an action for failure to state
a claim; dismissal is not appropriate unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff
can prove no set of facts that would demonstrate entitlement to relief. See Smith v. St.
Bernards Reg&l Med. Ctr., 19 F.3d 1254, 1255 (8th Cir. 1994) (Smith). Morgan&s
complaint merely named B & W as the defendant, and failed to state what B & W did
or did not do to cause his alleged injuries. Thus, he failed to give fair notice of his
claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Smith, 19 F.3d at 1255 (Rule 8(a)(2) requires only
a short, plain statement of claim giving fair notice of plaintiff&s claim and grounds for
relief). We agree with the district court that the complaint fails to state a claim against
B & W.
Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of Morgan&s complaint. We note that the
dismissal was without prejudice, which means that Morgan is free to bring a new suit
against B & W, although he is required to put B & W on notice of what it did or did not
do to cause his alleged injuries.
A true copy.
Attest:
CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.
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