Shepard v. The City of Fresno

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA JASON LAWRENCE SHEPARD, Case No. 1:25-cv-00822-JLT-SAB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE SECOND 13 v. AMENDED COMPLAINT THE CITY OF FRESNO, et al., (ECF No. 7, 9) 15 Defendants. THREE-DAY DEADLINE On August 4, 2025, Defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. (ECF No. 6.) Defendant’s motion is currently pending before the assigned District Judge.1 On August 18, 2025, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 7.) Defendants have filed a non-opposition to the motion (ECF No. 9), and therefore, the Court finds it appropriate to rule of the motion without oral argument. L.R. 230(g).

Under Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, leave to amend shall be freely given when justice so requires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). “In the absence of . . . undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.—the leave sought should . . . be ‘freely given.’”

1 Defendants filed a notice “taking off calendar” their pending motion for judgment on the pleadings, as it will be mooted by the second amended complaint. The Court construes the notice as a tentative notice of withdrawal of the motion, contingent upon Plaintiff’s filing of the amended complaint. The Court reserves terminating Defendants’ | Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962), quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). In other words, | “[a]bsent prejudice, or a strong showing of any of the remaining Foman factors, there exists a | presumption under Rule 15(a) in favor of granting leave to amend.” Eminence Capital, LLC v. | Aspeon, Inc., 316 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2003).

5 Here, the Court finds that granting leave to amend implicates none of the Forman factors.

6 | Indeed, Defendants have filed a non-opposition, which demonstrates that they will not be | prejudiced by the granting of the motion.

8 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that: 9 1. Plaintiff's motion for leave to file an amended complaint (ECF No. 7) is 10 GRANTED; and 11 2. Plaintiff shall file the proposed second amended complaint within three (3) days 12 of the entry of this order.

14 IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le | Dated: _ August 28, 2025 ; STANLEY A. BOONE 16 United States Magistrate Judge