George M. Macnaughton v. Kelly Services, Inc. and Claudia Jimenez

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

GEORGE M. MACNAUGHTON,

Plaintiff, v. Case No.: 26cv1858 LF/SCY KELLY SERVICES, INC. and

CLAUDIA JIMENEZ,

Defendants.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court sua sponte. 28 U.S.C. § 1448 provides in part, In all cases removed from any State court . . . in which any one or more of the defendants has not been served with process or in which the service has not been perfected prior to removal . . . such process or service may be completed or new process issued in the same manner as in cases originally filed in such district court. 28 U.S.C. § 1448. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 4(m) also states If a defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court— on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff—must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). In other words, where service is not made prior to removal, a plaintiff must effectuate proper service within 90 days. See Wallace v. Microsoft Corp., 596 F.3d 703, 706 (10th Cir. 2010); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 81(c)(1) (providing that federal procedural rules apply after removal).

Defendant Kelly Services, Inc. removed this action on June 8, 2026. Doc. 1. The deadline to serve Defendants therefore expired on September 7, 2026. See Warden v. DirecTV, LLC, 92 F. Supp. 3d 1140, 1143 (D.N.M. 2015) (“[I]f service has not been effected prior to removal, it must be completed in conformity with federal law once the action is before a federal court.”). However, the record shows that no summons has been issued for Defendant Jimenez.! IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, in order to avoid dismissal of Defendant Jimenez, Plaintiff must either effect service or provide the Court with a written explanation showing good cause why service has not been made, on or before Thursday, October 1, 2026.

UNITED STATE MAGISTRATE a 4 ' There is also no indication of service on Defendant Jimenez on the publicly-available state court docket (Case No. D-202-CV-2026-04369).