IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION LAMUNT DYSON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 2:24-cv-02685-SHL-tmp v. ) ) HQ DIRECT, LLC, and JETTON GENERAL ) CONTRACTING, INC., ) Defendants. ) ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO DISMISS DEFENDANT HQ DIRECT, LLC ONLY WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Plaintiff Lamunt Dyson and Defendant HQ Direct, LLC jointly seek to dismiss HQ without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21. (ECF No. 39.) Dyson states that he has agreed to arbitrate his claims against HQ, and they “believe that it is in the best interests of the parties for the Court to permit the dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant HQ without prejudice” to “facilitate the arbitration of this matter.” (Id.) Ordinarily, when “a lawsuit involves an arbitrable dispute, and a party requests a stay pending arbitration, § 3 of the [Federal Arbitration Act] compels the court to stay the proceeding” in lieu of dismissing it. Smith v. Spizzirri,

(2024). Here, however, neither party requests a stay, and the Court has discretion to dismiss HQ. Rule 21 permits a court to drop a party at any time on motion or on its own. Fed. R. Civ. P. 21. Dropping parties under Rule 21 functions as a dismissal of the party. See

Defendant Jetton General Contracting, Inc. does not oppose the motion. (ECF No. 39 at PageID 138.) Thus, the joint motion is GRANTED. Defendant HQ Direct, LLC is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Defendant Jetton General Contracting, Inc. remains. IT IS SO ORDERED, this 5th day of August, 2025. s/ Sheryl H. Lipman SHERYL H. LIPMAN CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE