Langworthy v. Whatcom County Superior Court

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE GENEVA LANGWORTHY, CASE NO. C20-1637-JCC Plaintiff, MINUTE ORDER 11 v. WHATCOM COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, WHATCOM COUNTY DISTRICT COURT, and RAQUEL MONTOYA-LEWIS, Defendants.

16 The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable John C.

17 Coughenour, United States District Judge: 18 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Geneva Langworthy’s Motion for Nonjoinder of Party (Dkt. No. 10). Ms. Langworthy asks the Court “to drop Raquel Montoya- Lewis as a defendant” in this matter. (Dkt. No. 10 at 1.) Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i), a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss her claims against some or all of the defendants without a court order before the defendant serves an answer or a motion for summary judgment. See Commercial Space Mgmt. Co., Inc. v. Boeing Co., Inc., 193 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir. 1999); Concha v. London, 62 F.3d 1493, 1506 (9th Cir. 1995). When a plaintiff files a notice of voluntary dismissal with the Court, that filing automatically terminates the action as to the defendant who is the subject of the notice. Concha, 62 F.3d at 1506.

1 Here, no answer or motion for summary judgment has been filed, and the Court construes Ms. Langworthy’s motion as a Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) notice of voluntary dismissal of the claims against Raquel Montoya-Lewis. Because the notice is self-executing, all claims against Defendant Raquel Montoya-Lewis are dismissed, and Raquel Montoya-Lewis is DISMISSED as a party to this action. Pursuant to the Court’s prior order (Dkt. No. 9), Ms. Langworthy must file an amended complaint against the remaining defendants by December 28, 2020. If she does not file an amended complaint curing the deficiencies identified in the Court’s order within the time allotted, the Court will dismiss the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).

9 DATED this 7th day of December 2020.

10 William M. McCool Clerk of Court s/Paula McNabb 12 Deputy Clerk