Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-01349/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-01349-10/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal- Civil Rights Act

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CELESTE HOLLAND,

Plaintiff,

v.

JOSEPH A. FARROW, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 14-cv-01349-JST 

ORDER STRIKING DEFENDANTS 

FROM ACTION

Re: ECF No. 48

Plaintiff filed this action against a number of defendants. See ECF Nos. 1, 21. As 

explained more fully in the Court’s Order Granting Leave to File Amended Complaint, however, 

Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint fails to identify which claims she alleges against which 

defendants. See ECF No. 48. Moreover, Plaintiff has failed to serve a number of the defendants 

that she initially named in the action. See id. Plaintiff has not shown good cause for her failure to 

serve these defendants. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m) (“Time Limit for Service. If a defendant is not 

served within 120 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.”).

In light of the foregoing, and the Court’s duty under Rule 4(m) to ensure that each 

defendant named in a case is timely served and to dismiss the action against any defendants not so 

served, the Court issued its Order Granting Plaintiff Leave to File an Amended Complaint. See id. 

In that Order, the Court instructed Plaintiff that, if she wished to proceed with the action, she was 

required to file an amended complaint by May 8, 2015. Id. at 3. Any amended complaint would 

also have to “clearly identify the parties in the case by name, designating them as defendants in the 

action; plead all the required elements of each cause of action . . . and identify which defendants 

Case 3:14-cv-01349-JST Document 49 Filed 05/21/15 Page 1 of 2
2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

are named in each; [and] include enough factual content to allow the Court to draw the reasonable 

inference that the named defendants are liable on each claim . . . .” Id. The Court further 

informed Plaintiff that if she failed to file an amended complaint that cured the deficiencies the 

Court identified, the Court would have to discharge its Rule 4(m) duty and dismiss the case as to 

the defendants that Plaintiff has not served and against whom no discernible claims were alleged. 

Id. In such a case, the action would proceed based on the allegations in the First Amended 

Complaint. Id. Finally, the Court once again directed Plaintiff to seek the assistance of the free 

Legal Help Center offered by the Court. Id. at 3-4.

Plaintiff did not file an amended complaint by the May 8, 2015 deadline. 

Accordingly, the Court finds that it must dismiss the claims against all defendants in this 

action who have not been served and appeared. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). Plaintiff’s claims 

against Defendants Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Anne Gust Brown, Anna M. Caballero, John Chang, 

Michael A. Ramos, Julie Nauman, Ted DeJung, Carson Johnson, Dennis Hayashi, Cecilia 

Castellanos, and Frank Roesch are hereby dismissed without prejudice. Defendants Azavedo, 

Estes, and Pacheco remain in this action. This case shall proceed according to the allegations in 

Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 21, 2015

______________________________________

JON S. TIGAR

United States District Judge

Case 3:14-cv-01349-JST Document 49 Filed 05/21/15 Page 2 of 2