N O T FO R PUB L ICAT IO N UNITED STATES C OUR T OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH C IR C UIT
AR ISTEO C ANELOS AVILA, a n individual, Plaintiff - Appe lla nt,
v. C HIQUITA FRESH NOR T H AM ER IC A , LLC , a De la ware lim ite d lia

bility c om pa ny and suc c e ssor in intere st to C hiquita Frupa c , Inc .; e t a l., De fe nda

nts - Appe lle e s. No. 12-56938 D.C . No. 3:11-c v-02863-AJB -KSC
M EM O R ANDUM *

Appe a l from

the Unite d

Stat e s Distric t C ourt for the Southe rn Distric t of C a lifornia Anthony J. B atta glia , Distric t Judge , Pre siding Argue d a nd Subm itte d Fe brua

ry 12, 2014 Pa sa de n a , C a l ifornia B e fore : PAEZ a

nd NGUYEN, C irc uit Judge s, a nd M O TZ, Se nior Distric t Judge
. **



# FIL E D
APR 15 2014 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U. S. CO URT O F APPEALS

* This disposition is not a ppropria te for public at ion a

nd is not pre c e de nt e xc e pt a s provide d

by 9th C ir. R . 36-3. ** The Honora

ble J. Fre de ric k

M otz , Se nior Distric t

Judge for the U.S. Distric t C ourt for the Distric t of M ary l an d, sitting by de signa t ion.Pla intiff Ariste o C ane los Avila (“ Avila ” ) a

ppe a ls the distric t c ourt’ s orde r gran ting De fe n da

n t Ariste o Ale

ja ndro C ane los Guillen’ s (“ Guille n” ) m o tion to dism iss for fa ilure to sta

te a c la im and forum

non c onve nie ns, a

nd de ny ing Avila ’ s
m otion for le ave to a

m e nd. In de ny ing Avila

le ave to a

m e nd, the distric t c ourt de te rm i ne d tha

t, e ve n if Avila ’ s propose d re visions we re suc c e ssful in c uring the de fic ie nc ie s in the origina l c om pla int, the c ourt would de c line to e xe rc i se jurisdic tion unde r the De c la ra tory Judgm e n t Ac t. Se e Brillhart v. Ex c e ss Ins. C o. of Am. , 316 U.S. 491, 494, 62 S. Ct. 1173, 1175, 86 L. Ed. 1620 (1942). W e c onstrue the distric t c ourt’ s ruling a s a dism issa l unde r Brillhart , a nd
c onc lude tha

t the c ourt prope rly

e xe rc i se d its disc re tion in dism issing on this ground. Applying the Brillhart fa c tors, the distric t c o urt de te rm ine d tha t it should not a sse rt jurisdic tion ove r Avila ’ s de c la ra tory re lie f c la im be c a

use , “ [a ] t the tim e that [Avila ] file d this C om

pla int, the re wa s a

proc e e ding pe nding in M e x ic o—

whic h is still pe

nding— disc ussing issue s re lating dire c tly to this C om pla int a nd involving e sse ntia lly

the sa m e pa rtie s.” M ore ove r, “ a djudic ation of Pla i ntiff’ s de c l ara tory

a c tion c o uld re sult in duplic ative litiga tion a n d le a d to inc o nsiste nt rulings by

this C ourt a

nd the M e xic an c ourt.” In light of the se c irc um sta nc e s , we c onc lude tha

t the distric t c ourt did not
a buse i ts disc re tion in de c l ining to e nte rta in Avila ’ s c la im for de c la ra tory re lie f. -2-W e furthe r c onc lude tha t , give n the inte rre late d nat ure of Avila ’ s a c c ounting a nd
e quita ble inde m nity c la im s and the de c la

ra tory re lie f c la im , a

n d the fa c t tha

t he
wa s willing to dism

iss the form e r two c la im s in his a m e n de d c om

pla int, Avila ’ s
a c c ounting a

nd e quita ble inde m nity c la im s we re prope rly dism isse d a s we l l. The distric t c ourt did, howe ve r, e rr in dismissing Avila ’ s a c tion “ with pre j udic e .” The phra s e “ dism issa l with pre judic e ” is “ sy

nony m ous” with “ [f] ina l judgm e nt on the m e rits.” He lls C any on Pre

s. C ounc il v . U.S. Fore

st Se rv . , 403 F.3d 683, 686 (9th C ir. 2005). He re , the distric t c ourt c le arly did not intend to fina lly de c i de the m e rits. Inste a d, it c onte m plate d tha t Avila would litiga

te his
c la im s in M e xic o. W e re m and to thedistric t c ourt with dire c tions to c orre c t the dism issa l orde r to re fle c t

tha t dismissa l of the c om

pla int is “w ithout pre

judic e .” In light of the

fore going, we ne e d not re solve whe the r the distric t c ourt e rre d in gra nting Guillen’ s m otion to dism iss for fa ilure to sta

te a c la im and forum

non
c onve nie ns. AFFIRM E D in par t and RE M ANDE D w ith instr uc tions
.

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