[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 16-15400

________________________

D.C. Docket No. 2:13-cv-0036-JES-DNF

PAMELA M. PERRY, M.D.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

THE SCHUMACHER GROUP OF LOUISIANA,

a Louisiana Corporation,

THE SCHUMACHER GROUP OF FLORIDA, INC.,

a Florida Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees,

COLLIER EMERGENCY GROUP, LLC,

a Florida Limited Liability Company,

Defendant-Cross DefendantCross Claimant-Appellee,

HEALTH MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.,

a Florida Corporation, 

Defendant- Cross Claimant -Appellee,

HEALTH MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.,

a Michigan Corporation,

Defendant-Appellee,

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 1 of 10 
2

NAPLES HMA, LLC,

a Florida Limited Liability Company,

dba Physicians Regional Healthcare System,

Defendant-Cross 

Claimant- Cross Defendant-Appellee.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

________________________

(June 4, 2018)

Before TJOFLAT and MARTIN, Circuit Judges, and MURPHY,

* District Judge.

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

In this workplace-discrimination, retaliation, and breach-of-contract case, 

Dr. Pamela Perry appeals the District Court’s denial of her motion to enter final 

judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), as to seven of her 

eight causes of action against three companies (referred to collectively as 

“Defendants”) for whom she once worked. The District Court disposed of those 

claims on the merits by dismissing some, granting summary judgment in favor of 

Defendants as to some, and entering judgment as a matter of law in favor of 

Defendants as to others. This left pending and due to be tried only one claim

against one Defendant: a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 discrimination claim against Defendant 

Naples HMA, LLC (“NHMA”). 

 * Honorable Stephen J. Murphy, III, United States District Judge for the Eastern District 

of Michigan, sitting by designation.

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 2 of 10 
3

In an effort to appeal the disposition of her other causes of action instead of 

trying the § 1981 claim in isolation, Dr. Perry entered into a joint stipulation with 

NHMA purporting to voluntarily dismiss the § 1981 claim pursuant to Federal 

Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) and then moved the District Court to enter final 

judgment on the remaining claims. The District Court denied the motion, finding 

that it no longer had jurisdiction over the action after Dr. Perry voluntarily 

dismissed her lone remaining claim. 

After careful consideration of the record, and with the benefit of oral 

argument, we reverse because the parties’ joint stipulation of dismissal was invalid. 

Rule 41(a)(1), according to its plain text, permits voluntary dismissals only of 

entire “actions,” not claims. Thus, the invalid joint stipulation did not divest the 

District Court of jurisdiction over the case. 

I.

Dr. Perry is an African-American physician who, during the time period 

relevant to the case, worked as medical director of Pine Ridge Medical Center in 

Naples, Florida. There are five named Defendants in this case, four of which are 

still part of the case and parties to this appeal. Two are subsidiaries of The 

Schumacher Group (“TSG”), a company that specializes in placing physicians in

hospitals in numerous states and worked with Dr. Perry in her placement at Pine 

Ridge. Collier Emergency Group, LLC (“CEG”) is an affiliate of TSG which

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 3 of 10 
4

offered Dr. Perry the position. Naples HMA, LLC (“NHMA”) operated the Pine 

Ridge facility. A fifth Defendant, Health Management Associates (“HMA”), was 

not affiliated with any of the other Defendants, and Dr. Perry stated that she sued 

this company in error. Accordingly, she voluntarily dismissed HMA from the 

case. 

In January 2013, Dr. Perry brought suit in the Middle District of Florida 

against Defendants, alleging that they discriminated and retaliated against her 

during her employment with them, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. After the case began, she asked for and received 

leave to amend her complaint four times. The final iteration, the Fourth Amended 

Complaint, contained eight claims raised in separate counts, each alleged against a 

specific Defendant or Defendants. 

As the case progressed, the District Court gradually disposed of seven of the 

eight counts, eliminating some by granting a joint motion to dismiss, others by 

granting summary judgment on some claims in favor of some Defendants, and still 

others by entering judgment for some Defendants on some claims as a matter of 

law. When the dust settled, only one count, § 1981 discrimination,

1 against one 

Defendant, NHMA, remained. 

 

1 In relevant part, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 states:

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 4 of 10 
5

Preferring not to proceed to trial on that claim alone, Dr. Perry attempted to 

first make it possible to appeal the disposal of her other claims. In an attempt to 

effectuate immediate appeal, she entered on November 9, 2014 into a “Joint 

Stipulation for Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice of Count III (42 U.S.C. 

§ 1981) of Fourth Amended Complaint” (“the Stipulation”). The Stipulation 

stated, “The parties agree that Count III of the Fourth Amended Complaint as the 

remaining claim in this action is hereby dismissed without prejudice.” The parties 

stated that they were filing the Stipulation pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 41(a)(1)(A), which governs voluntary dismissal of actions without a 

court order.2

 Thereafter, the District Court observed that “nothing further 

 

All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right 

in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give 

evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the 

security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be 

subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every 

kind, and to no other.

Id. § 1981(a).

2 Rule 41(a)(1) states: 

Voluntary Dismissal.

(1) By the Plaintiff.

(A) Without a Court Order. Subject to Rules 23(e), 23.1(c), 23.2, and 66 and any 

applicable federal statute, the plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order 

by filing:

(i) a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an answer or a 

motion for summary judgment; or

(ii) a stipulation of dismissal signed by all parties who have appeared.

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 5 of 10 
6

remain[ed] to be done” in the case, and accordingly entered judgment in favor of 

Defendants and dismissed all claims but the § 1981 discrimination claim with 

prejudice. 

On December 12, 2014, Dr. Perry appealed the disposition of her claims. 

On January 21, 2015, we ordered the parties to brief whether this Court had 

jurisdiction to entertain Dr. Perry’s appeal, in light of the fact that the District 

Court’s dismissal of her § 1981 discrimination claim was without prejudice. Five 

days later, Dr. Perry moved the District Court to enter final judgment, pursuant to 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), as to the claims of which the District Court 

disposed on the merits. The District Court denied her motion, finding that, in the 

wake of Dr. Perry’s voluntary dismissal of her sole remaining claim, it lacked 

jurisdiction to grant the Rule 54(b) motion. 

After receiving the parties’ responses to our jurisdictional question, we held 

that we lacked jurisdiction to consider Dr. Perry’s appeal because the District 

Court’s order disposing of her counts was “non-final.” Order of Aug. 28, 2015, 

Perry v. Schumacher Grp., No. 14-15600 (11th Cir. Aug. 28, 2015). On remand, 

Dr. Perry moved the District Court to dismiss her § 1981 discrimination claim with 

 

(B) Effect. Unless the notice or stipulation states otherwise, the dismissal is 

without prejudice. But if the plaintiff previously dismissed any federal- or statecourt action based on or including the same claim, a notice of dismissal operates 

as an adjudication on the merits.

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 6 of 10 
7

prejudice, and simultaneously filed a renewed motion for entry of final judgment. 

The District Court denied both motions, holding that it “lack[ed] jurisdiction over 

the substance of the case” in light of Dr. Perry’s earlier voluntary dismissal of her 

remaining claim. Dr. Perry timely appealed. 

II.

This case turns on resolution of one issue: whether the District Court had 

jurisdiction to entertain Dr. Perry’s motion to enter final judgment on her defeated 

claims, in the wake of the Stipulation’s entry. We conclude that the District Court

erred in finding that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion. The Court had 

(and still has) jurisdiction over the case, because the Stipulation was invalid. 

We are guided by the plain text of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 

41(a)(1)(A), which the parties invoked as the legal authority for their attempted 

voluntary dismissal of Dr. Perry’s § 1981 claim against NHMA. In relevant part, 

Rule 41(a)(1)(A) states, 

(A) Without a Court Order. Subject to Rules 23(e), 23.1(c), 23.2, and 

66 and any applicable federal statute, the plaintiff may dismiss an 

action without a court order by filing:

(i) a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an 

answer or a motion for summary judgment; or

(ii) a stipulation of dismissal signed by all parties who have appeared.

It is clear from the text that only an “action” may be dismissed. There is no 

mention in the Rule of the option to stipulate dismissal of a portion of a plaintiff’s 

lawsuit—e.g., a particular claim—while leaving a different part of the lawsuit 

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 7 of 10 
8

pending before the trial court. See Berthold Types Ltd. v. Adobe Sys. Inc., 242 F.3d 

772, 777 (7th Cir. 2001) (“Rule 41(a)(1)(i) does not speak of dismissing one claim 

in a suit; it speaks of dismissing ‘an action’—which is to say, the whole case.”); 9

Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2362 

(3d ed. 2008) (“[I]t has been held that when multiple claims are filed against a 

single defendant, Rule 41(a) is applicable only to the voluntary dismissal of all the 

claims in an action. A plaintiff who wishes to drop some claims but not others 

should do so by amending his complaint pursuant to Rule 15.”).

The operation of the Federal Rules confirms Rule 41(a)(1)(A)’s plain text. 

There are multiple ways to dismiss a single claim without dismissing an entire 

action. The easiest and most obvious is to seek and obtain leave to amend the 

complaint to eliminate the remaining claim, pursuant to Rule 15. Rule 15 states 

that an amendment to the pleadings is permitted upon permission from the other 

party or leave of the district court, and that “[t]he court should freely give leave 

when justice so requires.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). In this case, we cannot foresee 

how leave to amend could be denied given the circumstances. Dr. Perry wished to 

seek immediate appellate review of the District Court’s disposition of seven of her 

eight claims, did not wish to proceed to trial on one single claim against one single 

Defendant, and conceded that she was willing to drop her § 1981 claim against 

NHMA. Had she amended her complaint to remove that claim, the District Court 

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 8 of 10 
9

would have entered final judgment against her and she could have appealed 

everything at once. In short, Rule 15 was designed for situations like this.

Another option would have been to invoke Rule 54(b) before entering into 

the Stipulation. This option would have worked had Dr. Perry wished to preserve 

her § 1981 claim against NHMA. Rule 54(b) allows a plaintiff to seek and obtain 

final judgment on claims already defeated in an action with other claims still 

pending, as long as “there is no just reason for delay.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). As a 

general matter, it is likely that a plaintiff would have little trouble making that 

showing where, as here, the nucleus of her multi-claim and multi-party suit has 

been destroyed and she is now faced with committing the time and expense of 

trying only one claim against only one defendant. 

The existence of these procedural vehicles confirms that the purpose 

of Rule 41(a) is altogether different from that sought by the parties in this 

case. And it confirms what the Rule’s plain text says: a joint stipulation of 

voluntary dismissal may be used to dismiss only an “action” in its entirety. 

Thus, the Stipulation, which purported to dismiss “Count III of the Fourth 

Amended Complaint . . . without prejudice,” was invalid. By stroke of sheer 

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 9 of 10 
10

good fortune for Dr. Perry,3 the Stipulation did not divest the District Court 

of its jurisdiction. 

III.

We accordingly reverse the District Court’s decision.

SO ORDERED.

 

3 Had Dr. Perry succeeded in her attempted dismissal, she might have fallen into the 

dreaded “finality trap.” See generally Terry W. Schackmann & Barry L. Pickens, The Finality 

Trap: Accidentally Losing Your Right to Appeal, 58 J. Mo. B. 78 (2002). The finality trap 

happens when a district court disposes of some, but not all, claims on the merits, and the plaintiff 

then voluntarily dismisses the action without prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(a). A majority of 

circuits, including this Circuit, have held that when this occurs, the district court loses its 

jurisdiction to entertain a subsequent motion to enter final judgment on the previously disposed 

of claims. See id. at 83–84 (collecting cases). In turn, appellate review is permanently 

foreclosed because the dismissal of the action without prejudice is not a “final decision,” and 

thus is not appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and there is no court left with jurisdiction to make 

the decision “final.” See Ryan v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 577 F.2d 298, 302 (5th Cir. 1978) 

(holding that voluntary dismissal is not a final decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, because a 

voluntary dismissal without prejudice is “a dismissal without an adjudication on the merits” and 

hence does “not amount to a termination of the litigation between the parties”). This Court has 

not decided whether our version of the finality rule applies in the particular circumstances 

presented by this case, and the parties respectively devote the majority of their briefs arguing for 

and against recognition of the finality trap in such circumstances. Because the Stipulation was 

invalid, the case never left the District Court’s bosom. We thus have no occasion to reach that 

issue here.

Case: 16-15400 Date Filed: 06/04/2018 Page: 10 of 10