Opinion ID: 419209
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismissal of the Third-Party Complaint

Text: 25 The district court dismissed the third-party complaint because it was not transactionally related to the forfeiture action and thus not permissible under Fed.R.Civ.P. 14. 7 The decision to allow a third-party defendant to be impleaded under rule 14 is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court. See Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 567 F.2d 429, 477 (D.C.Cir.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1086, 98 S.Ct. 1281, 55 L.Ed.2d 792 (1978); United States v. Pioneer Lumber Treating Co., 496 F.Supp. 199, 203 (E.D.Wash.1980); 6 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 1443, at 208 (1971) and cases cited therein. Thus, we review the trial court's action for an abuse of that discretion. 26 Fed.R.Civ.P. 14(a) provides for service of a third-party complaint upon a person not a party to the action who is or may be liable to [the original defendant] for all or part of the plaintiff's claim. Thus, a third-party claim may be asserted only when the third party's liability is in some way dependant on the outcome of the main claim and the third party's liability is secondary or derivative. See Baker v. Limber, 647 F.2d 912, 914-15 n. 2 (9th Cir.1981) (alternative holding); House v. Mine Safety Appliances Co., 573 F.2d 609, 622 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 862, 99 S.Ct. 182, 58 L.Ed.2d 171 (1978); United States v. Joe Grasso & Son, Inc., 380 F.2d 749, 751 (5th Cir.1967); United States v. Hutchins, 47 F.R.D. 340, 341 (D.Or.1969); 6 C. Wright & A. Miller, supra Sec. 1446, at 246. It is not sufficient that the third-party claim is a related claim; the claim must be derivatively based on the original plaintiff's claim. 27 In the present case, Webb asserts claims against a federal agent and various entities associated with the City and County of Los Angeles for violation of her constitutional rights in connection with the transfer of custody of her automobile from the city to the federal authorities. These claims are related to but not derivative of the original forfeiture claim. Further, the natures of the two claims are entirely different and independent. Although there may be some economy in trying these claims together, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the third-party complaint.