Opinion
CASE NO. 3:20-cv-1213 (MPS)
04-20-2021
KEVIN W. CURRYTTO, Plaintiff, v. JANE DOE #1, et al., Defendants.
RULING ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE
Plaintiff Kevin W. Currytto has filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging his medical care. The plaintiff has filed a motion to strike an attachment to the defendants' motion to dismiss.
Motions to strike are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f) which provides: "The court may strike from a pleading an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter." Although "Rule 12(f) motion[s are] left to the district court's discretion," they are generally "disfavored and granted only if there is a strong reason to do so." Sibley v. Choice Hotels Int'l, Inc., 304 F.R.D. 125, 132 (E.D.N.Y. 2015) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
Motions to strike under Rule 12(f) "are only appropriately directed to pleadings." Santiago v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., No. 3:05-CV-405(JBA), 2006 WL 3098759, at *1 (D. Conn. Oct. 31, 2006) (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). Pleadings include only various complaints and answers. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(a). Thus, by its plain language, the rule does not apply to a memorandum or exhibits attached thereto. See Choi v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 16-CV-5392(WFK), 2021 WL 790381, at * 3 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 9, 2021) ("A Rule 12(f) motion to strike is not proper in this instance, as an exhibit to a brief is not a 'pleading' under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."); Innovation Ventures LLC v. Pittsburg Wholesale Grocers Inc., No. 13-CV-6397(KAM)(ST), 2019 WL 3817389, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 14, 2019) ("Courts in this Circuit routinely deny motions to strike under Rule 12(f) which target legal briefs and memoranda as opposed to pleadings.") (citing cases); O'Brien v. Wisniewski, No. 3:10-CV-120(CSH), 2012 WL 1118076, at *3 (D. Conn. Apr. 3, 2012) (Rule 12(f) does not apply to briefing in support of or opposition to a motion).
The plaintiff's motion to strike [ECF No. 45] is DENIED.
SO ORDERED at Hartford, Connecticut, this 20th day of April 2021.
/s/_________
Michael P. Shea
United States District Judge