Bair v. Snohomish Cnty.

Full title: CHERYL BAIR, Plaintiff v. SNOHOMISH COUNTY, et al., Defendants

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE

Date published: Feb 18, 2020

CASE NO. 2:19-cv-00998-BJR (W.D. Wash. Feb. 18, 2020)

Opinion

CASE NO. 2:19-cv-00998-BJR

02-18-2020

CHERYL BAIR, Plaintiff v. SNOHOMISH COUNTY, et al., Defendants

BARBARA J. ROTHSTEIN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT

Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint. Dkt. No. 22. Through her motion, Plaintiff seeks to add previously undetermined defendants and two new causes of action one for Equal Protection and one for negligence. Defendants do not oppose the motion as far as it seeks to add new defendants or a cause of action for Equal Protection. Dkt. No. 24. Defendants do object to the addition of a state law negligence claim arguing that it is futile as Plaintiff failed to file a claim for damages before initiating suit, as required by RCW § 4.96. Id. at 5-7. As Plaintiff has now filed such a form, Defendants contend that the proper course is for her to voluntarily dismiss the current action and refile. Id. at 6-7. Plaintiff responds both that RCW § 4.96 applies only to state tort claims, and is thus inapplicable to her federal-based claims here alleged, and that forcing her to refile or file a separate negligence action is impractical. Dkt. No. 26.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 provides that courts should "freely give leave [to amend pleadings] when justice so requires." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). The Ninth Circuit has confirmed that this rule is to be applied with "'extreme liberality" in favor of granting amendments. United States v. Webb, 655 F.2d 977, 979 (9th Cir. 1981) (quoting Rosenberg Bros. & Co. v. Arnold, 283 F.2d 406, 406 (9th Cir. 1960)); see also Hoang v. Bank of Am., N.A., 910 F.3d 1096, 1102 (9th Cir. 2018).

The parties dispute the efficacy of Plaintiff's efforts to comply with RCW § 4.96. Resolution of this issue is best reserved for a motion to dismiss with attendant briefing.

The Court is unpersuaded that the delay in adding the new claims contained in Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint prejudices Defendants.

For the foregoing reasons, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint in its entirety.

DATED this 18^th day of February, 2020.

/s/_________

BARBARA J. ROTHSTEIN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE