Opinion
DAVID YEREMIAN & ASSOCIATES, INC. Michele Jackson, Glendale, California, Attorneys for Plaintiff LAURA EMERTON
Sarah R. Nichols, Victoria L. Tallman, OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C., San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Defendant CLEAN HARBORS INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, INC.
STIPULATION AND ORDER TO PERMIT PLAINTIFF TO AMEND FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT TO ADD CLEAN HARBORS INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, INC. AS A DEFENDANT
TROY L. NUNLEY, District Judge.
Plaintiff Laura Emerton ("Plaintiff") and Defendant Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. ("Defendant"), by and through their undersigned attorneys, hereby stipulate as follows:
STIPULATION
A. WHEREAS, Plaintiff originally named Clean Harbors, Inc. as the defendant in this action, filed in Solano County Superior Court on October 3, 2014, Case No. FCS044304;
B. WHEREAS, counsel for Defendant promptly informed counsel for Plaintiff that the appropriate entity in this action is not Clean Harbors, Inc., but rather is Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. and timely filed an Answer on behalf of Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. in Solano County Superior Court on November 12, 2014, identifying that Defendant was "erroneously sued as Clean Harbors, Inc.";
C. WHEREAS, Defendant timely removed the matter to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on November 13, 2014, based on diversity jurisdiction;
D. WHEREAS, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (hereinafter "FAC"), which is the operative pleading in this action, on March 9, 2015, again naming only Clean Harbors, Inc. as a defendant;
E. WHEREAS, Defendant Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. answered the FAC on March 26, 2015, and again indicated that Defendant was incorrectly sued as Clean Harbors, Inc.;
F. WHEREAS, Plaintiff's counsel represented that she would substitute in Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc., if Defendant provided Plaintiff's counsel with a declaration establishing Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. as the Plaintiff's employer;
G. WHEREAS on June 11, 2015, Defendant provided a declaration from Robert Edwards, the U.S. Payroll Manager for Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. establishing that Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. is Plaintiff's former employer during the relevant timeframe and therefore the correct defendant in this action;
H. WHEREAS, Plaintiff now seeks to make an amendment to the FAC to add Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. as a defendant in this action, pursuant to the information provided by Robert Edwards;
I. WHEREAS, Plaintiff believes that the documents produced by Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. indicate that Clean Harbors, Inc. was also an employer of the Plaintiff and controlled and maintained the policies and procedures giving rise to the claims and contributed to the wrongful conduct alleged by Plaintiff in the FAC - which assertions Defendant denies in their entirety - Plaintiff does not wish to remove Clean Harbors, Inc. as a defendant in this action, but wishes to proceed against both Clean Harbors, Inc. and Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc.
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED:
1. Plaintiff may amend her Complaint to add Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. as a Defendant in this action.
2. Plaintiff is directed to file the amended complaint within seven (7) days of the entry of this order.
ORDER
The Court having reviewed the foregoing Stipulation, and good cause appearing therefore:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff, LAURA EMERTON is granted leave to amend her Complaint to add Defendant Clean Harbors Industrial Services, Inc. as a defendant in this action. Plaintiff is directed to file the amended complaint within seven (7) days of the entry of this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.