Uzun v. San Francisco Sheriff's Office
- Laurel Beeler
- 3:26-cv-00756
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Guven Uzun v. San Francisco Sheriff's Office, Judge Breyer struck the proposed amended complaint and denied Uzun’s temporary restraining-order request.
Guven Uzun, whose proposed amended complaint was struck and whose temporary restraining-order application was denied; the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and deputy sheriff Leonard Maloney, who obtained the requested ruling.
What happened
In Guven Uzun v. San Francisco Sheriff's Office, the court had previously dismissed the defendants’ claims with prejudice, while allowing amendment only of an emotional-distress claim against the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and deputy sheriff Leonard Maloney. Uzun filed an amended complaint presented as a request to amend and sought a temporary restraining order based on alleged stalking and harassment.
The Sheriff’s Office and Maloney asked the court to strike the proposed complaint because it revived claims already dismissed with prejudice and added claims beyond the permission to amend. The court granted that motion. The court also denied Uzun’s request for a temporary restraining order, finding that he had no operative complaint and no likelihood of success on the merits at that stage.
Judge Charles R. Breyer ruled that the proposed complaint violated the earlier order by reasserting dismissed claims and adding new claims, including municipal liability. He also found Uzun’s allegations of intimidation and retaliation implausible, although the court said Uzun plausibly alleged that a police vehicle had sometimes been near his car.
The detailed version
- Uzun v. San Francisco Sheriff's Office · No. 3:26-cv-00756
- Laurel Beeler
- Aug. 14, 2026
Background
The court stated that it had previously granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss with prejudice. That earlier order allowed Guven Uzun to amend only an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim against the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and deputy sheriff Leonard Maloney, whom the opinion called the “Sheriffs.” The earlier order also stated that Uzun could not reintroduce issues that had been dismissed with prejudice.
Uzun filed a notice of appeal concerning the earlier order and later amended it so that he appealed only the dismissal involving Judge Rochelle East. He then filed an amended complaint styled as a motion for leave to amend. He separately applied for a protective order seeking a temporary restraining order against the Sheriffs based on alleged stalking and harassment. The court concluded that it retained jurisdiction to decide the pending motions because of the amended appeal notice.
Motion to Strike
The Sheriffs moved to strike the proposed amended complaint. They argued that it reasserted claims previously dismissed with prejudice and exceeded the limited permission to amend.
The court agreed. It found that Uzun’s proposed complaint continued claims against Judge East and the Sheriffs that the court had already dismissed with prejudice. It also found that Uzun added new claims, including a municipal-liability claim. Because the earlier order permitted amendment only as to the specified emotional-distress claim against the Sheriffs, the court held that the proposed complaint violated that order. The court therefore granted the Sheriffs’ motion to strike the proposed complaint.
Temporary Restraining Order
A temporary restraining order is an emergency court order seeking short-term relief. The court said that the most important factor was the likelihood of success on the merits. It denied Uzun’s application because, after the earlier dismissal and the order striking the proposed complaint, he lacked an operative complaint. The court also found his allegations of intimidation and retaliation implausible. It noted that, at most, Uzun plausibly alleged that a police vehicle had sometimes been near his car.
The court therefore denied Uzun’s application for a temporary restraining order.
Disposition
Judge Charles R. Breyer granted the Sheriffs’ motion to strike and denied Uzun’s application for a temporary restraining order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.