Sepulveda v. OKL Inc.

Background

Richard Sepulveda brought claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and California state law. He alleged that OKL Inc., doing business as San Leandro Gas & Car Wash, and Bodh Kunwar and Chitra Kunwar, whom he alleged owned the property where the Car Wash is located, failed to provide barrier-free access.

Motions

Daven Loomba filed two motions to quash the summons and complaint. The opinion does not state Loomba’s relationship to the named defendants. It states that the proof of service identified him as OKL Inc.’s agent for service of process. Although the second motion was signed by the Kunwar defendants, it also carried Loomba’s name on its face page.

Court’s ruling

The court struck both motions under Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It explained that Loomba was not a named defendant and, as a nonlawyer, could not appear for the individual defendants. The court also stated that he could not appear for OKL Inc., because a corporation may appear in the court only through a member of the court’s bar.

The court also struck Loomba’s declination of magistrate-judge jurisdiction. Because he was not a defendant, and could not act for any named defendant for the reasons stated above, he could not consent to or decline magistrate-judge jurisdiction on their behalf.

The individual defendants may file their own motion to quash, with or without counsel. If OKL Inc. seeks to file such a motion, it must do so through counsel. The court extended the defendants’ deadline to respond to the complaint to 30 days from the date of the order and continued the case-management conference from November 13, 2020, to January 22, 2021, at 2:00 p.m.