HealthNOW Medical Center, Inc v. State Farm General Insurance Co.
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:20-cv-04340
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In HealthNOW Medical Center v. State Farm, Judge Gilliam ordered HealthNOW to choose between amending its complaint and seeking dismissal to appeal.
HealthNOW Medical Center, Inc. and State Farm General Insurance Co.; the order primarily directed HealthNOW’s next procedural step.
What happened
In HealthNOW Medical Center, Inc v. State Farm General Insurance Co., the court said it had dismissed HealthNOW’s second amended complaint on State Farm’s motion but had allowed HealthNOW 21 days to amend. HealthNOW appealed instead of filing an amended complaint.
The court explained that a dismissal allowing amendment generally is not appealable. HealthNOW could decline to amend and stand on its pleading, but it needed to request dismissal with prejudice so it could appeal immediately.
Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. ordered HealthNOW to submit a one-page statement by January 8, 2021, confirming that it declined to amend, or to file an amended complaint by that date. The order itself did not enter the requested dismissal.
The detailed version
- HealthNOW Medical Center, Inc v. State Farm General Insurance Co. · No. 4:20-cv-04340
- Haywood Gilliam
- Dec. 29, 2020
Background
On December 10, 2020, the court granted State Farm General Insurance Co.’s motion to dismiss HealthNOW Medical Center, Inc.’s second amended complaint. The court gave HealthNOW permission to file another amended complaint within 21 days.
Instead of amending, HealthNOW appealed the dismissal order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court explained that an order dismissing a complaint while allowing the plaintiff to amend is not an appealable final order. It also explained that a plaintiff may choose to stand on its pleading rather than amend.
Order
The court issued an order to show cause. It stated that when a plaintiff declines to amend in order to appeal immediately, the proper procedure is for the district court to dismiss the action with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which concerns failure to state a claim. The court said it would enter that dismissal if HealthNOW requested it.
The court ordered HealthNOW to submit a one-page statement by January 8, 2021, confirming that it declined the opportunity to amend. If HealthNOW did not make that choice, it was to file an amended complaint by January 8, 2021. This order did not itself dismiss the action with prejudice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.