Abozaid v. Four Unknown Named Agents of The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

Background

The plaintiff moved for an order granting, retroactively, additional time to respond to a motion to dismiss filed by defendants Anders and Nell. The plaintiff’s counsel stated that more than 10 members of counsel’s staff had tested positive for COVID-19, which caused the plaintiff and counsel to miss the January 11, 2021 response deadline.

Anders and Nell opposed the request. They argued that they had been living under the burden of the plaintiff’s complaint while the plaintiff had done little to advance the case during the 10 months after filing it.

Court’s analysis and ruling

The court found that Anders and Nell had not identified any prejudice they would suffer from allowing additional time under the circumstances. Applying Northern District of California Civil Local Rule 6-3(d), the court granted the plaintiff’s motion.

The court set March 16, 2021, as the deadline for the plaintiff’s opposition to the motion to dismiss, March 30, 2021, as the deadline for Anders and Nell’s reply, and April 15, 2021, for the hearing.

The court also addressed the case’s unidentified defendants. Although the complaint had not been amended, Anders and Nell had appeared, consented to a magistrate judge’s jurisdiction, and moved to dismiss. Because it was unclear whether the plaintiff intended to pursue two additional unnamed defendants, the court ordered the plaintiff to file an amended complaint by March 1, 2021, identifying the defendants by name and clarifying whether she still intended to pursue the additional unnamed defendants. The court stated that, if the plaintiff proceeded only against Anders and Nell, it could decide the motion to dismiss using the original complaint and the schedule it had set. The order disposed of docket entry 38.