Estate of Timothy A. Cramer v. City of Oakland

Background

The City of Oakland, Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, and Officer Kaleo Albino filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25. The remaining defendants joined that motion. The motion concerned a late-filed request to substitute Ashley McCoy, identified as the deceased plaintiff’s daughter, in the action.

Court’s reasoning

The court held that Rule 25(a)(1) did not require dismissal in these circumstances. Instead, it said that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b) allowed the court to consider whether the late substitution request should be accepted. Rule 6(b) permits an extension after a deadline when there is good cause and the failure to meet the deadline resulted from excusable neglect—an understandable reason for the delay under the circumstances.

The court found both requirements satisfied. Recent filings indicated that McCoy had begun probate proceedings in the San Francisco County Superior Court to obtain appointment as administrator of the plaintiff’s estate. The court said McCoy appeared to be a proper person to seek substitution and had taken steps to obtain the necessary appointment and pursue the action. The court also considered the difficult circumstances created by the pandemic and found that the delay was not excessive. Plaintiff’s counsel sought an extension three weeks after the January 14, 2021 deadline and filed the substitution request about a month after that deadline.

Ruling

Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton denied the motion to dismiss. The court allowed the defendants to respond to the merits of the pending motion to substitute McCoy, but required any response to address only that motion. The court stated that it would not hear further argument on the merits of the now-denied motion to dismiss and cautioned plaintiff’s counsel that future untimely filings would not be tolerated.