Karsjens v. McCauley
- Donovan Frank
- 0:15-cv-02590
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Karsjens v. Gross, Judge Frank granted Karsjens’s request to end the case without prejudice and denied Gross’s dismissal motion as moot.
Kevin Scott Karsjens’s claims against Jenn Gross were dismissed without prejudice, while Gross’s motion to dismiss was denied as moot. Claims against Dana Osborne and Thorne Torgerson had already been dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
Kevin Scott Karsjens, representing himself, asked to dismiss the case entirely without prejudice. Claims against Dana Osborne and Thorne Torgerson had already been dismissed without prejudice for failure to complete service, leaving Jenn Gross as the only remaining defendant.
The court treated Karsjens’s letter as a notice of voluntary dismissal under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Because Gross had not answered the complaint or sought summary judgment, Karsjens could dismiss his claims against her without the court’s approval.
The court granted Karsjens’s request, dismissed his claims against Gross without prejudice, and denied Gross’s motion to dismiss as moot. Judge Donovan W. Frank issued the order.
The detailed version
- Karsjens v. McCauley · No. 0:15-cv-02590
- Donovan Frank
- Dec. 20, 2023
Background
Kevin Scott Karsjens, who was representing himself, submitted a letter asking to dismiss the case in its entirety without prejudice. Before this order, the court had adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed Karsjens’s claims against Dana Osborne and Thorne Torgerson in their individual capacities without prejudice because Karsjens had not completed service on them. Jenn Gross was the only remaining defendant.
Analysis
Although Karsjens’s letter did not cite Rule 41(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court construed it as a notice of voluntary dismissal under that rule. A voluntary dismissal allows a plaintiff to end claims without a ruling on their merits. The court found that Gross had not answered the complaint and had not moved for summary judgment. A motion to dismiss does not count as either an answer or a motion for summary judgment for purposes of this rule. Therefore, Karsjens had the right to voluntarily dismiss his claims against Gross without the court’s approval.
Disposition
The court GRANTED Karsjens’s pro se letter request to dismiss the case in its entirety without prejudice. It DISMISSED Karsjens’s claims against Gross WITHOUT PREJUDICE. It also DENIED AS MOOT Gross’s motion to dismiss. Judge Donovan W. Frank signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.