STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO AMEND COMPLAINT

WILLIAM B. SHUBB, District Judge.

Pursuant to Local Rule 143, the parties hereby agree, stipulate, and propose that Plaintiff be permitted to file an amended complaint to name the United States as a defendant, and to remove the United States Postal Service and Paul Wayne Culbertson as defendants. The parties further stipulate that Plaintiff may file his first amended complaint on or before January 8, 2018. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(3), the United States has 14 days to respond to the amended complaint.

Further, the pending motion to dismiss challenges only Plaintiff's naming of the United States Postal Service and its employee Paul Wayne Culbertson instead of the United States. But 28 U.S.C. § 2679(b)(1) provides that federal agencies and employees are immune from suit for torts committed in the "course and scope" of their employment, as Plaintiff alleges. See Dkt. No. 16. Therefore, the parties agree that the filing of an amended complaint naming only the United States as a defendant, and not naming the United States Postal Service or any federal employee, will moot the pending motion.

Therefore, the parties stipulate and propose that the Court permit Plaintiff to file her first amended complaint on or before January 8, 2018, and that the United States file a responsive pleading on or before January 22, 2018. If Plaintiff files a complaint naming only the United States, the United States will withdraw the pending motion.

Good cause appearing, IT IS SO ORDERED.

Plaintiff may file her first amended complaint on or before January 8, 2018. The United States' responsive pleading shall be filed on or before January 22, 2018.