Filed: Apr. 15, 2014
Latest Update: Apr. 15, 2014
Summary: OPINION AND ORDER JOHN E. STEELE, District Judge. This matter comes before the Court on review of defendant Florida Department of Children and Families' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #3) and defendant Marla Timmons and Jacqui McMiller's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #4) 1 filed on January 9, 2014. Plaintiff filed a Response in Opposition (Docs. ## 6-7) to all three motions to dismiss on January 23, 2014. Plaintiff also moved to amend the Complaint to correct a Scrivener's error. (Doc. #6, p. 6.) Under
Summary: OPINION AND ORDER JOHN E. STEELE, District Judge. This matter comes before the Court on review of defendant Florida Department of Children and Families' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #3) and defendant Marla Timmons and Jacqui McMiller's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #4) 1 filed on January 9, 2014. Plaintiff filed a Response in Opposition (Docs. ## 6-7) to all three motions to dismiss on January 23, 2014. Plaintiff also moved to amend the Complaint to correct a Scrivener's error. (Doc. #6, p. 6.) Under F..
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OPINION AND ORDER
JOHN E. STEELE, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on review of defendant Florida Department of Children and Families' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #3) and defendant Marla Timmons and Jacqui McMiller's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #4)1 filed on January 9, 2014. Plaintiff filed a Response in Opposition (Docs. ## 6-7) to all three motions to dismiss on January 23, 2014. Plaintiff also moved to amend the Complaint to correct a Scrivener's error. (Doc. #6, p. 6.)
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a Complaint must contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The Complaint in this case incorporates by reference all of the allegations from each Count into each subsequent count. (Doc. #2, ¶¶ 33, 38, 44, 50, 60.) "The typical shotgun complaint contains several counts, each one incorporating by reference the allegations of its predecessors, leading to a situation where most of the counts (i.e., all but the first) contain irrelevant factual allegations and legal conclusions." Strategic Income Fund, L.L.C. v. Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Corp., 305 F.3d 1293, 1295 (11th Cir. 2002). The Eleventh Circuit has consistently frowned upon shotgun pleadings such as the one presented herein, and shotgun pleadings "exact an intolerable toll on the trial court's docket." Cramer v. Florida, 117 F.3d 1258, 1263 (11th Cir. 1997). See also Davis v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consol., 516 F.3d 955, 979 n.54 (11th Cir. 2008)(collecting cases). Accordingly, the Eleventh Circuit has established that when faced with a shotgun pleading, a district court should require the parties to file an amended pleading rather than allow such a case to proceed to trial. Byrne v. Nezhat, 261 F.3d 1075, 1130 (11th Cir. 2001); Paylor v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., No. 13-12696, 2014 WL 1363544, **7-8 (11th Cir. Apr. 8, 2014). Therefore, the Complaint will be dismissed on this basis and the motions to dismiss denied as moot.
In light of plaintiff's request to amend the Complaint, the Court will further permit plaintiff the opportunity to amend the Complaint to correct any other pleading deficiencies deemed appropriate.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
1. The Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial is dismissed without prejudice to filing an Amended Complaint within FOURTEEN (14) DAYS of this Opinion and Order.
2. Defendant DCF's Motions to Dismiss (Doc. #3) is DENIED AS MOOT.
3. Defendants' Marla Timmons and Jacqui McMiller's Motions to Dismiss (Doc. #4) are DENIED AS MOOT.
DONE AND ORDERED.
