99-3017 Stanciel v. Gramley, et al.

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“Stanciel has presented an argument that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing defendants Lowery, Kelly, and Reider for lack of timely service. He claims the district court erred by invoking Local Rule 7.1(B) to dismiss defendants for improper service when they were, in fact, timely served. Even if Stanciel is correct, however, he waived the issue by failing to object to the ruling in the trial court. Moreover, we believe that any error did not affect Stanciel’s ‘substantial rights’ and was therefore harmless. Fed. R. Civ. P. 61; see also Mason v. Southern Ill. Univ. at Carbondale, 233 F.3d 1036, 1042 (7th Cir. 2000). The allegations against defendant Reider were the same as the claims against defendants Eaton and Knight, both of whom the jury found not liable. Similarly, Stanciel’s claims against Lowery and Kelly were virtually identical to his claims against Gramley, who the jury also found not liable. Stanciel has not even attempted to point to any relevant legal or factual differences between the three defendants dismissed for untimely service and those that the jury found not liable at trial. Thus, we find that the district court’s decision to dismiss Lowery, Kelly, and Reider for untimely service was, at most, harmless error.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Mihm, J., Kanne, J.