By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 13, 2015//
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Civil Procedure – Consolidation
The district court erred in dismissing a plaintiff’s Monell claim after resolution of the claims against individual officers.
“Several procedural missteps require a remand here. First, the judge wrongly assumed that Swanigan was waiving all but two theories of Monell liability and dismissed the entire suit based on that mistaken premise. Moreover, under Rule15(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Swanigan was entitled to amend his complaint within 21 days of a responsive pleading or motion to dismiss, which would have been the next step after the stay was lifted, as it should have been. And a sua sponte dismissal for failure to state a claim—a merits adjudication—is improper.”
Vacated and Remanded.
12-1261 Swanigan v. City of Chicago
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kendall, J., Sykes, J.