Abbassi v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Cynthia Ann Bashant (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the plaintiff and defendant to compel arbitration of individual claims, dismiss class claims, and dismiss claims against a co-defendant. The court granted the motion, dismissing the class claims and claims against Ashley Furniture Industries without prejudice, ordering arbitration of the individual claims, and staying the action.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Dismissal of all claims against Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. without prejudice“Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE all claims against Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.” | agree with court The dismissal is based on the parties' joint stipulation and request. In the context of a joint motion to resolve procedural and jurisdictional matters, the court has discretion to grant the request to streamline the litigation, particularly when the remaining claims are being sent to arbitration. |
Dismissal of the first through fifth causes of action raised on behalf of the proposed class (Class Claims) without prejudice“The Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE the Class Claims, which are the first through fifth causes of actions raised against Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, on behalf of the proposed class members.” | agree with court The parties jointly requested this dismissal, likely because the arbitration agreement covers individual claims but the class claims are being withdrawn or resolved separately (often PAGA claims are treated differently, and here the 6th cause of action is PAGA and not subject to arbitration per the stipulation, but the other class claims are being dismissed). Granting a joint motion to dismiss class claims without prejudice is a standard procedural accommodation. |
Granting Plaintiff leave to file a First Amended Complaint“The Court GRANTS Plaintiff leave to amend the pleading. On or before November 30, 2020, Plaintiff SHALL file the First Amended Complaint attached to the present motion.” | agree with court Leave to amend is generally liberally granted, especially when requested jointly by the parties to reflect the current status of the case (i.e., removing dismissed claims). |
Ordering Plaintiff and Stoneledge Furniture, LLC to proceed to arbitration for Individual Claims“The Court ORDERS Yama Abbassi and Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, to proceed to arbitration for Abbassi’s Individual Claims, which are the first through fifth causes of actions raised on behalf of himself.” | agree with court The parties stipulated to the existence of a valid arbitration agreement and jointly requested the court to compel arbitration. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, courts must enforce valid arbitration agreements. Since the parties are jointly moving for this, there is no dispute to resolve, and the court correctly orders arbitration. |
Staying the action and administratively closing it pending arbitration“The Court STAYS this action as to all parties and all claims. See 9 U.S.C. § 3. Further, the Court directs the Clerk of Court to ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE this action pending the resolution of the arbitration.” | agree with court Under 9 U.S.C. § 3, a court must stay proceedings if a case is referred to arbitration. The administrative closing is a standard docket management tool that does not affect jurisdiction, as cited in the order. |
The order itself: sound — The order is a straightforward grant of a joint motion. The court correctly applies the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 3) to stay the case and cites Ninth Circuit precedent (Dees v. Billy) to support the administrative closing. The reasoning is sufficient for a joint motion where the parties have stipulated to the facts and the relief requested.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 YAMA ABBASSI, Case No. 20-cv-1745-BAS-BLM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 v. MOTION FOR ARBITRATION, TO DISMISS PUTATIVE CLASS 14 STONELEDGE FURNITURE, LLC, et CLAIMS, AND FOR LEAVE TO al., 15 AMEND PLEADING (ECF No. 11) Defendants. 16 17 18 19 On July 6, 2020, Plaintiff Yama Abbassi sued Defendants Stoneledge Furniture, 20 LLC and Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., individually and on behalf of the members of 21 the proposed class, alleging violations of the California Labor Code. (State Ct. Compl. 22 (“SCC”), ECF No. 1-2.) Pending before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion for Binding 23 Arbitration, to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Putative Class Claims on Behalf of All Others Similarly 24 Situated, and to File a First Amended Complaint. (Joint Mot., ECF No. 11.) The parties 25 represent that prior to filing the present action, Abbassi signed and entered into a mutual 26 agreement with Defendant Stoneledge to arbitrate disputes arising from his employment 27 (the “Arbitration Agreement”). (Joint Mot. at 2.) The parties stipulate that the Arbitration 28 Agreement does not require the parties to arbitrate Abbassi’s sixth cause of action, which 1 he brings under the California Private Attorneys General Act, Cal. Lab. Code §§ 2698, et 2 seq. (“PAGA”). (Id.) 3 In the present motion, the parties request the court to: 4 1) dismiss without prejudice all claims against Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.; 5 2) dismiss without prejudice the first five causes of action raised on behalf of the 6 proposed class1 (“Class Claims”); 7 3) grant Abbassi leave to file a First Amended Complaint reflecting the dismissal of 8 the Class Claims and the claims against Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.; 9 4) order Abbassi and Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, to proceed to arbitration for Abbassi’s 10 individual claims, which are the first five causes of action raised on behalf of himself 11 (“Individual Claims”), by a JAMS arbitrator (“the Arbitrator”); 12 5) stay the present action pending the resolution of the arbitration; 13 6) retain jurisdiction over this action; and 14 7) once the arbitration is completed, enter the arbitration award rendered by the 15 Arbitrator as the judgment in this action. 16 (Id.) 17 Good cause appearing, the Court GRANTS the parties’ joint motion. 18 Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE all claims against 19 Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. 20 The Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE the Class Claims, which are the 21 first through fifth causes of actions raised against Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, on behalf of 22 the proposed class members. 23 24 25 26 1 The proposed class consists of “[a]ll persons who are employed or have been employed by 27 ASHLEY FURNITURE INDUSTRIES and/or STONELEDGE in the State of California and classified as a ‘sales leader’ or ‘sales associate’ during the four (4) year period preceding the filing of this action.” 28 1 The Court GRANTS Plaintiff leave to amend the pleading. On or before November 2 ||30, 2020, Plaintiff SHALL file the First Amended Complaint attached to the present 3 || motion. 4 The Court ORDERS Yama Abbassi and Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, to proceed to 5 || arbitration for Abbassi’s Individual Claims, which are the first through fifth causes of 6 || actions raised on behalf of himself. 7 The Court STAYS this action as to all parties and all claims. See 9 U.S.C. § 3. 8 Further, the Court directs the Clerk of Court to ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE this 9 || action pending the resolution of the arbitration. The decision to administratively close this 10 || action pending the resolution of the arbitration does not have any jurisdictional effect. See 11 || Dees v. Billy, 394 F.3d 1290, 1294 (9th Cir. 2005) (“[A] district court order staying judicial 12 || proceedings and compelling arbitration is not appealable even if accompanied by an 13 |}administrative closing. An order administratively closing a case is a docket management 14 || tool that has no jurisdictional effect.’’). 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 /) yy 18 || DATED: November 19, 2020 (i A A (Liphan é 19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28