Manning Kass Team Granted Motion For Summary Judgment Dismissing All Federal Claims

Manning Kass was recently granted a Motion For Summary Judgment after the court dismissed all of the federal claims in a recent case. The case revolved around incidents with a vendor selling food on the streets of Santa Monica, with the plaintiff filing state and federal claims alleging that the City of Santa Monica and its police department violated the plaintiff's rights.

The plaintiff had been illegally selling food without a license for years in the streets of Santa Monica. The city’s Municipal Code generally prohibits cooking or selling hot dogs on the Santa Monica Pier. The plaintiff had several encounters with law enforcement, which resulted in numerous citations. The plaintiff filed a suit against the City of Santa Monica and its police department alleging that the defendants unreasonably subjected her to excessive force and otherwise violated her rights in two of those encounters. 

The Manning Kass team was able to overcome the plaintiff's claims and successfully argued that the officers involved did not violate the plaintiff's rights and did not commit any federal violations. When the defense moved for Summary Judgment, it was granted based on the plaintiff being unable to support her assertions, and therefore determined that there was no genuine dispute of material fact in this case. The court dismissed all federal claims against the city of Santa Monica and its police department, including all of the officers involved. 

The court declined to retain supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims, and the case has been remanded for further adjudication. 

The defense was led by Manning Kass Los Angeles Partner Kayleigh A. Andersen and San Diego Associate Lacey N. Sipsey.