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ARTZ AS TRUSTEE OF EDWARD JAMES ARTZ TRUST v. FLORA (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-01-25No. No. 20-16321

Summary

Holding. The district court's judgment dismissing Artz's action for failure to state a plausible claim is affirmed.

Edward James Artz appealed pro se from a district court decision that dismissed his action seeking to compel arbitration. The appeals court reviewed the dismissal without deference to the district court's judgment. The appellate court found that the district court properly dismissed the case because Artz's complaint failed to allege enough factual information to state a legally viable claim for relief. The court rejected Artz's arguments that the district court violated his constitutional rights or engaged in any improper conduct.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether Artz alleged sufficient facts to state a plausible claim for compelling arbitration
  • Whether the district court acted improperly or violated Artz's constitutional rights

Procedural posture

Artz appealed pro se from the district court's dismissal of his complaint seeking to compel arbitration.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Edward James Artz appeals pro se from the district courts judgment dismissing his action seeking to compel arbitration. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Kilgore v. KeyBank, Natl Assn, 718 F.3d 1052, 1057 (9th Cir. 2013) (denial of motion to compel arbitration); Omar v. Sea-Land Serv., Inc., 813 F.2d 986, 991 (9th Cir. 1987) (sua sponte dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6)). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Artzs action because Artz failed to allege facts sufficient to state a plausible claim. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (to avoid dismissal, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)); see also Kilgore, 718 F.3d at 1058 (Federal Arbitration Act mandates that the district court “shall direct the parties to proceed to arbitration on issues as to which an arbitration agreement has been signed,” and the district court must determine “whether a valid agreement to arbitrate exists” (citations, internal quotation marks, and emphasis omitted)).

We reject as without merit Artzs contentions that the district court violated his constitutional rights, or otherwise acted with impropriety or gave the appearance of impropriety in its conduct.

Artzs “motion to obtain sealed document” (Docket Entry No. 8) is denied as unnecessary. See Fed. R. App. P. 10(a) (record on appeal includes original papers and exhibits filed in the district court); 9th Cir. R. 30-1.3 (pro se appellant need not file excerpts of record).

All other pending motions and requests are denied.

AFFIRMED.