JW SEALS, Jr. v. Los Angeles Unified School District

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JW SEALS, Jr.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT,

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 19-55582

D.C. No. 2:18-cv-10104-R-JEM

MEMORANDUM
*

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted March 3, 2020
**

Before: MURGUIA, CHRISTEN, and BADE, Circuit Judges.

J.W. Seals, Jr. appeals pro se from the district court’s order dismissing his 42
U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging federal claims arising from his denial of
employment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review for an

*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED

MAR 9 2020

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

2 19-55582
abuse of discretion a district court’s dismissal under its local rules. Ghazali v.
Moran, 46 F.3d 52, 53 (9th Cir. 1995). We vacate and remand.
The district court erred by not recognizing that Seals had filed his opposition
before the district court had ruled on defendant’s motion to dismiss. See Draper v.
Coombs, 792 F.2d 915, 924 (9th Cir. 1986) (explaining that pro se litigants should
be treated with “great leniency” when evaluating compliance with “the technical
rules of civil procedure”). We vacate and remand for the district court to consider
Seals’s opposition in the first instance.
The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
VACATED AND REMANDED.