Nuno v. California State University, Bakersfield
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The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's action under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act in light of Gamet v. Blanchard (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1276. In Gamet, the court set forth the principle that self-represented litigants are not entitled to special exemptions from California's procedural rules, but they are "entitled to treatment equal to that of a represented party."
In this case, the trial court's statements at a case management conference about the filing of an amended complaint were not clear and understandable. Therefore, plaintiff was misled into believing he had until the next case management conference to seek counsel and file an amended complaint and, relying on this belief, he left the country to attend an educational conference. While plaintiff was out of the country, defendants obtained an ex parte order dismissing the action withe prejudice under Code of Civil Procedure section 581, subdivision (f)(2). Therefore, the court held that the trial court (1) prejudicially abused its discretion by failing to provide clear and understandable instructions to plaintiff that the setting of another case management conference did not extend the deadline for filing an amended complaint and (2) dismissing plaintiff's action with prejudice prior to that conference.
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