1 || PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 2 || BENJAMIN E. HALL Assistant United States Attorney 3 || 2500 Tulare Street, Suite 4401 Fresno, CA 93721 4 || Telephone: (559) 497-4000 5 |} Attorneys for Defendants 6 7

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

9 |] MELANIE BULLIVANT, Case No. 2:24-cv-01883-CSK Plaintiff, STIPULATION AND PROPOSED ORDER

TO SUBSTITUTE UNITED STATES OF

v. AMERICA AS DEFENDANT || U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, et al.,

Defendants.

Plaintiff, Melanie Bullivant, and Defendants, U.S. Department of Agriculture, et al., hereby || stipulate to substitute the United States of America as defendant in place of the U.S. Department of || Agriculture and to dismiss all remaining defendants from this action. The United States is the only || proper defendant in an action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b)(1) and |] 2679(a); F.D.I.C. v. Craft, 157 F.3d 697, 706 (9th Cir. 1998) (“The FTCA is the exclusive remedy for || tortious conduct by the United States, and it only allows claims against the United States. Although || such claims can arise from the acts or omissions of United States agencies (28 U.S.C. § 2671), an || agency itself cannot be sued under the FTCA.”). /// /// /Tl

1 || Dated: January 6, 2025 PHILLIP A. TALBERT United States Attorney 2 3 By: _/s/ BENJAMIN E. HALL

BENJAMIN E. HALL

4 Assistant United States Attorney Attorney for Defendants 5 6 Feowany *, 05 7 || Dated: January , 2025 he WAL. V Lowy 8 MELANIE BULLIVANT

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ORDER

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Aan Swe □□ Dated: February 20, 2025

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

CHI SOO KIM