John Roe NR 52 v. Doe 1

I. BACKGROUND

On August 26, 2024, Plaintiff John Roe NR 52 (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Bernardino against Defendants Doe 1, Doe 2, and Doe 3, and Does 4–100 (“Defendants”). (“Complaint,” Dkt. No. 1-1.) Defendants Does 1, 2, and 3 are not truly fictitious Doe Defendants, instead they are designated as Does in compliance with California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1(k), which requires Plaintiffs who are over forty years old and bringing childhood sexual assault claims to name any defendants with a “Doe” designation “until there has been a showing of corroborative fact as to the charging allegations against that defendant.” Doe 1 is the Church of Latter-Day Saints (“Church”), a Utah corporation; Doe 2 is the Temple Corporation, a Utah nonprofit corporation; and Doe 3 is the “Stake,” the local geographical unit within the Church. (“Notice of Removal,” Dkt. No 1 ¶ 7; Compl. ¶ 5–7; “Richmond Decl.,” Dkt. No. 1-9.) Here, the local congregation (the “ward” or “branch”) where the abuse is alleged to have taken place gathers at a meetinghouse that is owned by Doe 1, the Church in Utah. (Notice of Removal ¶ 11.)…