Michael Oster v. County of Solano

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Michael Oster appeals the district court’s dismissal of his First Amended Complaint under Federal . Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm in part and reverse in part.

The district court properly dismissed Oster’s claim of municipal liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 , 98 S.Ct. 2018 , 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), and did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend that claim. Oster failed to allege any facts that would plausibly support his claim of “an unofficial yet distinct departmental policy” allowing supervising officers to act unlawfully, and he has not shown that he could cure this deficiency if given an additional opportunity-

The district court abused its discretion, however, in declining to give Oster leave to amend his First Amendment retaliation claim on the ground that any further amendment would be futile. As the district court acknowledged, Oster could have cured the pleading’s defect — that is, the pleading’s vagueness as to the content of his letters to elected officials — had he simply attached the letters to his First Amended Complaint.…