Guy Lewis, Jr. v. United States Postal Service

In May, 1986, Lewis filed this Title VII action against the U.S. Postal Service. On November 21,1986, the district court orally denied Lewis’s motion to amend his complaint and dismissed the action for failure to name the Postmaster General as a defendant and properly serve the complaint. On December 17, 1986, Lewis filed a motion to reconsider, which he had previously served on the defendant. A separate judgment was entered in accordance with Fed. R.Civ.P. 58 and 79(a) on January 14, 1987. Lewis filed a notice of appeal on March 9, 1987. On April 16, 1987, the district court filed an order denying Lewis’s motion to reconsider. Lewis did not file a new notice of appeal. This court issued an order to show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction under the authority of Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co., 459 U.S. 56 , 103 S.Ct. 400 , 74 L.Ed.2d 225 (1982) (notice of appeal filed while timely post-judgment motion is pending has no effect).

Relying on Agostino v. Ellmar Packing Co., 191 F.2d 576 (9th Cir.1951) (per curiam), Lewis argues in his response to the order to show cause that because his motion basically reargued the law supporting the…