Awad

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 ABDULHADI NAIM AWAD, Case No. 22-cv-00665-WHO (PR) Plaintiff, v. ORDER OF DISMISSAL

DR. BIRBENK, Defendant. 11 Plaintiff Abdulhadi Naim Awad’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit against Dr. Birbenk, a || physician who operated on Awad’s hand and the sole remaining defendant in this action, S || must be dismissed because Birbenk is a private, not a state, actor. According to Awad’s 15 || allegations, the operation occurred while Birbenk was employed at Queen of the Valley a 16 || Hospital, which is a private Catholic hospital. (Addendum to Complaint, Dkt. No. 12 at = 2.) Because Birbenk was a private, not a state, actor he cannot be held liable under section || 1983. See Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 640 (1980) (a private individual does not act || under color of state law, an essential element of a section 1983 action). Accordingly, this federal civil rights action is DISMISSED without prejudice to || Awad…