Angela Nails v. Debbie Pippin , 637 F. App'x 242 ( 2016 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 15-2758
___________________________
Angela Nails
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Debbie Pippin; Wal-Mart Stores, Claim Management
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
___________________________
No. 15-2760
___________________________
Angela Nails
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Jennifer Pickard; Kathy Moson; Debbie Pippin; Melanie
Linn; Rayner Lowden; Jerald Hendrix
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
___________________________
No. 15-2761
___________________________
Angela Nails
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Tracy Walker; Greg McCallen; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Ozark Arkansas Customer
Service Center
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
___________________________
No. 15-2762
___________________________
Angela Nails
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Ozark Arkansas Customer Service Center; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees
____________
Appeals from United States District Court
for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville
____________
Submitted: February 9, 2016
Filed: February 11, 2016
[Unpublished]
____________
Before WOLLMAN, ARNOLD, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
____________
-2-
PER CURIAM.
In these consolidated matters, Angela Nails appeals from four orders issued by
the district court,1 each of which granted her motion to voluntarily dismiss her civil
lawsuits. We conclude that Ms. Nails lacks standing to appeal from the district
court’s orders. See United States v. Northshore Min. Co., 576 F.3d 840, 846 (8th Cir.
2009) (standing is jurisdictional prerequisite for appeals); see also Huggins v. FedEx
Ground Package Sys., Inc., 566 F.3d 771, 773 (8th Cir. 2009) (appellate courts are
obligated to consider sua sponte jurisdictional issues, where it appears jurisdiction is
lacking). When a district court dismisses a case without prejudice pursuant to a
plaintiff’s voluntary request to do so, a plaintiff lacks standing to appeal except under
limited circumstances which are not present in these cases. See Helm Fin. Corp. v.
MNVA R.R., Inc., 212 F.3d 1076, 1080 (8th Cir. 2000) (in general, neither party may
appeal from voluntary dismissal because it is not an involuntary adverse judgment);
Belle-Midwest, Inc. v. Mo. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 56 F.3d 977, 978 (8th Cir.
1995) (generally, moving plaintiff may not appeal from order granting voluntary
dismissal); Bowers v. St. Louis Sw. Ry. Co., 668 F.2d 369, 369 (8th Cir. 1981) (per
curiam) (as a general rule, no appeal by moving plaintiff will lie from order granting
voluntary dismissal).
Accordingly, we dismiss these appeals.
______________________________
1
The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Arkansas.
-3-