# Kremer v. Reddit, Inc.

> District Court, M.D. Tennessee · October 18, 2021

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10437555

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, M.D. Tennessee
- **Decided:** October 18, 2021
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NORTHEASTERN DIVISION

MAXWELL KREMER,

Plaintiff, Case No. 2:21-cv-00038

v. Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr.
Magistrate Judge Alistair E. Newbern
REDDIT, INC.,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Pro se Plaintiff Maxwell Kremer alleges that Defendant Reddit, Inc., has harmed him by
violating applicable copyright and trademark laws. (Doc. No. 1.) On September 23, 2021, Reddit
filed a motion to dismiss Kremer’s complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
(Doc. No. 8.) The Court ordered Kremer to file any response in opposition to the motion no later
than fourteen days after being served with the motion. (Doc. No. 13.) On October 1, 2021, Kremer
filed a motion to strike Reddit’s motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 14), but has not otherwise responded
to that motion. Reddit has filed a motion asking the Court to treat Kremer’s motion to strike as a
response to its motion to dismiss and for leave to file a reply brief in further support of its motion
(Doc. No. 16). For the reasons that follow, Kremer’s motion to strike will be denied. The Court
will construe Kremer’s motion to strike as a response to the pending motion to dismiss and will
grant Reddit’s motion for leave to file a reply.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f) provides that the Court may “strike from a pleading
an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” Fed. R.
Civ. P. 12(f). “Motions to strike are viewed with disfavor and are not frequently granted.”
Operating Eng’rs Local 324 Health Care Plan v. G & W Constr. Co., 783 F.3d 1045, 1050 (6th
Cir. 2015); see also Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. United States, 201 F.2d 819, 822 (6th
Cir. 1953) (“[T]he action of striking a pleading should be sparingly used by the courts . . . [and] is
a drastic remedy to be resorted to only when required for the purposes of justice.”). This reluctance
to strike pleadings stems from “the practical difficulty of deciding cases without a factual record

. . .” Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 201 F.2d at 822, and the potentially “dilatory and often
harassing character” of a motion to strike, 5C Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal
Practice and Procedure § 1381 (3d ed. updated Apr. 2021).
Kremer’s motion to strike will be denied because Rule 12(f) provides a basis for striking
pleadings, not motions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(a) (defining
“pleadings” to include a complaint, a third-party complaint, an answer to a complaint,
counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party complaint, or a reply to an answer). However, because
Kremer’s motion to strike addresses arguments raised in Reddit’s motion to dismiss, and because
Kremer has not otherwise responded to that motion, the Court will liberally construe the motion
to strike as Kremer’s response in opposition to the motion to dismiss. See Goodman v. Nationstar

Mortg., LLC, No. 3:13-1377, 2014 WL 12774977, at *1 (M.D. Tenn. Mar. 20, 2014) (denying
plaintiff’s motion to strike defendant’s motion to dismiss but, “to the extent that the plaintiff’s
motion sets forth her objections to the motion to dismiss,” construing it as her response in
opposition to that motion).
Accordingly, Kremer’s motion to strike Reddit’s motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 14) is
DENIED. Reddit’s motion for leave to file a reply in further support of its motion to dismiss and
to treat Kremer’s motion as a response (Doc. No. 16) is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is
DIRECTED to file Reddit’s proposed reply (Doc. No. 16-1) as a separate docket entry.
Reddit’s motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 8) remains pending.
It is so ORDERED.

ALIST E. NEWBERN
United States Magistrate Judge

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10437555. Public record. Not legal advice.