From Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in McLeod v. Fessenden School (D. Mass.):
This case concerns alleged acts of sexual abuse and molestation of a student by her teacher. According to the complaint, some of the abuse occurred during a summer program at The Fessenden School…. The complaint, exclusive of exhibits, is 152 pages long; it names 49 defendants and purports to assert 65 counts. Portions of it read more like a tabloid story than a legal pleading, and large sections of it are obviously irrelevant and improper. Defendants have moved to strike various portions of the complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f)….
Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f), the court may strike from a pleading "any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter." Rule 12(f) specifically gives the court discretion as to whether or not to strike a particular matter, although motions to strike are generally disfavored.
The challenged portions of the complaint contain substantial amounts of attorney argument, inadmissible opinion, legal conclusions, and irrelevant allegations. Such statements, at a minimum, are immaterial because they have "no essential or important relationship to the claim for relief or the defenses being pleaded" and are impertinent because they "do not pertain, and are not necessary, to the issues in question." They will accordingly be struck….
