Albert Anderson v. MCMILLIAN, Medical Provider Individual

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 24-6492
ALBERT ANDERSON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
MCMILLIAN, Medical Provider Individual and Official Capacity; ALEXANDER
CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Official Capacity; JANE DOE, Nurse
Individual and Official Capacity; JOHN DOE, Correction Officer Individual and
Official Capacity,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at
Statesville. Martin K. Reidinger, Chief District Judge. (5:24-cv-00079-MR)
Submitted: October 30, 2025 Decided: November 3, 2025
Before RUSHING and BENJAMIN, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Albert Anderson, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Albert Anderson seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 complaint without prejudice and with leave to file an amended complaint.* This
court may exercise jurisdiction only over final orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and certain
interlocutory and collateral orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1292; Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b); Cohen v.
Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-46 (1949).
When a notice of appeal is premature, the entry of final judgment can cure the
resulting jurisdictional defect under the doctrine of cumulative finality but only if the order
being appealed could have been certified for immediate appeal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b).
Houck v. LifeStore Bank, 41 F.4th 266, 271 (4th Cir. 2022). The order Anderson seeks to
appeal is neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral order. Further,
because the district court could not have certified the challenged order for immediate
appeal under Rule 54(b), the cumulative finality doctrine does not apply.
Accordingly, we deny Anderson’s pending motions and dismiss the appeal for lack
of jurisdiction. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions
are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
DISMISSED
* When the district court dismisses a complaint without prejudice but with leave to
amend, that order “is not a final decision because it means that the district court is not
finished with the case.” Britt v. DeJoy, 45 F.4th 790, 796 (4th Cir. 2022) (en banc).

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