Nunez v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

Javier Nunez filed an amended complaint naming the Commissioner of Social Security, Nicole Fraser, Olivia Giegerich, Mark Simon, and Pacheo as defendants. The opinion states that Nunez’s claims arose from his eviction and related events.

In a prior related proceeding, the court had barred Nunez from filing future civil actions in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission, when those actions arose from his eviction and related events. The prior restriction applied to the defendants other than the Commissioner because those defendants had been named in the earlier litigation. The Commissioner had not been named in that earlier litigation.

Court’s Ruling

Nunez sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee but did not seek the court’s permission to file the action as required by the earlier order. The court therefore dismissed this action without prejudice because Nunez failed to comply with that order. The dismissal was based on the filing restriction, not on a decision about the underlying claims.

The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action, to make all submissions publicly available on the electronic docket except the original complaint, and stated that all pending requests were denied.