Buxbaum v. TD Bank N.A.

Background

Michael Buxbaum, who was representing himself, sued TD Bank, N.A. He alleged that he deposited a cashier’s check into his TD Bank account on December 16, 2024, and later gave the bank additional instructions that it did not follow.

Reason for Dismissal

The court stated that Buxbaum had previously filed a substantially similar complaint against TD Bank. That earlier case remained pending before Judge Katherine Polk Failla under docket number 24-CV-09832 (KPF). In the earlier case, Buxbaum alleged that TD Bank refused to activate his debit card so he could spend money and sought to remove restrictions on his accounts.

Because this case involved the same defendant and substantially similar claims, the court concluded that litigating this duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose. The court’s footnote also identified a third lawsuit against TD Bank, docket number 1:24-CV-10081, concerning an alleged failure to carry out a wire transfer. The court said Buxbaum could seek to amend the earlier complaint to add claims from the other cases if the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allowed it.

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed Buxbaum’s complaint without prejudice as duplicative of the complaint pending under docket number 24-CV-09832 (KPF). The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied fee-free status for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.