Charles v. T-Mobile USA, Inc.
- Katherine Failla
- 1:25-cv-00702
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Charles v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., Judge Swain ordered Nicolas A.N. Charles to submit an original fee-waiver signature within 30 days.
Nicolas A.N. Charles and the status of his action against T-Mobile USA, Inc. and the other named defendants; the order requires a corrected signature page before the case can be processed.
What happened
In Charles v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., Nicolas A.N. Charles, who is representing himself, filed an application to proceed without paying court fees. The application did not contain his signature.
The court ordered Charles to resubmit the signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies. If he does not comply on time, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal, ruling that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Charles v. T-Mobile USA, Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-00702
- Katherine Failla
- Feb. 3, 2025
Background
Nicolas A.N. Charles brought the action without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees. The application was unsigned.
Court’s reasoning
The court relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require an unrepresented party to sign pleadings, motions, and other court papers personally. The court explained that the signature must be handwritten or another mark placed by the person—not merely a typed name.
Ruling and consequences
The court ordered Charles to resubmit the application’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. No summons will issue at this time. If Charles complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed the filing requirement and appeal status, not the merits of Charles’s claims. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.