Edwards v. Begor
- John Tunheim
- 0:24-cv-00115
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
In Edwards v. Equifax, Judge Elkins recommended dismissing Dwayne Edwards’s case without prejudice because he failed to prosecute it.
Dwayne Edwards and Equifax Information Services LLC; the report recommends dismissal of Edwards’s action without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
What happened
In Edwards v. Equifax Information Services LLC, Dwayne Edwards missed two scheduled status conferences and a deposition. He also did not respond to the court’s order to explain why the case should remain open after the court warned that dismissal could be recommended.
The report recommends dismissing the action without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The report also states that Edwards did not respond by the deadline or communicate with the court.
Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins issued the report and recommendation on January 10, 2025. It was not a final order or judgment, and the notice allowed the parties to file written objections within the stated deadlines.
The detailed version
- Edwards v. Begor · No. 0:24-cv-00115
- John Tunheim
- Jan. 10, 2025
Background
The court entered an order for a settlement conference on May 15, 2024, and scheduled a status conference for October 25, 2024. Edwards did not appear at that conference. On October 29, 2024, he filed a notice of voluntary dismissal. The court later scheduled another status conference for November 26, 2024, which Edwards also missed. The report states that both failures to appear were unexcused.
Equifax’s counsel informed the court that Edwards also failed to appear for a deposition scheduled on October 29, 2024. The report states that Edwards mentioned obtaining counsel but continued to negotiate settlement intermittently without a lawyer, including after filing the voluntary dismissal notice.
Order to Show Cause and Recommendation
On November 27, 2024, the court issued an order to show cause. It directed Edwards to explain why the case should not be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to litigate his claims. The court warned that failing to act by December 20, 2024, would result in a recommendation that the case be dismissed.
Edwards did not file a response or communicate with the court by that deadline. Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins therefore recommended that the action be dismissed without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute. “Without prejudice” means the recommendation did not bar refiling based solely on that disposition, although the report does not address whether any other legal limits would apply.
Status of the Recommendation
The document is a report and recommendation, not an order or judgment of the District Court, and it states that it is not directly appealable to the Eighth Circuit. The notice allowed a party to file specific written objections within 14 days after being served with the report and allowed a response to objections within the following 14 days, subject to the local rule’s requirements.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.