Chaplin v. Gross Polowy LLC
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-01161
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Chaplin v. Gross Polowy LLC, Judge Swain ordered Charlene Chaplin to pay fees or submit signed documents within 30 days, or face dismissal without prejudice.
Charlene Chaplin must pay the required fees or submit a signed fee-waiver application and must submit a signed signature page within 30 days. The case will be processed if she complies and will be dismissed without prejudice if she does not. The defendants are not required to respond at this stage because no summons or answer has issued.
What happened
In Chaplin v. Gross Polowy LLC, Charlene Chaplin filed a lawsuit without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. She also filed an unsigned complaint.
The court ordered Chaplin, within 30 days, either to pay $405 or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. She must also sign and submit the required signature page. The court directed her not to include her Social Security number in future filings and placed the complaint in a restricted viewing status because it contained the full number.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons or answer issue yet. If Chaplin complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case; if she does not, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Chaplin v. Gross Polowy LLC · No. 1:25-cv-01161
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 11, 2025
Background
Charlene Chaplin brought the action without a lawyer. The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. A person representing herself must also sign her pleadings and other court papers as required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Chaplin submitted her complaint without paying the fees or filing a signed application to proceed without prepaying them. The complaint was also unsigned. In addition, it included Chaplin’s complete Social Security number. The court noted that filings generally may refer to a Social Security number only by its last four digits. The Clerk of Court therefore placed the complaint in a restricted viewing status, and the court directed Chaplin not to include Social Security-number information in future filings.
Order
The court directed Chaplin, within 30 days of the February 11, 2025 order, to do both of the following:
1. Pay the $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees; and 2. Sign and submit the attached signature page.
The court explained that mailed or hand-delivered documents must contain a handwritten signature. Documents sent by email may use an electronic signature or a typed name preceded by “/s/.” The documents must identify docket number 25-CV-1161 (LTS).
No summons or answer will issue at this time. If Chaplin complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order does not bar refiling on that basis.
Appeal
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied in forma pauperis status for an appeal, meaning Chaplin may not appeal without prepaying the applicable fees under that status.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Chaplin to correct the fee and signature deficiencies within 30 days and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court did not issue a summons or answer and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.