Ong v. Ong
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02317
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ong v. Ong, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to resubmit signed forms within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Bienvenido P. Ong must submit signed and completed fee-waiver and complaint forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice; Baths heba S. Ong is the named defendant, but no summons or answer has issued.
What happened
In Ong v. Ong, Bienvenido P. Ong submitted an unsigned document seeking to avoid the filing fee and apparently containing a complaint. The document lacked a signed application and complaint details, including facts, claims, and requested relief.
The court ordered Ong to complete, sign, and file the attached fee-waiver application and complaint form within 30 days. No summons or answer will issue at this time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Ong complies, but the action will be dismissed without prejudice if he does not. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Ong v. Ong · No. 1:25-cv-02317
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 24, 2025
Background
Bienvenido P. Ong brought this action without a lawyer against Baths heba S. Ong. To begin the case, he submitted one unsigned document that included a request to waive the fees for starting the action and what appeared to be a complaint.
Deficiencies Identified by the Court
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 3 requires a civil action to be started by filing a complaint. Rule 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading or other filed paper. The court found that Ong’s submission was deficient because it was unsigned. It also did not include a statement of facts, a description of his claims, or the relief he sought.
Order
The court directed Ong, within 30 days of the order, to complete, sign, and file the attached application to proceed without paying the filing fee and to complete, sign, and file the attached complaint form. No summons or answer will issue at this time. If Ong complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he fails to comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order does not bar refiling.
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-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.