Ong v. Honor Shelter
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02124
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ong v. Honor Shelter, Judge Swain ordered an unrepresented plaintiff to submit an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Bienvenido P. Ong must provide an original signature for his complaint within 30 days for the case to proceed; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Ong v. Honor Shelter, Bienvenido P. Ong filed a complaint without signing it. The opinion says Ong was representing himself.
The court ordered Ong to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original, handwritten signature within 30 days. No summons will be issued while the signature issue remains unresolved.
If Ong does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed; if he complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Ong v. Honor Shelter · No. 1:25-cv-02124
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 28, 2025
Background
Bienvenido P. Ong brought the action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without a signature.
Court’s Analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires every pleading, written motion, and other paper to be signed by an attorney or, when a party is unrepresented, by that party personally. The court also cited the applicable local rule and explained that the signature must be handwritten or another mark placed by the person.
Order
The court directed Ong to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Ong 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 permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order as Chief United States District Judge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.