Fernandez v. Fam Wildfox, LLC
- Ho
- 1:24-cv-04211
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fernandez v. Fam Wildfox, Judge Ho dismissed the action without prejudice because Fernandez failed to prosecute or respond to an order to show cause.
Jacqueline Fernandez’s action against Fam Wildfox, LLC was dismissed without prejudice, and the case was closed.
What happened
In Fernandez v. Fam Wildfox, LLC, discovery and other case deadlines had passed, and Jacqueline Fernandez did not respond to an order requiring her to explain why the case should not be dismissed for lack of prosecution.
The court applied a rule allowing dismissal when a plaintiff fails to pursue a case or follow a court order. It dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
Judge Dale E. Ho issued the order on April 21, 2025. The opinion does not state why Fernandez failed to respond or whether she was represented by a lawyer.
The detailed version
- Fernandez v. Fam Wildfox, LLC · No. 1:24-cv-04211
- Ho
- Apr. 21, 2025
Background
On August 13, 2024, Magistrate Judge Stein entered a case-management and scheduling order setting December 10, 2024, as the deadline to complete discovery. The court stated that the discovery deadline had expired, as had the deadlines for summary-judgment motions and pretrial submissions.
On April 4, 2025, Judge Stein issued an order to show cause requiring Jacqueline Fernandez to explain by April 11 why the action should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. As of April 21, Fernandez had not responded. The court also stated that more than eight months had passed since her last communication.
Legal Standard
Rule 41(b) permits involuntary dismissal when a plaintiff fails to prosecute an action or comply with the rules or a court order. The court explained that a district court may also dismiss a case on its own authority for failure to prosecute, without a dismissal motion from the defendant.
Ruling
The court ordered that the action be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. “Without prejudice” means the order itself does not bar a later refiling. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case. The opinion does not provide additional reasons for Fernandez’s failure to respond.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.