Ong v. Ong
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02317
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ong v. Ong, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Ong filed neither a complaint nor a completed fee-waiver application.
Bienvenido P. Ong, the self-represented plaintiff, and Bathsheba S. Ong, the defendant. The action was dismissed without prejudice, and the opinion did not decide the underlying dispute.
What happened
In Ong v. Ong, Bienvenido P. Ong began the case by submitting an unsigned document containing financial information and possibly parts of a complaint against Bathsheba S. Ong.
The court ordered Bienvenido P. Ong to submit a signed complaint and a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees. He submitted another similar document but did not submit a complaint, and the court's order was returned as undeliverable.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because no complaint or completed fee-waiver application was filed. The court said he could start a new case by filing a signed complaint and either paying the required fees or submitting the application; it also denied fee-waiver status for an appeal and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Ong v. Ong · No. 1:25-cv-02317
- Laura Swain
- May 6, 2025
Background
Bienvenido P. Ong, who was proceeding without a lawyer, initiated this action against Bathsheba S. Ong by filing an unsigned document that included his financial information and possibly portions of a complaint. On March 24, 2025, the court ordered him to complete, sign, and submit both an application to proceed without paying filing fees and a complaint form within 30 days.
Two days later, the court received a document that appeared very similar to the first filing, but Bienvenido P. Ong did not submit a complaint. On April 14, 2025, the United States Postal Service notified the court that the March 24 order had been returned because it could not be delivered to his address of record.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Bienvenido P. Ong did not submit a complaint or a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees. Citing Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court explained that a civil action begins by filing a complaint. The court stated that he could initiate a new civil action by filing a signed complaint and either paying the required $405 in filing fees or submitting a signed and completed fee-waiver application.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. The court directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.