Taylor v. City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03448
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 11
In Taylor v. City of New York, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Sheba Taylor to amend her Title VII complaint because it lacked facts.
Sheba Taylor must file an amended complaint within 30 days to continue the case; the City of New York and the other named defendants are affected by the directive to state facts supporting relief against each of them.
What happened
Taylor v. City of New York concerns Sheba Taylor’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act against the City of New York and six other named defendants. Taylor was proceeding without a lawyer and had been allowed to proceed without paying filing fees.
The court said Taylor’s three-page complaint did not provide facts showing why she was entitled to relief. Although she referred to exhibits, she did not attach them, and the complaint therefore did not meet the rule requiring a short and plain statement of the facts supporting her claims.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted Taylor 30 days to file an amended complaint that states facts supporting relief against each named defendant. The court said no summons would issue at that time and warned that the complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim if Taylor does not comply without showing good cause; the court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Taylor v. City of New York · No. 1:25-cv-03448
- Laura Swain
- May 8, 2025
Background
Sheba Taylor, proceeding without a lawyer, filed an action against the City of New York, the New York City Department of Probation, Commissioner Juanita Holmes, Branch Chief Ann Marie Murphy, Supervising Probation Officer Michael Tarello, Advocate Director/General Counsel Clarence Smith, and Elizabeth Torres. She asserted claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and relied on exhibits, but the opinion states that she did not attach those exhibits. The court had granted her request to proceed without paying filing fees on May 7, 2025.
Reason for the Order
The court found that Taylor’s three-page complaint did not provide any facts. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 requires a complaint to give a short and plain statement showing that the plaintiff is entitled to relief. The court therefore determined that the complaint did not comply with Rule 8.
Ruling
The court granted Taylor 30 days’ leave to file an amended complaint that complies with Rule 8 and states facts showing that she is entitled to relief from each defendant named in the caption. Taylor may attach her original complaint and exhibits, and the court provided an Employment Discrimination Complaint form. She must submit the amended complaint to the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit within 30 days of the order, label it “Amended Complaint,” and include docket number 25-CV-3448 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time.
The order states that if Taylor fails to comply within the allowed period and cannot show good cause for the failure, the complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Taylor’s fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 11-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.