Friedeberg v. Moen Corp.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04051
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Friedeberg v. Moen, Judge Swain ordered payment or a fee-waiver application and a signed form before the case proceeds.
Donna L. Friedeberg, who must satisfy the fee and signature requirements within 30 days for the case to proceed.
What happened
In Friedeberg v. Moen Corp., Donna L. Friedeberg filed the case without paying the required fees, submitting a fee-waiver application, or signing the complaint.
The court gave Friedeberg 30 days to pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without paying the fees in advance, and to submit a signed certification and warnings form. The court will not issue a summons or require an answer at this time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case will be processed if Friedeberg complies, but dismissed without prejudice if she does not. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal because it determined that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Friedeberg v. Moen Corp. · No. 1:25-cv-04051
- Laura Swain
- May 20, 2025
Background
Donna L. Friedeberg brought this action without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees or filing an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The complaint was also unsigned.
Fees and signature
The court explained that starting a civil action requires either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. Within 30 days of the order, Friedeberg must either pay the $405 or submit the attached fee-waiver application, labeled with docket number 25-CV-4051 (LTS). If the court grants that application, she may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The court also directed Friedeberg to sign and submit the attached “Plaintiff’s Certification and Warnings” form within 30 days. It relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a), which requires an unrepresented party to sign pleadings and other papers.
Ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons or answer would issue at that time. If Friedeberg complies with the order, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the dismissal does not by itself bar refiling. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.