Firsov v. United Airlines, Inc
- Beth Freeman
- 5:25-cv-03784
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Firsov v. United Airlines, Judge Van Keulen denied Sergey Firsov’s reconsideration motion and kept the filing-fee deadline in place.
Sergey Firsov is required to pay the filing fee by June 18, 2025. If he does not, the court will issue an order for reassignment to a district judge with a recommendation that the case be dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
In Firsov v. United Airlines, Inc., Sergey Firsov asked the court to reconsider its earlier denial of his request to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront. The court had set June 18, 2025, as the deadline to pay the fee.
The court said that a person seeking this status must describe poverty with particularity and must show an inability to pay. After considering Firsov’s additional materials, the court concluded that he had not shown he could not afford the fee if he adjusted or deferred discretionary expenses.
Judge Susan Van Keulen denied the motion for reconsideration. The June 18 deadline remains in place; if Firsov does not pay by then, the court will issue an order for reassignment to a district judge with a recommendation that the case be dismissed without prejudice.
The detailed version
- Firsov v. United Airlines, Inc · No. 5:25-cv-03784
- Beth Freeman
- June 5, 2025
Background
On May 28, 2025, the court denied Sergey Firsov’s application to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront. The court set June 18, 2025, as the deadline for him to pay the fee. Firsov then filed a motion for reconsideration, meaning a request for the court to revisit its earlier ruling, and supplied additional material.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that no statute, regulation, or case-law formula determines when a person is poor enough to receive this fee waiver. It stated that an applicant must allege poverty with “some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” Considering Firsov’s resources, the court concluded that he had not shown he could not afford the filing fee if he adjusted or deferred discretionary expenses.
Ruling and effect
Judge Susan Van Keulen denied Firsov’s motion to reconsider the earlier fee-waiver order. The June 18, 2025, deadline to pay the filing fee remains in place. The court did not dismiss the case in this order. It stated that if Firsov fails to pay by the deadline, the court will issue an order that the case be reassigned to a district judge with a recommendation that the case be dismissed without prejudice.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.