Ong v. CVS Pharmacy
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02122
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ong v. CVS Pharmacy, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Ong filed neither a complaint nor a completed fee-waiver application.
Bienvenido P. Ong's action against CVS Pharmacy was dismissed without prejudice because he did not file the required complaint or completed fee-waiver application.
What happened
In Bienvenido P. Ong v. CVS Pharmacy, Ong, who was representing himself, began the case with an unsigned document containing financial information and possibly parts of a complaint. The court ordered him to submit a signed complaint and an application to proceed without paying filing fees.
Ong did not submit a complaint or a completed fee-waiver application. Court mail was returned as undeliverable both at his original address and after he filed a change of address.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice, allowing Ong to start a new case by filing a signed complaint and either paying the $405 filing fees or submitting a completed fee-waiver application. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Ong v. CVS Pharmacy · No. 1:25-cv-02122
- Laura Swain
- July 25, 2025
Background
Bienvenido P. Ong, who was proceeding without a lawyer, initiated the action by filing an unsigned document that included financial information and possibly portions of a complaint. On March 25, 2025, the court directed Ong to complete, sign, and submit both an application to proceed without paying filing fees and a complaint form within 30 days.
The court received another document on March 25 that appeared similar to the first document, but Ong did not submit a complaint. The court's March 25 order was returned as undeliverable on April 14. Ong filed a notice of change of address on May 6, and the court mailed the order to his new address on May 19. That mailing was returned as undeliverable on July 18.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Ong did not file a complaint or a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees. The court relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 3, which provides that a civil action begins when a complaint is filed.
The court stated that Ong could seek relief from CVS Pharmacy by starting a new civil action with a signed complaint. He would also have to pay the $405 filing fees or submit a signed and completed application to proceed without paying those fees.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.