Whitehead v. Universal Pictures
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05433
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In David Louis Whitehead v. Universal Pictures, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Whitehead neither paid filing fees nor submitted an IFP application.
David Louis Whitehead's complaint against Universal Pictures and the other named defendants was dismissed without prejudice. The court also denied payment-free status for any appeal.
What happened
In David Louis Whitehead v. Universal Pictures, the court gave David Louis Whitehead extra time to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the required $405 filing fee.
Whitehead did neither. The court therefore dismissed his complaint without prejudice, meaning the opinion did not bar him from filing again.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied payment-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Whitehead v. Universal Pictures · No. 1:25-cv-05433
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 26, 2025
Background
The court had previously given Plaintiff David Louis Whitehead a brief extension of time to either submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, known as an IFP application, or pay the $405 filing fee required to bring a civil action in the court. The earlier order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Ruling
Whitehead did not submit an IFP application and did not pay the filing fee. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion does not describe the complaint's underlying claims.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The court also directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Disposition
The complaint was dismissed without prejudice. The appeal-related IFP status was denied.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.