Payton v. Total by Verizon
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05880
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Jonathan Payton v. Total by Verizon, Judge Swain ordered Payton to sign his amended fee application within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Jonathan Payton and the pending action against Total by Verizon and Verizon Inc.; the order requires Payton to sign the amended fee application before the case proceeds.
What happened
Jonathan Payton sued Total by Verizon and Verizon Inc. without a lawyer. The court said his amended application to proceed without paying filing fees was unsigned.
The court ordered Payton to sign and submit the application’s signature page within 30 days. No summons or answer will issue while he does so.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case will be processed if Payton complies, but the action will be dismissed without prejudice if he does not. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Payton v. Total by Verizon · No. 1:25-cv-05880
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 8, 2025
Background
Jonathan Payton brought the action without a lawyer. He submitted an amended application to proceed without paying the filing fee, but the court stated that the application was unsigned. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to sign pleadings, motions, and other papers personally.
Order
The court directed Payton to sign and submit the attached signature page of the amended fee application within 30 days of the order. The court directed that no summons or answer issue at this time. If Payton complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order does not state that refiling is barred.
The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Payton permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
Judge
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on September 8, 2025.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.