Friedberg v. Walmart Corp.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-08057
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Donna L. Friedeberg v. Walmart Corp. et al., Judge Swain ordered payment of fees or an application to proceed without prepayment.
Donna L. Friedeberg must either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed IFP application within 30 days. The case will be dismissed if she does not comply, and no summons will issue before compliance.
What happened
Donna L. Friedeberg sued Walmart Corp. and other defendants without a lawyer, but she submitted neither the required filing fees nor an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court ordered her, within 30 days of October 8, 2025, to pay $405 or submit a signed application showing that she cannot afford the fees. No summons will issue while this requirement remains unresolved.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed that the action will be dismissed if Friedeberg does not comply. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Friedberg v. Walmart Corp. · No. 1:25-cv-08057
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 8, 2025
Background
Donna L. Friedeberg brought this civil action without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Court’s Order
The court explained that filing a civil action required either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed IFP application under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court gave Friedeberg 30 days from the date of the order to do one of those two things.
The court stated that, if it grants the IFP application, Friedeberg may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons will issue at this time. If she complies, 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.
Appeal and Disposition
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain therefore entered a procedural order requiring payment of the filing fees or submission of an IFP application; the order did not decide the underlying claims against Walmart Corp. or the other defendants.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.