Tovar v. Greenburger
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-09648
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Anita Tovar v. Francis Greenburger, Judge Swain ordered plaintiffs to pay fees or submit fee-waiver applications within 30 days before the case can proceed.
The plaintiffs, including Anita Tovar, must either pay the required fees or have each plaintiff submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days.
What happened
In Anita Tovar et al. v. Francis Greenburger et al., the plaintiffs submitted this civil case by email, and the court assigned it a docket number. The court said they must either pay the required fees or ask to proceed without paying them upfront.
Within 30 days, each plaintiff must either pay $405 or submit a signed application showing that the plaintiff cannot afford the fees. Until that happens, the case will not move forward, and no summons will be issued or answer required.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the plaintiffs to meet that requirement. If they do not comply, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling; the court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Tovar v. Greenburger · No. 1:25-cv-09648
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 20, 2025
Background
The plaintiffs submitted this civil action to the Southern District of New York by email. The court assigned the action docket number 25-CV-9648 (LTS).
Order
The court directed the plaintiffs, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $405 in total fees, or, if unable to pay, have each plaintiff complete, sign, and submit an application to proceed without prepaying the fees. The $405 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee.
No further action will be taken in the case, no summons will issue, and no answer will be required until the fees are paid or properly completed applications are received. If the court grants the applications, the plaintiffs may proceed without prepaying the fees. If the plaintiffs fail to comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
Appeal
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain, the Chief United States District Judge, signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.