McGee v. McDonald
- James Donato
- 3:16-cv-03843
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In McGee v. McDonald, Judge Donato dismissed the case without prejudice because McGee failed to respond or prosecute it.
Tyrone McGee’s case against Robert A. McDonald and the other defendants was dismissed without prejudice, and the file was closed.
What happened
In McGee v. McDonald, no defendant had responded to Tyrone McGee’s amended complaint, and nothing had happened in the case since September 2017.
The court ordered McGee to explain why the case should not be dismissed for failing to prosecute it. McGee did not respond by the deadline, and the court found that he appeared to have abandoned the case.
Judge Donato dismissed the case without prejudice under Rule 41(b) and closed the file.
The detailed version
- McGee v. McDonald · No. 3:16-cv-03843
- James Donato
- Sept. 25, 2019
Background
Tyrone McGee sued Robert A. McDonald and other defendants. No defendant filed a response to McGee’s amended complaint, and nothing had happened in the case since September 2017.
On September 6, 2019, the court ordered McGee to show cause—meaning to explain—why the case should not be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The deadline for McGee’s response was September 23, 2019. He did not file a response.
Ruling
The court found that McGee had not shown a reason why the case should remain pending and appeared to have abandoned it. Although the court generally favors deciding cases on their merits, it considered the five factors identified in Malone v. United States Postal Service and found that dismissal was warranted.
Judge Donato dismissed the case without prejudice under Rule 41(b) and closed the file.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.