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N.D. Cal.Procedural orderFiled Nov. 9, 2021

Johnson v. Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc.

Judge
Edward Davila
Docket
5:21-cv-03001
Court
U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Johnson v. Vine Dining Enterprises, Judge Davila dismissed the action with prejudice after Johnson failed to seek default judgment, ending the case.

Who this affects

Scott Johnson's action against Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc. was dismissed with prejudice, and the Clerk was directed to close the file.

What happened

In Johnson v. Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc., Scott Johnson sued Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc. and sought entry of default after the defendant did not respond. The Clerk entered default on July 20, 2021.

The court ordered Johnson to file a motion for default judgment by November 8, 2021, and warned that failing to meet the deadline could lead to dismissal. Johnson did not file the motion or take further action.

Judge Davila dismissed the action with prejudice for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and directed the Clerk to close the file.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Johnson v. Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc. · No. 5:21-cv-03001
Judge
Edward Davila
Date
Nov. 9, 2021

Background

Scott Johnson filed the action on April 26, 2021. He sought entry of default against Vine Dining Enterprises, Inc. on July 19, 2021, and the Clerk entered default on July 20, 2021. Johnson took no further action after that date.

Missed deadline

On October 8, 2021, the court ordered Johnson to file a motion for default judgment by November 8, 2021. The order warned that the court would dismiss the action for failure to prosecute if Johnson did not file the motion by the deadline. Johnson did not file the motion.

Ruling

The court stated that it had inherent authority to dismiss an action on its own initiative to achieve the orderly and expeditious disposition of cases. It dismissed the action with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the file.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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