Cox v. Ford Motor Company
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:21-cv-05386
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Cox v. Ford Motor Company, Judge Gilliam ordered Daavon Cox to explain why his two cases should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
Daavon Cox was required to explain why his two cases against Ford Motor Company and Edward Welburn should not be dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
Cox v. Ford Motor Company involves two cases that Daavon Cox initially filed without a lawyer in state court against Ford Motor Company and Edward Welburn. The federal court had previously dismissed claims in both cases and allowed Cox to amend them.
Cox did not file amended complaints by the court’s May 27, 2022 deadline. The court therefore required him to explain why the cases should not be dismissed without prejudice for failing to move them forward.
Judge Gilliam ordered Cox to file a statement of no more than two pages by July 11, 2022. The order itself did not dismiss either case.
The detailed version
- Cox v. Ford Motor Company · No. 4:21-cv-05386
- Haywood Gilliam
- June 15, 2022
Background
Daavon Cox initially filed both actions without a lawyer in Alameda Superior Court. In the first action, Cox sued Ford Motor Company and Edward Welburn. In the second action, Cox sued Ford Motor Company and Edward Welburn and also listed Elon Musk as an agent or employee of the defendants.
On April 28, 2022, the court granted Ford Motor Company’s motions to dismiss claims in both actions. The court gave Cox until May 27, 2022, to file amended complaints addressing the deficiencies identified in that order. Cox did not file amended complaints in either action.
Order to Show Cause
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows dismissal when a plaintiff fails to prosecute a case or comply with court rules or an order. The court explained that it may dismiss a case for failure to prosecute even without a defendant filing a motion.
The court ordered Cox to show cause—meaning to explain—why the cases should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. Cox was ordered to file a statement of no more than two pages by July 11, 2022.
Disposition
The court issued an order to show cause. It did not, in this order, dismiss either case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.