Quiroz v. ADS-Myers, Inc.

Background

This proposed class action had been stayed, meaning paused, while the parties pursued arbitration. On September 29, 2021, the court ordered the parties to file joint status reports about the arbitration every 90 days. More than a year passed without any filing on the court’s electronic docket.

On January 11, 2023, the court ordered the parties to file a joint status update by January 18 and warned that missing the deadline would result in dismissal of the complaint and closure of the case under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). When the deadline passed without a filing, the court dismissed the case with prejudice on January 24, 2023, for failure to prosecute and failure to follow court orders.

Motion to Set Aside the Dismissal

On January 31, 2023, the plaintiffs asked the court to set aside, or undo, the dismissal under Rule 60(b)(1). They argued that their failure to comply was excusable and that dismissal was an unnecessarily severe sanction. They attributed their failure to respond to the January 11 order to court email notifications being marked as junk mail. They also said they had been engaged in settlement discussions with ADS-Myers when the dismissal occurred. ADS-Myers disputed that account and said it had heard nothing from the plaintiffs.

Ruling

The court denied the request to set aside the dismissal for lack of good cause. It questioned the junk-mail explanation because the plaintiffs had received more than 60 earlier electronic docket notifications without apparent problems, as well as several notifications after the January 11 order. The court concluded that the plaintiffs had enough notice of the court’s orders and the consequences of failing to comply, and that the court was not required to give another warning. The prior dismissal with prejudice therefore remained in place.