Saby v. Lycee Francais De San Francisco
- Jacquelyn Corley
- 3:22-cv-05385
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Saby v. Lycee Francais, Judge Corley ordered Fanny Saby to explain why the case should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
Fanny Saby, whose federal action was stayed pending arbitration and faced possible dismissal without prejudice if she did not respond by May 31, 2024.
What happened
In Saby v. Lycee Francais De San Francisco, the court had stayed Fanny Saby’s case after ordering the parties to arbitrate. The defendant later reported that Saby had not started arbitration and that it could not recently reach her lawyer.
The court ordered Saby to explain why the stay should not be lifted and the case dismissed without prejudice because she had not prosecuted it. Saby must respond in writing by May 31, 2024.
Judge Jacquelyn Corley warned that failing to respond by that date would result in dismissal of the federal case without prejudice. The order itself was not yet a dismissal.
The detailed version
- Saby v. Lycee Francais De San Francisco · No. 3:22-cv-05385
- Jacquelyn Corley
- May 21, 2024
Background
On May 16, 2023, the court granted the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and stayed the federal case while arbitration was pending. The court directed the defendant to provide a written status update by May 17, 2024.
The defendant submitted the update and reported that Fanny Saby had not initiated arbitration and that, recently, the defendant had been unable to contact Saby’s counsel.
Order
The court ordered Saby to show cause—in other words, to explain—why the stay should not be lifted and the action dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The order cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and the court’s inherent authority to dismiss a case when a plaintiff does not move it forward.
Saby was required to respond in writing by May 31, 2024. Judge Jacquelyn Scott Corley warned that failure to respond by that deadline would result in dismissal of the federal court action without prejudice. The opinion is an order to show cause, not the dismissal itself.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.