Brinkman v. Pertler
- Wilhelmina Wright
- 0:15-cv-00571
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Brinkman v. Pertler, Judge Wright dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute and denied the fee-waiver application as moot.
Sean Brinkman, whose action was dismissed without prejudice, and the defendants named in the case.
What happened
Brinkman v. Pertler had been paused since 2015 while another case was resolved. After judgment was entered in that related case, the court lifted the pause.
Before lifting the pause, the court twice ordered Sean Brinkman to tell the court whether he intended to continue the case. The second order gave him 21 days and warned that the case would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not respond. Brinkman did not respond by the deadline.
The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright also denied Brinkman’s application to proceed without paying filing fees as moot.
The detailed version
- Brinkman v. Pertler · No. 0:15-cv-00571
- Wilhelmina Wright
- Oct. 6, 2022
Background
The case had been stayed, meaning paused, in 2015 while the court awaited the resolution of a prior related proceeding. Judgment was later entered in that proceeding, so the court lifted the stay.
Before the stay was lifted, the court twice directed plaintiff Sean Brinkman to notify the court whether he intended to continue prosecuting this case. The second order gave Brinkman 21 days to respond and stated that the matter would be dismissed without prejudice if he failed to do so.
Rulings
The deadline passed without a response from Brinkman. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). A dismissal without prejudice does not bar refiling based solely on that dismissal.
The court also denied as moot Brinkman’s application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning to proceed without paying the filing fee. The order directed that judgment be entered accordingly.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.