Scott v. Westchester County

Background

Prince D. Scott sued Westchester County and other defendants. On October 9, 2019, several individual defendants previously identified as John Does were identified. The next day, the court directed Scott to file an amended complaint naming those individuals. Scott never filed the amended complaint.

The Clerk of Court attempted to mail the October 10 order and later communications to Scott, but the mail was returned as undeliverable. Scott had previously been told that he had to notify the court in writing if his address changed and that failing to do so could lead to dismissal.

Failure to Prosecute

On December 18, 2019, the court ordered Scott to explain within 30 days why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to move the case forward. That order was also returned as undeliverable. Scott did not respond or otherwise communicate with the court. The opinion states that he had not communicated with the court about the case since March 27, 2019, when he filed an application to proceed without paying the filing fee.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows involuntary dismissal when a plaintiff fails to prosecute a case or comply with court rules or orders. The court also explained that a federal district court has inherent authority to dismiss for failure to prosecute without a defendant first requesting dismissal. Before doing so, the court considered the duration of Scott’s failures, the notice he received, possible prejudice from further delay, the need to manage the court’s calendar while protecting the right to be heard, and whether lesser sanctions would be effective.

Disposition

The court concluded that these factors favored dismissal. It dismissed Scott’s case without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The opinion did not resolve the substance of Scott’s claims against the defendants. The Clerk was directed to mail a copy of the order to Scott.