Onatolu v. AT&T
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-06213
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Onatolu v. AT&T, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Onatolu filed without first obtaining required court permission.
Adekunle A. Onatolu was directly affected by the dismissal and the denial of fee-free status for an appeal. AT&T was the defendant, but the court did not decide the merits of the claims.
What happened
In Onatolu v. AT&T, Adekunle A. Onatolu filed a case against AT&T while representing himself and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee.
A 2015 court order had barred him from filing a new case without paying the fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission. He had not obtained that permission before filing this action.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier order. She also ended the other pending matters and denied fee-free status for any appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Onatolu v. AT&T · No. 1:20-cv-06213
- Colleen McMahon
- Aug. 7, 2020
Background
Adekunle A. Onatolu filed this action against AT&T while proceeding without a lawyer. He sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. The opinion states that, on July 9, 2015, Onatolu had been barred from filing any new action without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained leave from the court.
Onatolu attached a notice of appeal, a motion for more time to file a notice of appeal, and a motion to proceed without paying the filing fee on appeal. The court stated that he had not sought the required permission before filing this action.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1651, the court dismissed the action without prejudice because Onatolu failed to comply with the July 9, 2015 order. The court also terminated all other matters. It directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Onatolu and record service on the docket.
The court further certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The opinion did not reach the merits of Onatolu’s claims against AT&T.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.