Onatolu v. Amazon
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07588
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Onatolu v. Amazon, Judge McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice because Onatolu filed without required permission to proceed without paying fees.
Adekunle A. Onatolu, whose action was dismissed without prejudice; the opinion did not decide the claims against Amazon.
What happened
In Onatolu v. Amazon, Adekunle A. Onatolu filed the case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. A 2015 court order barred him from filing new cases under that status unless he first obtained permission.
The court said Onatolu had not obtained the required permission before filing this case. It dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier order. The court also denied permission to proceed without paying fees on appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the dismissal on September 17, 2020. The opinion did not decide the underlying claims against Amazon.
The detailed version
- Onatolu v. Amazon · No. 1:20-cv-07588
- Colleen McMahon
- Sept. 17, 2020
Background
Adekunle A. Onatolu filed this action without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that, on July 9, 2015, the court barred him from filing any new action under that status unless he first obtained leave, or permission, from the court. The opinion cites the earlier order in Onatolu v. U.S. Army.
Onatolu had not requested that permission before filing this case. He also attached a notice of appeal, a request for more time to file an appeal notice, and a request to proceed without paying fees on appeal. The court did not address those documents because, when he filed the complaint, there was no order in this action from which to appeal.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because Onatolu failed to comply with the July 9, 2015 order. The opinion did not reach the merits of his claims against Amazon.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. Chief Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.