Luck v. Westchester Medical Center

Background

Melinda Luck, proceeding without a lawyer and without paying the filing fee, brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She alleged that Westchester Medical Center, Megan Ward, Jeffrey Eagan, Michael Cazarri, John Dearman, and the Town of Carmel failed to follow proper procedures when withdrawing blood from her after a car accident.

Two groups of defendants moved to dismiss Luck’s first amended complaint. Judge Nelson Stephen Román granted both motions and gave Luck permission to file a second amended complaint. The court later granted six requests to extend the deadline for filing that complaint. The opinion states that the final extension set a deadline of October 5, 2020, and warned that no further extensions would be granted without a showing of good cause.

Failure to Prosecute

Luck did not file the second amended complaint and did not request another extension by the time of the order. The court stated that this failure had interfered with its effort to manage its docket and move cases forward. Although the court considered Luck’s status as a self-represented litigant, it said her lack of effort could indicate that she intended to abandon the case.

Order

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), a court may dismiss a case for failure to prosecute. Judge Philip M. Halpern ordered Luck to show cause in writing by December 17, 2020, why the action should not be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute. The order states that failure to comply would result in dismissal for failure to prosecute. The opinion is an order to show cause; it does not state that the case was dismissed at that time. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Luck at the address listed on the docket.