Suarez v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Gregory Woods
- 1:20-cv-05151
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Suarez v. Commissioner, Judge Woods dismissed the case without prejudice because Plaintiff repeatedly ignored court orders and failed to prosecute.
The action brought by Jennifer Suarez on behalf of Christopher Sanchez was dismissed without prejudice, and the case was closed. The order also denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
In Suarez v. Commissioner of Social Security, Jennifer Suarez sued on behalf of Christopher Sanchez. The court had identified problems with the complaint and the request to proceed without paying the filing fee, including that the complaint was unsigned.
The court gave Plaintiff three deadlines to correct the problems and warned that continued noncompliance could lead to dismissal. Plaintiff did not respond to any of the orders or file anything after submitting the complaint.
Judge Woods dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b), finding that no lesser penalty would work. The court also closed the case and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Suarez v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:20-cv-05151
- Gregory Woods
- Jan. 5, 2021
Background
Jennifer Suarez filed the action on behalf of Christopher Sanchez against the Commissioner of Social Security. The court previously found deficiencies in the complaint and in the request to proceed without paying the filing fee. The opinion specifically states that the complaint was unsigned.
Missed deadlines and warnings
The court ordered Plaintiff to correct the deficiencies by August 13, 2020. When no submission arrived, the court issued another order requiring compliance by September 14, 2020. On October 22, 2020, the court issued a third order setting a November 11, 2020 deadline and warning that failure to comply could result in dismissal for failure to prosecute.
Plaintiff did not comply with any of the three orders, did not correct the identified deficiencies, and did not file anything after filing the complaint on July 6, 2020.
Ruling
Judge Woods dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). The court considered Plaintiff’s repeated failures, the warnings about dismissal, the effect of leaving an inactive case on the court’s docket, and whether a lesser sanction would be effective. The court concluded that dismissal was the only effective sanction but that dismissal without prejudice was appropriate.
The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case and mail the order to Plaintiff. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.