Duarte v. Highland Light Steam laundry Company
- Louis Stanton
- 1:21-cv-00990
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 8
In Duarte v. Highland Light Steam Laundry Company, Judge Stanton ordered an English complaint or translation within sixty days before screening could continue.
Sony Marisol Ortega Duarte was required to provide an English translation or an amended complaint in English within sixty days. The employment claims were not decided.
What happened
In Duarte v. Highland Light Steam Laundry Company, Sony Marisol Ortega Duarte brought the action without a lawyer and checked the form indicating a claim under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Her factual statement was written in Spanish, so the court could not review it.
The court gave Duarte permission to either refile the original complaint with an English translation or submit an amended complaint in English within sixty days. The court did not decide the merits of her claims, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Louis L. Stanton warned that failure to comply, without showing a good reason, could lead to dismissal for failure to follow a court order. The court also noted that a free legal clinic could provide assistance and translation services.
The detailed version
- Duarte v. Highland Light Steam laundry Company · No. 1:21-cv-00990
- Louis Stanton
- Feb. 16, 2021
Background
Plaintiff Sony Marisol Ortega Duarte brought this employment-related action without a lawyer. The opinion states that she used the court’s Employment Discrimination Complaint form and checked the box for claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In the facts section, she referred to an attached statement, but that statement was written in Spanish.
The court had previously granted Duarte permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. Because she was proceeding under that permission, the court was required to screen the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). The court explained that federal court proceedings must be conducted in English and that it could not review the factual allegations in Spanish.
Order
The court granted Duarte leave to either refile her original complaint with an English translation or file an amended complaint in English. She was required to submit one of those documents to the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit within sixty days of the order and label it with docket number 21-CV-0990 (LLS). The court attached an amended complaint form for employment discrimination.
The court did not reach the merits of Duarte’s employment claims. It also directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to her and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Effect of the Order
If Duarte failed to comply within the allowed period and could not show good cause—that is, a legally sufficient reason for the delay—the court stated that the complaint would be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to comply with a court order. The court also identified the New York Legal Assistance Group’s Legal Clinic for Pro Se Litigants as a possible source of free legal and translation assistance. Judge Louis L. Stanton signed the order.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.