Rosado-Colon v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

Yolanda Rosado-Colon, representing herself, filed an action seeking judicial review of a final decision by the Commissioner of Social Security. She sought to begin the action without paying the filing fee.

On October 6, 2020, the court ordered Rosado-Colon to either pay the $400 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without paying the fee by October 20, 2020. The order warned that the case would be dismissed if she did not comply. She did not pay the fee, submit the application, or otherwise contact the court after filing the action.

Court’s analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) permits dismissal when a plaintiff fails to prosecute a case or comply with the federal rules or a court order. The court considered five factors: the length of the failure to comply, whether the plaintiff was warned about dismissal, likely prejudice to the defendant, the balance between managing the court’s calendar and giving the plaintiff a chance to be heard, and whether a lesser sanction would work.

The court found that the length of Rosado-Colon’s failure—about fourteen months—was significant and favored dismissal. The court also found that the express warning favored dismissal. The prejudice factor was neutral because the Commissioner had not incurred expenses defending the action. The court concluded that the lack of progress favored dismissal and that lesser sanctions would be ineffective because Rosado-Colon had not responded to the earlier order.

Ruling

The court concluded that dismissal for failure to prosecute was appropriate. It dismissed the action without prejudice, directed the clerk to mail Rosado-Colon a copy of the order, and directed the clerk to close the case. The opinion did not decide whether the Commissioner’s Social Security decision was legally correct.