Binns-Harty-Bolt v. McDonough

Background

Rinella C. Binns-Harty-Bolt filed the action without a lawyer against Denis McDonough, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and several other defendants. She alleged that her former Department of Veterans Affairs employer and individuals connected with it engaged in employment discrimination, retaliation, hostile-work-environment practices, fraud, misrepresentation, conspiracies, and other violations. She identified alleged discrimination based on sex or gender, race, age, and disability, and sought $11 million.

Binns-Harty-Bolt filed an original complaint, an amended complaint, multiple requests for emergency and preliminary injunctive relief, and a proposed second amended complaint with numerous exhibits. The court noted that the submissions totaled more than 1,750 pages. It described the amended complaint as 78 pages of single-spaced text plus about 150 pages of exhibits, and said that many allegations were confusing, repetitive, conclusory, or nearly incomprehensible.

Rule 8 and leave to amend

The court explained that a complaint must provide a short and plain statement showing that the plaintiff is entitled to relief. Because Binns-Harty-Bolt's amended complaint did not meet that requirement, the court concluded that it failed to state a claim for relief under the screening standard for people allowed to proceed without paying filing fees. The court also concluded that the proposed second amended complaint, which was 84 pages with 656 pages of exhibits, did not cure the same problems.

The court directed the clerk to docket the proposed second amended complaint and granted Binns-Harty-Bolt leave to file a third amended complaint within 30 days. The third amended complaint must replace, rather than supplement, the earlier complaints. The court instructed her to provide a short and plain statement explaining what each defendant did or failed to do, when and where the relevant events occurred, what injuries she suffered, and what relief she seeks. The court also stated that claims seeking to have defendants arrested or criminally prosecuted should not be included because private parties cannot initiate criminal prosecutions in federal court.

Emergency-relief motions

Binns-Harty-Bolt filed four motions for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief. The court said that this type of relief requires a showing of likely irreparable harm and either a likelihood of success on the merits or sufficiently serious questions to justify litigation with the balance of hardships strongly favoring the applicant.

The court found that she had not shown either a likelihood of success on the merits or sufficiently serious questions combined with a favorable balance of hardships. It denied the requests for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief without prejudice to renewal at a later date.

Request for volunteer counsel and disposition

Binns-Harty-Bolt also asked the court to request volunteer counsel. The court denied that application without prejudice to renewal later because the case was too early for the court to assess its merits.

The court granted leave to file a third amended complaint and warned that, if Binns-Harty-Bolt failed to comply within the allowed time without showing good cause, the action would be dismissed for failure to state a claim. The court denied fee-free appeal status for any appeal from the order, finding that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide whether Binns-Harty-Bolt ultimately could prove her underlying discrimination or other claims.