El Bey v. Cubesmart Self Storage
- Gregory Woods
- 1:20-cv-00521
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In El-Bey v. Cubesmart Self Storage, Judge Woods dismissed the case without prejudice after repeated missed conferences and failures to provide discovery.
The order affects Prinyah Godiah Nmiaa Paynes El-Bey’s claims against Cubesmart Self Storage, Cubesmart Store 0558, and Cubesmart Corp.; the complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and the case was closed.
What happened
El-Bey v. Cubesmart Self Storage involved claims that the court understood to arise under the Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State’s Human Rights Law, and New York City’s Human Rights Law. The plaintiff represented herself and was not required to pay filing fees.
The plaintiff missed five status conferences, including the three most recent ones, and did not comply with repeated orders to answer interrogatories and provide documents. The court warned several times that continued noncompliance could lead to dismissal and considered whether a lesser penalty would be appropriate.
Judge Woods dismissed the complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with the court’s orders. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal, terminated pending motions, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- El Bey v. Cubesmart Self Storage · No. 1:20-cv-00521
- Gregory Woods
- Mar. 12, 2022
Background
Prinyah Godiah Nmiaa Paynes El-Bey, representing herself and proceeding without prepayment of filing fees, filed the action. The court understood the complaint to assert claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State’s Human Rights Law, and New York City’s Human Rights Law.
The court scheduled multiple status conferences. The plaintiff failed to appear at conferences on June 8 and June 22, 2021, and the court warned her that failure to comply with its orders could result in dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). Between July 2021 and January 2022, she appeared at four conferences, but discovery problems continued.
On October 25, 2021, the court ordered her to provide complete written responses to the defendants’ interrogatories by November 12,
- At a January 11, 2022 conference, the court again ordered her to answer the interrogatories and respond fully to outstanding document requests by January 28,
- The defendants moved for discovery sanctions on February 14,
- The plaintiff then failed to appear at conferences scheduled for February 22, March 1, and March 10, 2022, despite further warnings that noncompliance could lead to sanctions, including dismissal.
Court’s Analysis
Under Rule 41(b), a court may dismiss an action when a plaintiff fails to prosecute the case or comply with court rules or orders. Under Rule 16(f), a court may impose appropriate sanctions when a party fails to obey a scheduling or other pretrial order. The court noted that dismissal may be imposed against a self-represented plaintiff when the plaintiff has been warned that noncompliance could result in dismissal.
The court found that dismissal under Rule 41(b) was warranted because the plaintiff had missed five status conferences over the preceding year, missed the three most recent conferences, failed to respond to recent court orders, and failed to provide basic discovery. The court also found dismissal under Rule 16(f) warranted because she had failed to comply with at least four scheduling orders. The court concluded that repeated warnings and multiple opportunities to comply had not succeeded, and that a lesser sanction was not appropriate.
Disposition
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with numerous court orders. It certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate all pending motions and close the case.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.