Tucker v. City of New York
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:18-cv-10531
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Tucker v. City of New York, Judge Hellerstein dismissed the case for failure to prosecute after Tucker took no further action for more than three years.
Douglas Tucker and the defendants, including the City of New York. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
What happened
In Tucker v. City of New York, the court said Plaintiff’s counsel was allowed to withdraw on May 23, 2019. The court also stayed the case for 60 days so Tucker could try to find new counsel.
More than three years later, Tucker had not retained new counsel or filed anything further in the case. The court therefore dismissed the case for failure to prosecute, meaning the plaintiff did not move the case forward.
Judge Hellerstein found that dismissal was warranted after considering the required factors. He directed the Clerk to mark the case closed. The order did not state whether the dismissal permits refiling.
The detailed version
- Tucker v. City of New York · No. 1:18-cv-10531
- Alvin Hellerstein
- June 9, 2022
Background
On May 23, 2019, the court granted Plaintiff’s counsel permission to withdraw. The court also granted Tucker’s request to stay the case for 60 days to give him an opportunity to retain new counsel.
Court’s Analysis
The court stated that more than three years had passed since that order. During that time, Tucker had neither retained new counsel nor filed anything on the docket to advance the case. The court applied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), which allows a case to be dismissed when a plaintiff fails to prosecute, or move the case forward. The court also considered the factors identified in Shannon v. GE Co. and found that dismissal was warranted.
Disposition
Judge Hellerstein dismissed the case for failure to prosecute. The Clerk was directed to mark the case closed. The order did not specify whether the dismissal permits refiling.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.