Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled June 28, 2022

Mecea v. New York Civil Service Employees Publishing Co., Inc.

Judge
Vyskocil
Docket
1:22-cv-03223
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Mecea v. New York Civil Service Employees Publishing, Judge Vyskocil discontinued the case for failure to prosecute, allowing restoration by July 13, 2022 before dismissal with prejudice.

Who this affects

Robert Mecea and New York Civil Service Employees Publishing Co., Inc.; the action was discontinued because Mecea did not prosecute it, subject to restoration by July 13, 2022, after which the dismissal would be with prejudice.

What happened

In Mecea v. New York Civil Service Employees Publishing Co., Inc., Robert Mecea sued New York Civil Service Employees Publishing Co., Inc. The opinion states that Mecea filed the complaint on April 20, 2022, and that the defendant was served two days later.

The defendant did not timely answer or otherwise respond. The court gave Mecea until June 27, 2022, to request a default judgment and warned that failing to do so could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute. No response was filed, and Mecea did not pursue the case.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ordered the action discontinued for failure to prosecute, without costs to either party and without prejudice to restoring it if Mecea applied by July 13, 2022. If no application was filed by that date, the dismissal would be with prejudice.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Mecea v. New York Civil Service Employees Publishing Co., Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-03223
Judge
Vyskocil
Date
June 28, 2022

Background

Robert Mecea filed the complaint on April 20, 2022. An affidavit stating that the summons and complaint had been served on the defendant was filed on April 22, 2022. The summons stated that the defendant's response was due May 13, 2022.

Failure to Prosecute

The defendant did not timely answer or otherwise respond to the complaint. The Court then ordered that any motion for entry of a default judgment be filed by June 27, 2022. The Court had warned that failure to request a default judgment by that date could result in dismissal for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

No responses were filed, and Mecea did not prosecute the case. The opinion does not discuss the merits of the underlying claims.

Ruling

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ordered that the action be discontinued for failure to prosecute, without costs to any party. The order allowed Mecea to restore the action to the Court's calendar if an application to restore it was made by July 13, 2022. If no application was made by that date, the Court stated that the dismissal would be with prejudice.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.