Avila v. Sun River Health, Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-09254
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Avila v. Sun River Health: Judge Swain dismissed the duplicative disability-discrimination case without prejudice to Avila’s pending identical case.
Jimmy Avila and Sun River Health, Inc., et al.; the dismissal concerns Avila’s duplicate action, while his identical case under docket number 22-CV-9221 remains pending.
What happened
Jimmy Avila, who was representing himself, sued Sun River Health, Inc., and other defendants under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, alleging disability discrimination. He had already filed an identical case against the same defendants in the same court.
The court dismissed this case as duplicative because the earlier case, docket number 22-CV-9221, was still pending. The dismissal was without prejudice to Avila’s pending case, and the court terminated the other pending matters in this action.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to enter judgment and denied permission to appeal without paying court fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Avila v. Sun River Health, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-09254
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 10, 2023
Background
Jimmy Avila, proceeding without a lawyer, brought claims against Sun River Health, Inc., and other defendants under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. He alleged that the defendants discriminated against him because of his disability.
Avila had previously filed an identical complaint in the same court. The earlier action, docket number 22-CV-9221, asserted the same claims against the same defendants and was still pending.
Court’s ruling
The court dismissed this action as duplicative because litigating a second identical case would serve no useful purpose. The dismissal was without prejudice to Avila’s pending case under docket number 22-CV-9221. The order therefore ended this action but did not dismiss the pending related case.
The court also terminated all other pending matters in this action and directed the clerk to enter judgment. Under the statute governing appeals by people proceeding without paying court fees, the court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying those fees.
Disposition
The action was dismissed without prejudice as duplicative. The order did not decide whether Avila’s disability-discrimination claims had merit.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.