Toure v. City of New York
- Andrew Carter
- 1:20-cv-04310
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Toure v. City of New York, Judge Carter dismissed the action without prejudice because Toure failed to prosecute after ignoring court orders.
Toure and the City of New York and the other defendants in the action; the case was dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
What happened
In Toure v. City of New York, the parties told the court they were ready for trial but had not reached a settlement. The court later ordered them to file a joint pretrial order, but no order was filed.
The court ordered Toure to explain why the case should not be dismissed and warned that failing to respond could lead to dismissal. Toure did not respond and took no action for nearly two years.
Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. dismissed the action without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute and directed the clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Toure v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-04310
- Andrew Carter
- July 25, 2023
Background
The parties advised the court on October 15, 2021, that they were ready to proceed to trial but had been unable to settle. On January 19, 2022, the court ordered the parties to submit a joint pretrial order by February 16, 2022. No joint pretrial order was filed.
On October 5, 2022, the court ordered Toure to show why the case should not be dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). The court directed Toure to respond by October 19, 2022, and warned that failing to respond would result in dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute. Toure did not respond and took no action in the case for nearly two years.
Court’s analysis
Rule 41(b) permits a district court to dismiss a complaint when a plaintiff fails to comply with a court order, treating that failure as failure to prosecute. The court identified five factors relevant to such a dismissal: the delay caused by the plaintiff, whether the plaintiff received notice that further delay could lead to dismissal, possible prejudice to the defendant, the court’s need to manage its docket while preserving the plaintiff’s opportunity to litigate, and whether a less severe sanction would be effective.
The court stated that nearly two years had passed since the parties last communicated with it and that Toure had been warned that further delay would result in dismissal. The court concluded that Toure appeared to have abandoned the litigation and that dismissal under Rule 41(b) was warranted.
Disposition
Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. ordered that the action be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The clerk was directed to terminate the case. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims on their merits.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.