Smalls v. White Plains Hospital
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01525
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Smalls v. White Plains Hospital was dismissed without prejudice for failing to pay filing fees or submit a fee-waiver application, Judge Swain ruled.
Norma M. Smalls, as administrator of Marie Smalls’s estate, whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice; White Plains Hospital, the defendant; and any attempted appeal, for which fee-waiver status was denied.
What happened
In Smalls v. White Plains Hospital, the court had ordered Norma M. Smalls, acting as administrator of Marie Smalls’s estate, to submit a completed fee-waiver application or pay the required filing fees within 30 days. The order warned that failure to comply would lead to dismissal.
Smalls did not submit the application or pay the fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar a new filing based on the same matter.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for the appeal. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Smalls v. White Plains Hospital · No. 1:24-cv-01525
- Laura Swain
- May 2, 2024
Background
The court had previously ordered Plaintiff Norma M. Smalls, acting as administrator of the estate of Marie Smalls, to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fees or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order gave Plaintiff 30 days to comply and stated that the complaint would be dismissed if she did not.
Ruling
Plaintiff did not submit the fee-waiver application or pay the filing fees. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against White Plains Hospital.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.