a district court has the power to dismiss an action for the plaintiffs failure to comply with any court order
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- a district court has the power to dismiss an action for the plaintiffs failure to comply with any court order
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The opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
JOHNATHAN S. MITCHELL, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 4:21-cv-30-DDN
)
BECKY POST and BELLEFONTAINE )
HABILITATION CENTER, )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court upon review of the file. Plaintiff Johnathan S. Mitchell
initiated this action on or about January 6, 2021 by filing a complaint using this Court’s
employment discrimination complaint form. He sought and was granted leave to proceed in forma
pauperis, and the Court reviewed the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). The Court
determined that while it appeared plaintiff sought to redress employment discrimination, he neither
described the claims he wished to bring before the Court, nor alleged facts that would allow the
Court to discern his actual claims. On February 19, 2021, the Court entered an order directing
plaintiff to file an amended complaint. In that order, the Court clearly described the deficiencies
of the complaint, gave plaintiff clear instructions about how to prepare the amended complaint,
and cautioned plaintiff that his case could be dismissed if he failed to timely comply. Plaintiff’s
response was due to the Court on March 12, 2021.
To date, plaintiff has neither filed an amended complaint, nor sought additional time to do
so. Plaintiff was given meaningful notice of what was expected, cautioned that his case would be
dismissed if he failed to timely comply, and given significant additional time to comply. Therefore,
this action will be dismissed at this time, without prejudice, due to plaintiff’s failure to prosecute
his case and his failure to comply with this Court’s February 19, 2021 order. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
41(b); see also Brown v. Frey, 806 F.2d 801, 803-04 (8th Cir. 1986) (a district court has the power
to dismiss an action for the plaintiffs failure to comply with any court order); Dudley v. Miles,
597 F. App’x 392 (8th Cir. 2015) (per curiam) (affirming dismissal without prejudice where pro
se plaintiff failed to file an amended complaint despite being cautioned that dismissal could result
from failure to do so).
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED without prejudice pursuant
to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. A separate order of dismissal will be entered
herewith.
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that an appeal from this dismissal would not be taken in
good faith.
Dated this 1st day of April, 2021.
mac ee
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE