Jordan v. TransUnion L L C

• Court: District Court, W.D. Louisiana
• Decided: April 1, 2024
• Docket: 6:23-cv-01668
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE DIVISION

ANTHONY JORDAN JR CASE NO. 6:23-CV-01668

VERSUS JUDGE ROBERT R. SUMMERHAYS

TRANSUNION LLC MAGISTRATE JUDGE CAROL B. WHITEHURST

MEMORANDUM ORDER

Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for More Definite Statement (Rec. Doc. 10), which Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, opposed (Rec. Doc. 13). Plaintiff initiated this suit with a 117-page, 339-paragraph complaint, complete with a table of contents and innumerable paragraphs of prose asserting myriad allegations regarding Trans Union’s operations. He asserts four counts under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and state law alleging that Trans Union’s alleged actions negatively affected his credit report, thereby affecting his overall financial position. (Rec. Doc. 1, ¶294-301). Later, Plaintiff filed a 340-paragraph amended complaint asserting the same allegations and claims. Trans Union filed the instant motion for definite statement, arguing the voluminous complaint, with paragraphs which are both un-numbered for pages and then numbered up to 340, is impossible to answer. The Court agrees the complaint is excessive and fails to comply with the basic requirements of Rule 8.

Under Rule 8(a) F.R.C.P. the complaint need only contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing the pleader is entitled to relief.” Sisk v. Texas Parks & Wildlife Dep't, 644 F.2d 1056, 1059 (5th Cir. 1981). The underlying purpose of

Rule 8 is “to eliminate prolixity in pleading and to achieve brevity, simplicity, and clarity.” Gordon v. Green, 602 F.2d 743, 746 (5th Cir. 1979), quoting Knox v. First Security Bank of Utah, 196 F.2d 112, 117 (10 Cir. 1952). Though Plaintiff’s pleadings in this case are not so egregious as the “gobbledygoop” addressed by the

court in Gordon, the Court agrees that the complaint similarly violates Rule 8. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Definite Statement (Rec. Doc.

10) is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file a second amended complaint within fourteen (14) days of this order. The amended complaint shall comply with Rule 8, shall be limited to fifteen (15) pages, shall not contain legal

argument or narrative, and shall set forth concise factual allegations and claims for relief in numbered paragraphs. Signed at Lafayette, Louisiana on this 1* day of April, 2024.

CAROL B. WHITEHURST UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE