Laws v. Transitional Center, Inc.

• Court: District Court, S.D. Illinois
• Decided: October 7, 2025
• Docket: 3:25-cv-01302
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

TYSHON D. LAWS,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 25-cv-1302-JPG

TRANSITIONAL CENTER, INC.,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter comes before the Court on the motion of plaintiff Tyshon D. Laws for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in this employment discrimination case (Doc. 4). A federal court may permit an indigent party to proceed without pre-payment of fees. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). Nevertheless, a court can deny a qualified plaintiff leave to file in forma pauperis or can dismiss a case if the action is clearly frivolous or malicious or fails to state a claim. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) & (ii). The test for determining if an action is frivolous or without merit is whether the plaintiff can make a rational argument on the law or facts in support of the claim. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989); Corgain v. Miller, 708 F.2d 1241, 1247 (7th Cir. 1983). An action fails to state a claim if it does not plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). When assessing a petition to proceed in forma pauperis, a district court should inquire into the merits of the plaintiff’s claims, and if the court finds them to be frivolous, it should deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Lucien v. Roegner, 682 F.2d 625, 626 (7th Cir. 1982). The Court is satisfied from Laws’s affidavit that she is indigent. However, the Court is unable to detect any cause of action for unlawful harassment, discrimination, or retaliation in her complaint. Instead, her complaint center on her dissatisfaction with being asked to move her car at her worksite and then being terminated within her probationary period. No facts alleged plausibly suggest any cause of action over which this Court has jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES Laws’s complaint without prejudice and RESERVES RULING on her motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. 4). The Court ORDERS that she shall have 30 days from entry of this order to file an amended

complaint that sets forth facts plausibly suggesting a right to relief above a speculative level in a valid cause of action over which this Court has jurisdiction. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: October 7, 2025

s/ J. Phil Gilbert J. PHIL GILBERT DISTRICT JUDGE