Thomas v. United Fire Officers Association (UFOA)

Opinion

USDC SDNY DOCUMENT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ELECTRONICALLY FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: « 7/28/2025 SHAWN L. THOMAS, DATE FILED;_“—————_ Plaintiff, -against- 25-CV-06002 (MMG) UNITED FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, et al., = Defendants.

MARGARET M. GARNETT, United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se, paid the filing fees to commence this action. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to issue summonses for all Defendants: United Fire Officers Association, James Brosi, Jason Rigoli, James McCarthy, Steven Rabinowitz, Carlos Velez, and Mark Guerra. Plaintiff is directed to serve the summons and complaint on each Defendant within 90 days of the issuance of the summonses.’ If within those 90 days, Plaintiff has not either served Defendants and filed proof of such service, or requested an extension of time to do so, the Court may dismiss the claims against any unserved Defendant under Rule 4 and 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to prosecute. For more information on service in fee-paid pro se actions, Plaintiff is directed to the District’s Service Guide available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/forms/service-guide-pro-se-cases- where-fees-have-been-paid. Dated: July 28, 2025 New York, New York SO ORDERED.

United States District Judge

' Although Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally requires that a summons be served within 90 days of the date the complaint is filed, in light of the fact that Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, the Court shall swa sponte extend the time to serve until 90 days after the date the summonses are issued. See Ruotolo v. I.R.S., 28 F.3d 6, 8 (2d Cir. 1994) (recognizing that pro se litigants must be accorded “special solicitude”’); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m).