Travis O’Rion Horne v. Tri-State Garden Supply, doing business as Gardenscape Inc.; John Friot, Garden Scape plant supervisor/manager; and Dave Kasmach, Tristate Garden Supply Inc. – President/Owner

District Court, N.D. New York·Decided July 29, 2026·No. 8:25-cv-00144·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK JUDGMENT IN A CIVIL CASE ___________________________________________ TRAVIS O’RION HORNE, Plaintiff, v. 8:25-CV-144 (GTS/DJS) TRI-STATE GARDEN SUPPLY, doing business as Gardenscape Inc.; JOHN FRIOT, Garden Scape plant supervisor/manager; and DAVE KASMOCH, Tristate Garden Supply Inc. – President/Owner, Defendants. ____________________________________________ Decision by Court. The issues have been tried or heard and a decision has been rendered. IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that, pursuant to the Text Order (Dkt. No. [17]) issued on July 29, 2026 by the Honorable Glenn T. Suddaby, Plaintiff’s Complaint (Dkt. No. [1]) is sua sponte dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and/or failure to comply with this Court's Text Orders of 03/10/2026 and 04/15/2026 (Dkt. Nos. [15], [16]). Based on a careful balancing of the relevant five factors, the Court finds that dismissal is warranted under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4l(b). See Hevner v. Village East Towers, Inc., No. 07-5608, 2008 WL 4280070, at * 1-2 (2d Cir. Sept. 18, 2008) (identifying the relevant five factors as follows: "( 1) the duration of the plaintiff's failures, (2) whether plaintiff had received notice that further delays would result in dismissal, (3) whether the defendant is likely to be prejudiced by further delay, (4) whether the district judge has taken care to strike the balance between alleviating court calendar congestion and protecting a party's right to due process and a fair chance to be heard and (5) whether the judge has adequately assessed the efficacy of lesser sanctions"). Specifically, with regard to the first factor, the Court finds that the duration of Plaintiff's failure to be more than four months. With regard to the second factor, the Court finds that Plaintiff has received adequate notice that a further delay would result in dismissal. With regard to the third factor, the Court finds that Defendant is likely to be prejudiced by further delay. See Georgiadis v. First Boston Corp., 167 F.R.D. 24, 25 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) ("The passage of time always threatens difficulty as memories fade"). Indeed, the Second Circuit has explained that prejudice to a defendant is presumed where the delay is unreasonable (as the Court finds it is here). Lyell Theatre Corp. v. Loews Corp., 682 F.2d 37, 42-43 (2d Cir. 1982). With regard to the fourth factor, the Court finds that the need to alleviate congestion on its docket outweighs Plaintiff's right to receive a further chance to be heard in this case. With regard to the fifth factor, the Court has carefully considered less drastic sanctions and has found them to be inadequate under the circumstances, especially given Plaintiff's failure to respond to the Court's last two Text Orders. (Dkt. Nos. [15], [16].) Additionally, pursuant to the Decision and Order issued on May 2, 2025, Magistrate Judge Stewart's Report-Recommendation (Dkt. No. [4]) is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED in its entirety. Plaintiffs ADA claims against Defendants Friot and Kasmoch are DISMISSED with prejudice.

All of the above pursuant to the Text Order (Dkt. No. [17] issued on July 29, 2026 and the Decision and Order issued on May 2, 2025 by the Honorable Glenn T. Suddaby. DATED: July 29, 2026 s/Rose Pieklik Rose Pieklik Courtroom Deputy Clerk

Un Clerk of Court per □□

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Travis O’Rion Horne v. Tri-State Garden Supply, doing business as Gardenscape Inc.; John Friot, Garden Scape plant supervisor/manager; and Dave Kasmach, Tristate Garden Supply Inc. – President/Owner, (N.D.N.Y. 2026).

Travis O’Rion Horne v. Tri-State Garden Supply, doing business as Gardenscape Inc.; John Friot, Garden Scape plant supervisor/manager; and Dave Kasmach, Tristate Garden Supply Inc. – President/Owner (Travis O’Rion Horne v. Tri-State Garden Supply, doing business as Gardenscape Inc.; John Friot, Garden Scape plant supervisor/manager; and Dave Kasmach, Tristate Garden Supply Inc. – President/Owner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Georgiadis v. First Boston Corp.
167 F.R.D. 24 (S.D. New York, 1996)