Williams v. DeJoy

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA BRUNSWICK DIVISION

MICHELLE WILLIAMS,

Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NO.: 2:24-cv-26

v.

LOUIS DEJOY, ORELENE GARCIA, DWAYNE GRAY, PATRICK MUISE, and CLAUDETTE BALLARD,

Defendants.

O RDE R Plaintiff filed a Complaint, asserting claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Doc. 1. For the reasons that follow, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to file an Amended Complaint within 14 days of this Order. Failure to comply with this Order within the allotted time or to show cause why Plaintiff is unable to comply will result in a recommendation to the District Judge the case be dismissed without further notice for failure to prosecute and failure to follow a Court Order. A federal court is required to conduct an initial screening of all complaints filed by plaintiffs proceeding in forma pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. During the initial screening, the court must identify any cognizable claims in the complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). Additionally, the court must dismiss the complaint (or any portion of the complaint) that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or which seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. Id. The pleadings of unrepresented parties are held to a less stringent standard than those drafted by attorneys and, therefore, must be liberally construed. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). However, a plaintiff’s unrepresented status will not excuse mistakes regarding procedural rules. McNeil v. United States, 508 U.S. 106, 113 (1993). A plaintiff’s complaint should contain a “short and plain statement” of the plaintiff’s

claims, and each allegation in the complaint should be “simple, concise, and direct.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), (d). In order to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, a complaint must contain “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). To state a claim, a complaint must contain “more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not” suffice. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. A plaintiff is not necessarily required to bring a separate action for each individual claim against each individual defendant. In some circumstances, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow a plaintiff to name multiple defendants in a suit and to assert multiple claims in a single

suit. Specifically, a plaintiff may name multiple defendants in a single action, but only if he asserts at least one claim against those defendants that arises from the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences, or if any question of law or fact common to all defendants will arise in the action. Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2). Additionally, a plaintiff may assert multiple claims against a properly joined defendant in the same action. Fed. R. Civ. P. 18(a). Plaintiff fails to state any factual allegations in her Complaint. Plaintiff attached a decision from the Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to her Complaint. Doc. 1 at 7–12. The Court is unable to discern which factual allegations from the EEOC decision Plaintiff seeks to assert in her Complaint. Plaintiff’s Complaint lacks any factual details for the Court to understand the wrongs about which Plaintiff may be complaining. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to file an Amended Complaint within 14 days of this Order. The Amended Complaint must comply with the following directions. The Court

advises Plaintiff to read and follow these directions carefully: (1) The Amended Complaint must be on the Court-approved complaint form to be used by pro se plaintiffs.1

(2) The Amended Complaint must be clearly labelled “Amended Complaint” and place the civil action number of this case on the first page of the form.

(3) No more than 10 pages may be attached to the form (this includes written allegations and attachments).

(4) The Amended Complaint must be legible with writing on only one side of each page.

(5) Each intended defendant must be identified by name or by sufficient details to describe the individual.

(6) The Amended Complaint should include only factual allegations concerning events where the rights of Plaintiff were violated or Plaintiff was injured, including the date and location of each alleged violation.

(7) The Amended Complaint must describe each alleged violation and identify each defendant responsible for each alleged violation.

(8) The Amended Complaint should not contain legal argument or conclusions.

Once filed, Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint will supersede and replace his original Complaint. Therefore, Plaintiff must not refer back to the initial Complaint or any of its attachments and must not incorporate any part of the original complaint by reference in his

1 The Court DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to send the appropriate blank complaint form and a copy of this Order to Plaintiff. Amended Complaint. Claims made against particular defendants in the Plaintiffs original Complaint are not preserved unless they are also set forth in the Amended Complaint. Failure to comply with this Order within the allotted time or to show cause why Plaintiff is unable to comply will result in a recommendation to the District Judge the case be dismissed without further notice for failure to prosecute and failure to follow a Court Order. Additionally, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to advise the Court in writing of any change of address during the pendency of this action. Plaintiffs failure to abide by this directive will result in the dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint, without prejudice, for failure to follow an Order of this Court. SO ORDERED, this 30th day of May, 2024.

Bot BENJAMIN W. CHEESBRO UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA