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HE v. OFFICE OF NEW YORK CITY COMPTROLLER (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.2021-01-26No. No. 19-4326

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's judgment dismissing the plaintiff's complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute and denied her motion for attorney's fees.

Xuejie He, representing herself, appealed a district court's dismissal of her civil rights discrimination lawsuit against the New York City Comptroller's Office. The lower court dismissed her case under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute after ordering her to clarify her intent to continue. He responded by challenging the court's subject-matter jurisdiction rather than defending against the failure-to-prosecute dismissal. On appeal, she renewed the jurisdiction argument but offered no other grounds to overturn the dismissal.

The appellate court found that He's jurisdiction arguments lacked merit. Even assuming the district court had lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, the court noted that such dismissals must occur without prejudice to allow refiling—and the district court had properly dismissed her case without prejudice. Because He presented no valid reason to vacate the judgment, the court upheld the dismissal and rejected her request for attorney's fees, which she had not adequately justified.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether the district court abused its discretion in dismissing for failure to prosecute
  • Whether the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction
  • Whether dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction must occur without prejudice
  • Whether attorney's fees were warranted on appeal

Procedural posture

The appellant appealed from a district court judgment dismissing her discrimination complaint for failure to prosecute, and moved for an award of attorney's fees.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Appellant Xuejie He, proceeding pro se, appeals from the district courts judgment dismissing her action against the Office of the New York City Comptroller, in which she alleged discrimination in violation of her civil rights. He also moves for an award of attorneys fees. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal, and refer to them only as necessary to explain our decision to affirm the district courts judgment.

The district court dismissed Hes action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute after issuing orders directing He to inform the court whether she intended to continue prosecuting her case. In response to these orders, He filed letters stating that the court lacked jurisdiction over her action. On appeal, He does not contend that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing her complaint for failure to prosecute, but instead insists, once again, that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over her case.

Although Hes arguments that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction are without merit, we would affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing this case even if He were correct that the court lacked jurisdiction. When a court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over an action, it must dismiss the case, and must do so without prejudice to the plaintiff. See Katz v. Donna Karan Co., L.L.C., 872 F.3d 114, 121 (2d Cir. 2017) (dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction must be without prejudice); see also St. Pierre v. Dyer, 208 F.3d 394, 400 (2d Cir. 2000) (noting “dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is not an adjudication of the merits”). The district court dismissed Hes complaint without prejudice. Because He points to no reason to vacate this judgment dismissing the case, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court, and DENY Hes motion for attorneys fees, as she identifies no basis for an award of fees.