Opinion
Case No. CV412-075
09-12-2012
LALITHA D. SARIPALLI, Plaintiff, v. SAVANNAH TECHNICAL COLLEGE, Defendant.
ORDER
Plaintiff Lalitha D. Saripalli brought this employment discrimination case against the Savannah Technical College and Dr. Kathy Love. Doc. 1. She has paid the Court's $350 filing fee but is proceeding pro se, so the Court issued her specific instructions -- basically reminding her that she must litigate her case by doing things like effecting service of process. Doc. 4.
Her latest filing bears an amended caption indicating that she has dropped her claim against Dr. Kathy Love. Doc. 8 at 1. That makes sense because generally only an employer can be held liable under Title VII, not an individual. Givens v. Chambers, 548 F.Supp.2d 1259, 1268 (M.D. Ala. 2008); see generally, Ann., 131 A.L.R. Fed. 221 (1996). The Clerk shall AMEND the docket caption to show that Love is no longer a named defendant in this case.
Upon plaintiff's motion, the Court granted her an extension of Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m)'s 120-day deadline, and thus directed her to meet it by August 15, 2012. Doc. 6. She did not. Upon the Court's resulting show cause order, plaintiff claims she is physically disadvantaged and misread the Court's extension order to mean that she has until on or about December 14, 2012. Doc. 8 at 1-2. She requests another 120 days "to perfect discovery and to comply with other directives of the Court. . . ." Id. at 2.
Discovery does not even commence until after a defendant is served. Plaintiff has failed to effectuate service as described in the Court's earlier Order. Doc. 4 at 1-2. Nearly seven months have now elapsed since she filed this case and she has shown no good cause for failing to fulfill this most basic requirement. Nevertheless the Court will grant her until the close of business on October 11, 2012 to serve the defendant. After that, the Court will recommend dismissal.
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UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA