Opinion
No. 04 C 7846.
December 8, 2004
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Arturo Gonzalez ("Gonzalez") has submitted a self-prepared Complaint of Employment Discrimination against his employer Metaldyne, together with his In Forma Pauperis Application and Financial Affidavit ("Application") and Motion for Appointment of Counsel ("Motion"). For the reason hereafter explained, this Court sua sponte dismisses the Complaint and this action without prejudice (thus denying both the Application and the Motion as moot).
Gonzalez' Complaint is "self-prepared" in the sense that he has used the form provided by this District Court's Clerk's Office for use by pro se plaintiffs and has filled in all of the appropriate blanks in handwriting.
Both the Application and the Motion are also on Clerk-furnished forms, again filled out in Gonzalez' handwriting.
Gonzalez' Complaint and attached exhibit show that he has filed the Charge of Discrimination required as the first step for any employment discrimination claim — but he has not alleged his receipt of a right-to-sue letter from EEOC, which is also a necessary precondition to his coming to this federal court for relief. Because that jurisdictional precondition to filing suit has not been satisfied, Gonzalez cannot go forward at this time.
As stated earlier, the dismissal that must therefore be ordered here is without prejudice to Gonzalez' ability to try again after that essential EEOC precondition has been satisfied. If he were to seek to do so, however, he should be aware of some additional matters:
1. According to his Charge of Discrimination, Gonzalez sustained an on-the-job injury in August 2003. It is unclear whether that injury has given rise to a "disability" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and this memorandum order should not be misunderstood as expressing any view on that subject.
2. If Gonzales does try again with another lawsuit, his Application should provide some further information as to his claimed inability to pay the $150 filing fee. Even though this Court recognizes that he is seeking to support a large family out of his modest earnings, the present Application also shows his home ownership with an undisclosed equity — and this Court simply doesn't have enough information to permit it to make a final decision as to Gonzales' ability to pay the fee.
3. Even if Gonzalez' payment of the filing fee were not ultimately excused, it does seem clear that he would qualify in financial terms for appointment of a lawyer to represent him. But the problem in that regard is that his present Motion has not been completed in its most important aspect — a filled-in response to Paragraph 2, which requires Gonzalez to identify what efforts he has made to obtain a lawyer on his own (something that this Court must consider before it can decide on his entitlement to be provided with pro bono counsel).