McGhee v. Waterford Crossing

Full title: GROVER MCGHEE., Plaintiff, v. WATERFORD CROSSING, Defendant.

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION

Date published: Dec 17, 2012

CAUSE NO. 3:12-CV-99-PPS-CAN (N.D. Ind. Dec. 17, 2012)

Opinion

CAUSE NO. 3:12-CV-99-PPS-CAN

12-17-2012

GROVER MCGHEE., Plaintiff, v. WATERFORD CROSSING, Defendant.

PHILIP P. SIMON

ORDER

This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein, recommending the dismissal of Plaintiff Grover McGhee's complaint for failure to prosecute his claim and failure to comply with court orders [DE 16].

McGhee filed his complaint on February 21, 2012, after receiving a right to sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) [DE 1]. The Defendant filed its answer on March 22, 2012 [DE 8], after which Judge Nuechterlein issued an order requiring both parties to file status reports by April 22, 2012 [DE 9]. Waterford Crossing complied with the order and filed its status report on April 20, 2012 [DE 14], but McGhee failed to do so. On June 13, 2012, Judge Nuechterlein again ordered McGhee to file a status report, and gave him a month to do so [DE 15]. The order explicitly cautioned McGhee that failure to comply with the order could lead to dismissal of his case [DE 15]. Despite that warning, McGhee failed to comply with the order. On September 26, 2012, Judge Nuechterlein issued a Report and Recommendation that McGhee's case be dismissed for "his failure to prosecute his claim or to comply with court orders" [DE 16 at 1]. McGhee has not responded or filed objections to the Report, as he was instructed to do pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(2) [DE 16 at 2].

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) provides that a court has discretion to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute "when there is a clear record of delay or contumacious conduct, or when other less drastic sanctions have proven unavailing." Gabriel v. Hamlin , 514 F.3d 734, 736-37 (7th Cir. 2008). Despite ample warnings, McGhee has continued to fail to comply with court orders and appears to have abandoned his case. After a review of the record, I accept Judge Nuechterlein's recommendations and find that McGhee has failed to prosecute his claim and to comply with court orders. Dismissal is appropriate pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).

For the foregoing reasons, the Judge's Recommendation [DE 16] is ACCEPTED, and the matter is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

SO ORDERED.

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PHILIP P. SIMON, CHIEF JUDGE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT