Opinion
Civil Action No. 12-cv-00186-RBJ
03-22-2013
ANJELA SMITH, Plaintiff, v. CONSUMER RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, INC., Defendant.
Honorable R. Brooke Jackson
ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR FAILURE TO PROSECUTE
On March 13, 2013 this Court issued an order to show cause [Docket #15] returnable by plaintiff within seven days as to why this case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. To date the Court has received no response.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) provides that "[i]f the plaintiff fails to prosecute or to comply with these rules or a court order, a defendant may move to dismiss the action or any claim against it." Rule 41(b) "has long been interpreted to permit courts to dismiss actions sua sponte for a plaintiff's failure to prosecute...." Rogers v. Andrus Transp. Services, 502 F.3d 1147, 1151 (10th Cir. 2007) (quoting Olsen v. Mapes, 333 F.3d 1199, 1204 n. 3 (10th Cir. 2003)).
Prior to choosing dismissal as the appropriate sanction, the Court considers several factors: (1) the degree of actual prejudice to the defendant; (2) the amount of interference with the judicial process; (3) the culpability of the litigant; (4) whether the party was warned in advance that dismissal would be a likely sanction for noncompliance; and (5) the efficacy of lesser sanctions. See Ehrenhaus v. Reynolds, 965 F.2d 916, 921 (10th Cir. 1992). Plaintiff has put very little effort into prosecuting this case.
Accordingly, it is ordered that the case is DISMISSED without prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(b) for plaintiff's failure to prosecute and failure to comply with a court order.
BY THE COURT:
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R. Brooke Jackson
United States District Judge