Hoefer v. Bd. of Educ. of Middletown, No. 14-2020 (2d Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against defendants, asserting various First and Fourth Amendment claims. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the district court's dismissal of his action with prejudice. The district court ordered the dismissal based on plaintiff's failure to seek timely reinstatement following a conditional dismissal order the district court entered to effectuate a then‐pending settlement agreement, which one defendant refused to join. Plaintiff also appealed, separately and on the merits, the district court’s earlier order, dated January 9, 2013, which granted a motion for partial summary judgment in favor of three of the defendants. The court concluded that the passage of 69 days before requesting reinstatement, standing alone, does not justify the extreme sanction of involuntary dismissal. Moreover, defendants suffered no prejudice from plaintiff's delay. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion in dismissing plaintiff's action and therefore, the court vacated the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings. The motion of defendants to strike portions of plaintiff's brief and appendices is moot, and their motion for damages is denied.
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