Michael Wu, et al v. Prudential Financial, Incorpor, et al
Filing
Filed Nonprecedential Disposition PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. The Wus appeals are frivolous. We order them to show cause within 14 days why the court should not impose sanctions under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 for filing frivolous appeals. If the Wus fail to pay any fine imposed as a sanction, they may be barred from filing any other litigation in this circuit until they have done so. See Support Sys. Int l., Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185 (7th Cir. 1995). Frank H. Easterbrook, Circuit Judge; Michael S. Kanne, Circuit Judge and Ann Claire Williams, Circuit Judge Sent Certified Mail. Receipt Number: 7012 3460 0000 9173 5808 - Christine [6754886-1] [6754886] [15-2877, 15-2880]
Case: 15-2877
Document: 35
Filed: 06/01/2016
Pages: 3
NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION
To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Submitted May 31, 2016*
Decided June 1, 2016
Before
FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge
MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge
ANN CLAIRE WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge
Nos. 15‐2877 & 15‐2880
MICHAEL H. WU and
CHRISTINE T. WU,
Plaintiffs‐Appellants,
v.
PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL, INC., et al.,
Defendants‐Appellees.
Appeals from the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Illinois,
Eastern Division.
Nos. 14 C 5392 & 15 C 2238
Milton I. Shadur,
Judge.
O R D E R
Michael and Christine Wu are contumacious litigants. After they purchased a
Prudential variable annuity from a Citigroup representative in 2010, twice they brought
suits against Prudential, Citigroup, and a host of other financial‐services companies and
related individuals alleging fraudulent practices in the management of the annuity. The
first suit was dismissed after the Wus repeatedly failed to comply with pleading
requirements under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, leaving the district court and
* After examining the briefs and the records, we have concluded that oral
argument is unnecessary. Thus the appeals are submitted on the briefs and the records.
See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C).
Case: 15-2877
Document: 35
Filed: 06/01/2016
Pages: 3
Nos. 15‐2877 & 15‐2880
Page 2
the defendants with little idea of the nature of their claims. The second was barred by
claim preclusion, after the district court expressed exasperation that the Wus had
dishonored a promise to hire counsel and seek arbitration rather than file another suit
pro se. The Wus appeal both judgments, and we affirm.
In July 2014 the Wus, proceeding pro se, brought a sprawling 52‐page complaint
that charged Prudential, Citigroup, and other financial‐services firms and their
representatives (30 defendants in all) with some 37 securities‐law violations concerning
transactions involving the annuity. The district court told the Wus that their complaint
was “literally impenetrable” and “so violative of pleading principles that it is somewhat
difficult to know where to start.” The court then dismissed the complaint without
prejudice for failure to provide a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that
the pleader is entitled to relief,” FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2). Because the Wus had disclosed in
their request for recruitment of counsel that they possessed substantial assets, the court
recommended that they hire counsel to shape an acceptable complaint.
Two weeks later, the Wus, still proceeding pro se, submitted an amended
complaint, which the judge deemed an “impenetrable mish‐mosh” and “little better than
the first one.” The judge admonished them that it was not his responsibility “to play the
role of a gold prospector” with their complaint and noted that they evidently had
disregarded his suggestion that they seek legal assistance. This time the judge dismissed
the suit with prejudice.
At a subsequent hearing on the Wus’ motion to allow a proposed second
amended complaint, the court granted their request to change the prior judgment to
dismissal without prejudice so that they could file a private arbitration claim with the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Rather than proceeding to arbitration, however, the Wus returned to federal court
and filed another complaint alleging the same operative facts as were pleaded in the
earlier complaint and adding a claim for breach of contract. The court, pointing out that
the Wus had represented that they planned to take their suit to arbitration, vacated the
dismissal without prejudice in the first suit under Rule 60, re‐entered a dismissal with
prejudice, and then dismissed this new complaint on the ground of claim preclusion.
The Wus then hired counsel and moved to amend the judgment under Rule 59(e)
in each of the two suits, but the court denied these motions because the Wus did not
timely submit a new proposed complaint showing that they could now, with counsel’s
Case: 15-2877
Document: 35
Filed: 06/01/2016
Pages: 3
Nos. 15‐2877 & 15‐2880
Page 3
assistance, possibly state a claim, and, in any event, their belated submission appeared to
be advancing—impermissibly—new theories of relief under state law.
The Wus brief on appeal is hard to parse, but we understand them generally to
challenge the district court’s decisions to reinstate the dismissal with prejudice in their
first suit and dismiss their second.1 They maintain that in the second suit they
adequately stated a breach‐of‐contract claim against one of the Prudential subsidiaries,
Pruco Life Insurance Company, but, as the defendants point out, the Wus don’t even
specify which contract terms they allege to be violated. Moreover, the district court
properly assessed that all of the Wus’ claims in the second suit arose from the same
operative facts as the first and thus were precluded by the dismissal with prejudice in
the earlier case. See Matrix IV, Inc. v. Am. Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of Chi., Inc., 649 F.3d 539,
547 (7th Cir. 2011). And the district court acted within its discretion under Rule 60 in
vacating its order dismissing the first suit without prejudice, a dismissal that the Wus
had obtained through a false promise to take their case to arbitration.
The Wus’ appeals are frivolous. We order them to show cause within 14 days why
the court should not impose sanctions under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 for
filing frivolous appeals. If the Wus fail to pay any fine imposed as a sanction, they may
be barred from filing any other litigation in this circuit until they have done so.
See Support Sys. Int’l., Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185 (7th Cir. 1995).
AFFIRMED.
1 The defendants argue that the Wus’ two postjudgment motions were too
insubstantial to qualify as motions under Rule 59(e) that could toll the time to appeal the
underlying dismissals. We disagree with that argument because the Wus in their
motions did give at least some substantive reasons for the court to reconsider its
judgments. Carlson v. CSX Transp., Inc., 758 F.3d 819, 826 (7th Cir. 2014).
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?