United States of America et al v. City of Riverside et al

Filing 44

MINUTES (IN CHAMBERS) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE by Judge Andrew J. Guilford. The Court is concerned that the adversarial process has broken down here, driven primarily by the Relator's ineffective approach to this case. Consequently, the Court ORDER S the Relator to show cause at the hearing on June 25, 2018, at 10:00am, why this case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute this case, failure to follow Court orders, and failure to follow this Court's Local Rules and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court CAUTIONS the Relator that failure to show cause may result in sanctions, including monetary sanctions and dismissal. (see document for details). (dro)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
June 20, 2018

Case No.

EDCV 17-00379 AG (ASx)

Title

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. LOUIS J. JEAN-LOUIS v. CITY
OF RIVERSIDE

Present: The Honorable

ANDREW J. GUILFORD

Lisa Bredahl
Deputy Clerk
Attorneys Present for Plaintiffs:
Proceedings:

Date

Not Present
Court Reporter / Recorder

Tape No.

Attorneys Present for Defendants:

[IN CHAMBERS] ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

Fundamentally, this case is about whether Defendants, the City of Riverside and various City
of Riverside employees, “obtain[ed] federal grant money from the Department of Housing
and Development . . . under false pretenses.” (Compl., Dkt. No. 1 at ¶ 1.) Relator Louis J.
Jean-Louis filed this case on behalf of the United States Government under the False Claims
Act back in March 2017. Since then, the Relator hasn’t lived up to the duty to pursue the
“just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of this case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.
On December 8, 2017, the United States Government declined to intervene in this case.
(Dkt. No. 11.) Then nothing happened. So over three months later, the Court ordered the
Relator to show cause “why this action should not be dismissed for lack of prosecution” on
March 22, 2018. (Dkt. No. 13.) More than two weeks after that, the Relator filed a response,
saying that the Relator was “in the process of serving defendants” and asking for an
additional 30 days to complete service. (Dkt. No. 14.) On May 5, 2018—more than a year
after originally filing the complaint with the Court—the Relator finally filed a batch of proofs
of service. (Dkt. Nos. 20–35.) The Relator has continued to file proofs of service as recently
as June 13, 2018. (Dkt. Nos. 40–41.)
The problems with the Relator’s participation in this case don’t end there. On May 23, 2018,
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
Case No.

EDCV 17-00379 AG (ASx)

Date

June 25, 2018

Title

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. LOUIS J. JEAN-LOUIS v. CITY
OF RIVERSIDE

Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Relator’s complaint for various reasons, including
immunity, preclusion, and untimely service. (Mot., Dkt. No. 35.) Defendants say they tried to
contact the Relator’s counsel to meet and confer before filing the motion, sending him three
letters and calling him. But the Relator’s attorney “ignored and never responded to any of
these communications, and has made no effort to communicate with defense counsel.” (Id.
at ii–iii.) When the Relator finally filed a brief opposition to Defendants’ motion to dismiss
(ten days late), the Relator made no effort to explain (a) why the motion was late or (b) why
the Relator’s counsel failed to meet and confer with Defendants’ counsel. (See Opp’n, Dkt.
No. 42.)
The Court is concerned that the adversarial process has broken down here, driven primarily
by the Relator’s ineffective approach to this case. Consequently, the Court ORDERS the
Relator to show cause at the hearing on June 25, 2018, at 10:00am, why this case should not
be dismissed for failure to prosecute this case, failure to follow Court orders, and failure to
follow this Court’s Local Rules and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court
CAUTIONS the Relator that failure to show cause may result in sanctions, including
monetary sanctions and dismissal.
:
Initials of
Preparer

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