Whitsitt v. Tesla Motors Inc. et al

Filing 89

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT TESLA MOTORS, INC.'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S IN FORMA PAUPERIS APPLICATION. Plaintiff, should he wish to proceed with the instant action, is directed to either pay the filing fee to th e Clerk of the Court by June 9, 2017, or file by that date a new IFP application that clarifies the inconsistencies identified in Exhibit A to this order. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on 05/26/17. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(mmclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/26/2017)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WILLIAM J. WHITSITT,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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WEST VALLEY STAFFING GROUP, et
al.,

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Defendants.

Case No. 16-cv-07234-MMC
AMENDED1
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S
APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN
FORMA PAUPERIS AND CONTINUING
CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE;
DIRECTIONS TO PLAINTIFF
Re: Dkt. No. 3

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Before the Court is plaintiff William J. Whitsitt’s complaint and application to
proceed in forma pauperis.
The filing fee to commence a civil action is $400. A district court, however, may

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authorize a plaintiff to commence a civil action without payment of the filing fee, if the

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plaintiff demonstrates that he is “unable to pay such fee[] or give security therefor.” See

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28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1).

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In his application to proceed in forma pauperis, plaintiff states he is not presently

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employed and has not received any money in the past twelve months from a business,

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profession, self-employment, stock, bond, royalty, rent payment, pension, annuity, life

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insurance policy, or any government source. (See Application ¶¶ 1-2.) Plaintiff also

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states that he has no cash, owns no assets, and only has one bank account, at an

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unnamed bank, with a present balance of $10.78. (See id. ¶¶ 5-7.) Plaintiff nevertheless

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states that his monthly expenses total $675 and he lists no outstanding debts (see id.

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The only amendments are to correct the year of the deadline to file a Joint Case
Management Statement and the year in which the order was signed.

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¶¶ 8-9), which statements appear to be inconsistent with his statements that he has no

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income or assets.

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In light of the above-referenced inconsistencies in plaintiff’s application, the
application is hereby DENIED.
If plaintiff wishes to proceed with the instant action, plaintiff must, no later than

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February 24, 2017, pay the filing fee to the Clerk of the Court or file a new application to

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proceed in forma pauperis that clarifies each of the above-referenced inconsistencies. If,

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by February 24, 2017, plaintiff has not paid the filing fee or submitted a sufficient

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application to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court will dismiss plaintiff’s complaint

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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without prejudice.
Further, the complaint filed December 19, 2016, is, in its present form,

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procedurally deficient in a number of respects. First, the complaint is missing the seventh

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page, on which plaintiff apparently sets forth the basis of one of his claims. Second, the

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complaint is essentially single-spaced, such that the text appears on more than 28 lines

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per page. See Civil L.R. 3-4(c)(2) (providing text of any paper presented for filing “must

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be double-spaced with no more than 28 lines per page, except for . . . footnotes and

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[block] quotations”). Third, portions of the opposition appear to be written in a font that is

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smaller than 12-point type. See id. (providing text of any paper presented for filing,

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including “text of footnotes and quotations” may not be less than “12-point in the Courier

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font or equivalent”). Accordingly, if plaintiff wishes to proceed with the instant action,

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plaintiff is hereby DIRECTED to file, no later than February 24, 2017, a corrected version

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of his complaint.

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Lastly, in light of the above, the Initial Case Management Conference previously

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scheduled for February 17, 2017, is hereby CONTINUED to May 26, 2017. A Joint Case

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Management Statement shall be filed no later than May 19, 2017.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February 8, 2017
MAXINE M. CHESNEY
United States District Judge

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