Secret et al v. Roe et al

Filing 13

ORDER: Plaintiff Jeanette Braxton Secret's Motion for Referral to Arbitration (Doc. # 12 ) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE as prematurely asserted. Signed by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on 8/25/2017. (KAK)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
JEANETTE BRAXTON SECRET, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs,
Case No. 8:17-cv-1830-T-33TBM
v.
PHIL ROE, ET AL.,
Defendants.
_____________________________/
ORDER
This matter is before the Court pursuant to pro se
Plaintiff Jeanette Braxton Secret’s Motion for Referral to
Arbitration (Doc. # 12), which was filed on August 21, 2017.
As explained below, the Court denies the Motion without
prejudice as prematurely asserted.
Discussion
Plaintiffs

Jeanette

Braxton

Secret,

Carmen

Braxton,

Jeanette Braxton Secret Family Trust, and Andrew K. Jones
Family Trust initiated this action on July 31, 2017, naming
the following Defendants: (1) Phil Roe, MD, Chairman, House
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; (2) Johnny Isakson, Majority
Senate

Committee

on

Veterans’

Affairs;

(3)

Jon

Tester,

Minority Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; (4) David J.

Shulkin,

Secretary

of

Veterans

Affairs;

(5)

Catherine

Mitrano, District Chief Counsel; (6) Kathy Simpson, Deputy
Chief Counsel; (7) E. Douglas Bradshaw, Chief Counsel, Torts
Law Group; (8) Dr. Abu T. Siddigui, MD, Staff Physician and
Attending Physician; (9) Dr. Abelardo Augustines, Primary
Care Doctor; (10) Anuja Pradhan, MD, Hematology/Oncology;
(11) Sonia A Cotton, Radiology Nurse; (12) Mr. Robinson Ang,
Physical Therapist; (13) David M. Crowder, RN; (14) Lawrence
Matthews, 5B Nurses Station; (15) Dr. McDonald, MD, Lung
Doctor; (16) Mr. Ariel Rodriguez, Chief, Patient Advocate;
(17)

Ronald

Watts,

5th

Gathright,
District-

Patient

Orlando

Advocate;

VAMCA;

and

(18)

Terrence

(19)

Tatishka

Musgrove, VAMC, Bay Pines Pines VAHCS.
The pro se Complaint provides an account of the death
of Andrew Kirk Jones, a 79-year old veteran, at the Bay
Pines VA Hospital, located in Hillsborough County, Florida.
Plaintiffs label the Complaint as a “Complaint for a Civil
Case

Alleging

including

but

Negligence”
not

and

limited

array

to,

a

medical

host

of

claims,

malpractice

and

wrongful death.
Plaintiffs

accompanied

with

an

Application to Proceed in forma pauperis. (Doc. # 2).

The

-2-

the

Complaint

Magistrate Judge examined the Complaint and the Application
to

proceed

in

forma

pauperis

and

filed

a

Report

and

Recommendation on August 11, 2017, recommending denial of
the

Application

prejudice.

for

(Doc.

in

#

7).

forma

pauperis

The

status

Magistrate

without

Judge

also

recommended dismissal of the Complaint with the opportunity
to file an Amended Complaint. (Id.).

The deadline for

Plaintiffs to object to the Report and Recommendation has
not

yet

expired

and

the

Report

and

Recommendation

is

currently pending.
On August 19, 2017, Jeanette Braxton Secret sent an
email communication to this Court requesting that the Court
schedule an arbitration proceeding.1

The Court notes that

Secret has also filed the email communication on the record.
(Doc. # 9).

In addition, Secret has filed a separate Motion

requesting that an arbitration be scheduled. (Doc. # 12).
The Court takes the opportunity to explain to all pro
se

Plaintiffs

that

they

should

not

send

any

email

communications to the undersigned, and they should not make
any requests for relief in emails or letters to the Court.

1

She also indicates that if her Application to proceed in
forma pauperis is ultimately denied, she will “consider paying
the $400" filing fee for civil cases. (Doc. # 9 at 1).
-3-

As explained in Local Rule 3.01(f), “All applications to the
Court (i) requesting relief in any form, or (ii) citing
authorities

or

presenting

argument

with

respect

to

any

matter awaiting decision, shall be made in writing . . . in
accordance with this rule and in appropriate form pursuant
to Rule 1.05; and . . . shall not be addressed or presented
to the Court in the form of a letter or the like.

All

pleadings and papers to be filed shall be filed with the
Clerk of the Court and not with the judge thereof.”

The

Court granted Plaintiff Jeanette Braxton Secret permission
to e-file, and she should carefully examine the Local Rules
and file any Motions with the Court using cm/ecf.
With

respect

to

Plaintiff’s

specific

request

for

referral to arbitration, the Court denies the Motion as
prematurely asserted.

This matter is in its infancy.

The

case is at the Complaint stage and such preliminary matters
as the filing fee (or waiver thereof) are currently being
considered.

At a later juncture, the Court may determine

that alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or
arbitration,

is

appropriate

circumstances of this case.

under

the

particular

However, due to the present

procedural status of the case, the Court denies the Motion
-4-

for Arbitration.

Plaintiff is free to re-raise her request

for arbitration at a later juncture.
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED:
Plaintiff Jeanette Braxton Secret’s Motion for Referral
to Arbitration (Doc. # 12) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE as
prematurely asserted.
DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, in Tampa, Florida, this
25th day of August, 2017.

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