Carolina Material Handling Services, Inc. v. Employee-Services.net, Inc. et al

Filing 84

ORDER sua sponte that the parties file a joint status report within fourteen (14) days from the date of this Order. Signed by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney on 1/31/17. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.)(mga)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. 3:14-cv-00127-FDW-DCK
CAROLINA MATERIAL HANDLING
SERVICES, INC.; TOBUL
ACCUMULATOR INCORPORATED;
GULBRANDSEN CHEMICALS, INC.;
GULBRANDSEN PUERTO RICO, INC.;
GULBRANDSEN TECHNOLOGIES
INC.; and GULBRANDSENS LLC
Plaintiffs,
vs.
EMPLOYEE-SERVICES.NET, INC.;
EEPAYROLL SERVICES, LLC;
EMPLOYEE-EPS, LLC ; NLSTAZ-EPS,
LLC
;
TMSTAZ-EPS,
LLC;
WPTASONEPS, LLC; WILLIAM J. STAZ;
JAMES W. STAZ; TIMOTHY J. STAZ;
NANCYL. STAZ; WENDY P. STAZ and
TINASTAZ,
Defendants.

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ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the Court sua sponte concerning the status of this case. On
November 4, 2014, Plaintiffs submitted notice to this Court (Doc. No. 76) of an order entered in
the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina on November 3,
2014 (Doc. No. 76-1) resulting in an automatic stay of proceedings against Defendants in the
instant case. In addition to the automatic stays under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) resulting from the
bankruptcy proceedings, the Court notes that two individual Defendants in the instant case were
indicted by the grand jury for violations of federal law. See United States v. James William Staz
and William James Staz, 3:14-cr-199-FDW (W.D.N.C.).
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Consequently, the Court stayed this matter pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) until further
notice from this Court or the Bankruptcy Court. (Doc. No. 77). In that order, the Court hereby
directed ALL parties to file a joint status report as to the status of the bankruptcy and criminal
proceedings every ninety (90) days thereafter so as to keep this Court apprised of the status of the
bankruptcy case, as well as to reflect the status of the criminal case on this civil docket. The parties
have not filed a status report since April 11, 2016 (Doc. No. 83).
“[A] district court possesses the ‘inherent power’ to dismiss a case sua sponte for failure
to prosecute[.] . . . [S]uch authority derives from ‘the control necessarily vested in courts to manage
their own affairs so as to achieve the orderly and expeditious disposition of cases.’” Eriline Co.,
S.A. v. Johnson, 440 F.3d 648, 654 (4th Cir. 2006) (quoting Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S.
626, 630-31 (1962)). Furthermore, “[A]side from the interests of the individual parties in a lawsuit,
a district court has an important interest in keeping its docket from becoming clogged with dormant
cases . . . .” Erline Co., 440 F.3d at 654.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the parties file a joint status report within fourteen
(14) days from the date of this Order. Failure to comply with this directive and/or failure to timely
file subsequent joint status reports in accordance with the Court’s prior order (Doc. No. 77) will
result in the dismissal of this matter without prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Signed: January 31, 2017

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