Kraft Foods Global, Inc. v. McCullum et al

Filing 10

ORDER that the parties are hereby directed to SHOW CAUSE why this case should not be dismissed and/or default judgment entered in this matter. Signed by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney on 1/31/17. (mga)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-817
KRAFT FOODS GLOBAL, INC., AS
PLAN SPONSOR, ADMINISTRATOR
AND FIDUCIARY OF THE KRAFT
FOODS GLOBAL, INC. GROUP
BENEFITS PLAN
Plaintiff,
v.
ROBERTA MCCULLUM, MICHAEL
A. DEMAYO and THE LAW OFFICES
OF MICHAEL A. DEMAYO L.L.P,
Defendants.

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ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the status of this case. Plaintiff filed this case on
November 28, 2016, (Doc. No. 1), along with a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and
Preliminary Injunction (Doc. No. 2). The Court held a hearing on the motion on December 6,
2016, (Doc. No. 8), where a representative for Michael A. DeMayo and The Law Offices of
Michael A. DeMayo appeared. Following the hearing and on that same day, the Court issued a
Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction (Doc. No. 9), noting that the preliminary
injunction would continue until Defendant “McCullum can be located and served, and until
Defendnats Michael A. DeMayo and The Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo obtain legal
counsel.” (Doc. No. 9., p. 2). Since that time, Plaintiffs have not filed proof of service, no
Defendant has filed a pleading in response to the Complaint, or otherwise
“[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.,
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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. In addition to the relief available under Rule 55 for entry
of default and default judgment, Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits an
involuntary dismissal for failure to prosecute a case.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the parties are hereby directed to SHOW CAUSE
why this case should not be dismissed and/or default judgment entered in this matter. Such
response should be filed no later than fourteen (14) days from the date of this Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Signed: January 31, 2017

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