Locascio v. Teletype Corp.

Summary

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of an Age Discrimination in Employment Act action brought by 35 former Teletype Corporation employees. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) in dismissing for failure to prosecute after the plaintiffs repeatedly failed to secure and retain trial counsel.

Holdings

1. The district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the action with prejudice under Rule 41(b), because the record supported its conclusion that plaintiffs lacked prosecutive intent and had failed to make a concerted good-faith effort to obtain trial counsel.
2. The interests of justice require that dismissal with prejudice be held in abeyance until it is clear that lesser sanctions have not been or will not be effective, but that principle did not require reversal on this record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the action with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute.
2. Whether the plaintiffs' repeated failure to secure and retain trial counsel demonstrated insufficient prosecutive intent to support involuntary dismissal.

Disposition

affirmed