Slip Op. 06-63
UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
____________________________________
:
JOHN LUU,
:
Plaintiff,
:
v. Court No. 05-00430
:
U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE,
:
Defendant.
____________________________________:
[Action challenging denial of Agricultural Trade Adjustment Assistance dismissed for want of
prosecution.]
Decided: May 2, 2006
John Luu, Plaintiff Pro Se.
Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General; David M. Cohen, Director, and Patricia M.
McCarthy, Assistant Director, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of
Justice (Delfa Castillo); Jeffrey Kahn, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Of Counsel; for Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
RIDGWAY, Judge:
Plaintiff shrimper brought this action against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to challenge
the agency’s denial of his application for benefits under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (“TAA”)
for Farmers program. The matter is before the Court following Plaintiff’s failure to respond to an
Order to Show Cause why the action should not be dismissed. Jurisdiction lies under 19 U.S.C. §
2395(c) (Supp. II 2002).
Court No. 05-00430 Page 2
Based on Plaintiff’s failure to respond to the Order to Show Cause, and in light of the
chronology of events in the case to date (detailed more fully below), the Court has little choice but
to dismiss this action.
I. Analysis
Plaintiff, a shrimper from Georgia, filed this action in mid-July 2005 contesting the decision
of the Department of Agriculture denying his TAA application for the year 2003. Plaintiff candidly
conceded that his fishing income for 2003 exceeded his fishing income for 2001. But, according
to Plaintiff, his income for 2001 was artificially low due to extensive repairs to both the boat’s
engine and the shrimping boat itself during the course of that year. Plaintiff contended that his
application for TAA should therefore be granted. See Letter from Plaintiff to Court (undated, filed
July 13, 2005); see also Letter from U.S. Dep’t of Agriculture to Plaintiff (June 21, 2005) (denying
TAA application because Plaintiff’s “2003 net fishing income was not lower than [his] 2001 net
fishing income”).1
Within a matter of mere days after the action was commenced, the Office of the Clerk of the
Court wrote to Plaintiff, encouraging him to retain a lawyer to represent him, and explaining the
procedure for seeking court-appointed counsel if (like many TAA applicants) he is a man of limited
financial means. See Letter from Office of the Clerk to Plaintiff (July 21, 2005). Unfortunately, no
response was forthcoming.
1
See Administrative Record at 52.
Court No. 05-00430 Page 3
The Government filed its Answer in late September 2005, and the case was assigned to these
chambers on October 18, 2005. Later that day, one of the Court’s law clerks called Plaintiff to
verify his contact information, which Plaintiff confirmed. In the same phone conversation, Plaintiff
also confirmed that he had received the July 21, 2005 letter from the Office of the Clerk. Plaintiff
has not been heard from since.
The following day, the Court wrote to Plaintiff, asking him to advise no later than November
28, 2005 whether he had engaged counsel, planned to represent himself, or wished to request court-
appointed counsel to represent him free of charge. The necessary forms for seeking court-appointed
counsel were enclosed, for Plaintiff’s convenience. See Letter from Court to Plaintiff (Oct. 19,
2005). The November 28 deadline came and went. Still, Plaintiff failed to respond.
Notwithstanding Plaintiff’s default, the Office of the Clerk called Plaintiff, at the request of
the Court, on at least seven different occasions in the weeks that followed – twice on December 13,
2005; twice on December 14, 2005; once on December 15, 2005; once on December 16, 2005; and
once on December 19, 2005. Calls were placed to Plaintiff’s main phone number, as well as his
mobile phone; and messages were left on both numbers. But Plaintiff never returned those calls.
Further, on December 14, 2005, the Office of the Clerk left a message with an individual
who answered Plaintiff’s main phone number, explaining that the Court wished to assist Plaintiff
in obtaining counsel to represent him in his court case on a pro bono basis. Although the message
left by the Office of the Clerk asked Plaintiff to return the call, Plaintiff did not do so.
Court No. 05-00430 Page 4
Undeterred, the Court wrote to Plaintiff yet again on January 5, 2006, documenting the
chronology of phone calls and correspondence from the Court to Plaintiff, and outlining Plaintiff’s
options – either to voluntarily dismiss the action, or to actively prosecute it (and, if he wished to
proceed, inquiring whether he intended to represent himself, to retain counsel, or to seek court-
appointed counsel). Copies of the forms to request appointment of counsel were once again
enclosed, for the sake of convenience. Although he was directed to respond no later than January
20, 2006, Plaintiff never did so.
By letter dated February 21, 2006, the Court instructed Plaintiff to advise no later than March
3, 2006 whether he wished to continue to pursue this action. Enclosed with that letter were both the
necessary forms for seeking appointment of counsel and a standard form Stipulation of Dismissal.
Plaintiff also was warned that, absent a timely response to the Court’s letter, an Order to Show
Cause would issue.
More than a month after the March 3 deadline, Plaintiff still had not responded to any of the
Court’s numerous calls and letters. Accordingly, on April 7, 2006, the Court entered an Order to
Show Cause, chronicling the Court’s repeated, unsuccessful attempts to engage Plaintiff, and
mandating that – no later than April 28, 2006 – Plaintiff “show cause, if any, why this action should
not be dismissed for lack of prosecution.” See Order to Show Cause (April 7, 2006). The same day,
the Court sent a letter to Plaintiff, explaining that he had one “last chance to avoid the dismissal of
[his] court case.” The letter further urged Plaintiff to contact the Court’s law clerk if he had any
questions “about what he need[ed] to do” to proceed with his case. Alas, Plaintiff’s continued
silence is deafening.
Court No. 05-00430 Page 5
Pursuant to Rule 41(b)(3) of the Rules of this Court:
Whenever it appears that there is a failure of the plaintiff to
prosecute, the court may upon its own initiative after notice . . . order
the action . . . dismissed for lack of prosecution.
USCIT Rule 41(b)(3). With the exception of a single brief phone conversation in mid-October 2005
(which was, in any event, initiated by the Court), Plaintiff here has consistently failed to respond to
the Court’s numerous letters and phone calls over the course of the nine-month history of the case.
Under the circumstances, there is nothing left to do but to dismiss this action for lack of
prosecution, in accordance with the above-quoted Rule. See, e.g., Ebert v. U.S. Sec’y of
Agriculture, 30 CIT ____, 2006 WL 871263 (2006); Grunert v. U.S. Sec’y of Agriculture, 30 CIT
____, 2006 WL 217989, dismissed for lack of prosecution, 30 CIT ____, 2006 WL 626070 (2006);
M/V Cheri H. Inc. v. U.S. Sec’y of Agriculture, 29 CIT ____, 400 F. Supp. 2d 1382 (2005); Burton
v. U.S. Sec’y of Agriculture, 29 CIT ____, 2005 WL 2249859 (2005).
II. Conclusion
For all the reasons set forth above, this action challenging the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s decision denying Plaintiff’s application for Trade Adjustment Assistance must be
dismissed for want of prosecution. Judgment will enter accordingly.
_________________/s/_________________
Delissa A. Ridgway
Judge
Decided: May 2, 2006
New York, New York