Chief Judge Gary Sharpe
Legg sued the City of Rome and officer Keller under 42 USC §1983. After filing his complaint in 2011 Legg appeared at a May 2012 initial Rule 16 conference and three telephonic status conferences. Despite his repeated failure to file disclosures and respond to discovery, the discovery deadline was thrice extended over the course of seven months. Further, Legg’s attorney was twice warned that failure to comply with discovery deadlines could result in dismissal. Concluding that the five factors in United States ex rel. Drake v. Norden Sys. favored dismissal, the court dismissed suit for failure to prosecute. Defendants suffered actual prejudice as a result of the seven-month delay occasioned by the deadline extensions. Further Keller’s impending resignation and move to Florida deprives the city of control over her schedule. Noting that Legg’s delays caused it to waste valuable resources, the court found lesser sanctions futile. In addition to its prior warning that deadline noncompliance could result in sanctions, including dismissal with prejudice, the court observed that Legg’s failure to respond to the city’s motion or to notify the court of his intent not to respond, further demonstrated the futility of lesser sanctions.
