Jamell Fayson v. IATSE Local 720 Stage Hand Union1, et al.

[2] 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA [5] JAMELL FAYSON, 6 Case No. 2:25-cv-02561-JAD-NJK Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 [Docket No. 5] IATSE LOCAL 720 STAGE HAND 9 UNION1, et al., 10 Defendants. 11 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. Docket 12 No. 5. 13 On December 29, 2025, the Court denied Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 14 pauperis without prejudice because the application was incomplete. Docket No. 3; see also Docket 15 No. 1. The Court afforded Plaintiff until January 16, 2026, to either (1) file a fully complete 16 application to proceed in forma pauperis, on the correct form with complete financial information; 17 or (2) pay the $405 fee for filing a civil action. See Docket No. 3. Plaintiff filed an application on 18 the long form. Docket No. 5. 19 Plaintiff has requested authority pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 to proceed in forma pauperis. 20 Docket No. 5. In determining whether to permit a plaintiff to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court 21 evaluates the income and assets to which the plaintiff has access, including those of his spouse. 22 See, e.g., Flores v. Colvin, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93236 , at *3-4 (D. Nev. May 22, 2014) 23 (collecting cases). “If the plaintiff is supported by [his] spouse, and [his] spouse is financially able 24 to pay the costs of this appeal, it follows that the plaintiff’s own lack of funds will not prevent 25 [him] from gaining access to the courts.” Monti v. McKeon, 600 F. Supp. 112, 114 (D. Conn. 26 1984). In the instant application, Plaintiff submits that his spouse is employed and had an average [27] 1 The Clerk’s Office is INSTRUCTED to correct the spelling of “Union” on the Docket. 28 See Docket. 1 monthly income amount of $18,000 during the past 12 months. See Docket No. 5 at 1 (response 2 to Question 1 regarding Plaintiff’s spouse’s “[a]verage monthly income during the past 12 3 months”). Plaintiff’s spouse’s average monthly income over the past 12 months exceeds the 4 federal poverty guidelines for a family of six, cf. Andrea L.M. v. O’Malley, 2024 U.S. Dist. Lexis 5 117157, at *2 (D. Nev. July 3, 2024) (comparing income to poverty guidelines). That monthly 6 income is also well above the amounts that have led to denial of in forma pauperis status, see, e.g., 7 Brunson v. Soc. Sec., 2019 WL 6709544 , at *1 (D. Nev. Oct. 31, 2019) (denying in forma pauperis 8 status based on monthly income of $1,397), adopted, 2019 WL 6700193 (D. Nev. Dec. 9, 2019), 9 and the Court has rejected similar requests, see Andrea L.M., 2024 U.S. Dist. Lexis 117157, at *2. 10 In short, it appears that Plaintiff is able to pay the filing fee. 11 Nonetheless, the Court will afford Plaintiff one final opportunity to submit the long form 12 in forma pauperis application2 and/or explain whether the Court should consider Plaintiff’s 13 spouse’s income as part of the analysis leading to the ruling on the in forma pauperis application. 14 See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1236 (explaining that there are marital arrangements 15 in which one spouse’s funds may not be available to the other spouse). 16 Accordingly, Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED without 17 prejudice. Docket No. 5. No later than January 23, 2026, Plaintiff must either (1) file a fully 18 complete application to proceed in forma pauperis, on the correct form with complete financial 19 information; or (2) pay the $405 fee for filing a civil action. Any renewed application must be 20 submitted on the long form and must be filled out completely. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 21 THIS ORDER MAY RESULT IN A RECOMMENDATION THAT THE CASE BE 22 DISMISSED. [24] 25 2 It appears that Plaintiff may not have correctly understood and responded to Question 1 on the long form application, which instructs the applicant to “estimate the average amount of 26 money received from each of the following sources during the past 12 months. Adjust any amount that was received weekly, biweekly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually to show the monthly 27 rate.” Docket No. 5 at 1. For example, Plaintiff indicated that he received an average monthly income of $15,704 from “unemployment pending adjudication” over the previous 12 months. See 28 id. at 1-2. ] The Clerk’s Office is INSTRUCTED to send Plaintiff a copy of the long form in forma 2|| pauperis application for non-prisoners and instructions for the same. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 Dated: January 9, 2026 a hen. es Nancy J. Koppe, * 6 United States Mag istrate Judge [10] 1]