UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 22-22361-CIV-ALTONAGA/Torres

VICTOR FARISH,

Plaintiff,

v. 

PAUL PEREIRA, et al.,

Defendants. 

_____________________________/ 

ORDER

THIS CAUSE came before the Court sua sponte. On July 28, 2022, Plaintiff Victor Farish

filed a Complaint [ECF No. 1] asserting 10 claims for relief. (See id. ¶¶ 129–81). Upon review 

of the Complaint, the Court concludes it must be dismissed. 

“[A] district court does, and indeed must, have the power to control and direct the cases on 

its docket.” Burden v. Yates, 644 F.2d 503, 505 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981) (alteration added; citations 

omitted). This includes the inherent power to dismiss a case. See id. And it includes the power 

to dismiss a case sua sponte when the plaintiff fails to comply with procedural rules. See Hanna 

v. Florida, 599 F. App’x 362, 363 (11th Cir. 2015) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Chambers v. 

NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 48–49 (1991)). 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires that a pleading contain a “short and plain 

statement of the claim” showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). 

Thereunder, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim 

to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell 

Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). The complaint must “give the defendant fair 

notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests[.]” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 

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(alteration adopted; other alteration added; citation and quotation marks omitted).

“Complaints that violate [] Rule 8(a)(2) . . . are often disparagingly referred to as ‘shotgun 

pleadings.’” Weiland v. Palm Beach Cnty. Sheriff’s Office, 792 F.3d 1313, 1320 (11th Cir. 2015) 

(alterations added). A “shotgun complaint contains several counts, each one incorporating by 

reference the allegations of its predecessors, leading to a situation where most of the counts (i.e., 

all but the first) contain irrelevant factual allegations and legal conclusions.” Strategic Income 

Fund, L.L.C. v. Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Corp., 305 F.3d 1293, 1295 (11th Cir. 2002). A shotgun 

pleading makes it “virtually impossible to know which allegations of fact are intended to support 

which claim(s) for relief.” Anderson v. Dist. Bd. of Trs. of Cent. Fla. Cmty. Coll., 77 F.3d 364, 

366 (11th Cir. 1996). Therefore, “shotgun pleadings are routinely condemned by the Eleventh 

Circuit.” Real Estate Mortg. Network, Inc. v. Cadrecha, No. 8:11-cv-474, 2011 WL 2881928, at 

*2 (M.D. Fla. July 19, 2011) (citing Pelletier v. Zweifel, 921 F.2d 1465, 1518 (11th Cir. 1991)).

The Complaint here is a quintessential shotgun pleading, in violation of Rule 8(a)(2). The 

Complaint contains 10 counts, each of which “incorporates by reference and realleges each and 

every allegation . . . set forth herein.” (Compl. ¶¶ 129, 137, 139, 145, 148, 153, 158, 163, 168, 

178 (alteration added)). This is precisely the kind of shotgun pleading the Eleventh Circuit has 

repeatedly condemned, as “[t]he result is that each count is replete with factual allegations [and 

legal conclusions] that could not possibly be material to thatspecific count[.]” Magluta v. Samples, 

256 F.3d 1282, 1284 (11th Cir. 2001) (alterations added). The Court is “unwilling to address and 

decide serious [] issues on the basis of this [C]omplaint.” Id. (alterations added).

Accordingly, it

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Complaint [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED without 

prejudice. Plaintiff has until August 11, 2022 to submit an amended complaint addressing the 

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foregoing deficiencies. The submission of another shotgun pleading will result in the entry of an 

order of dismissal without prejudice.

DONE AND ORDERED in Miami, Florida, this 29th day of July, 2022.

 ________________________________________

 CECILIA M. ALTONAGA

 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

cc: counsel of record 

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