Opinion ID: 2087907
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Dismissal of Individual Defendants

Text: After this court dismissed the first appeal in 1995 because it was not taken from a final order as Umana's claims against the individual members of the firm had not been heard or decided, the trial court dismissed those claims in 1997 for failure to prosecute. The trial court explained that Umana's complaint having been filed in 1989, the court having ruled in 1990 that all of Umana's claims were subject to arbitration, and Umana's first appeal from the trial court's confirmation of the award having been dismissed in 1995, Umana's complaint against the individual members had been pending for seven years under order to arbitrate, during two of which  since this court's dismissal in 1995  it had been pointed out that those claims were pending and unresolved. The court noted that Umana had done nothing to bring to arbitration his claims against the individual defendants. Such delay, the trial court reasoned, entitled the individual defendants to dismissal of the claims against them, particularly as Umana could give no reason for his failure to pursue the claims. We review the trial court's dismissal for failure to prosecute under Superior Court Civil Rule 41(b) for abuse of discretion. See White v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., 432 A.2d 726, 728 (D.C.1981). On appeal, Umana argues that the trial court's dismissal was an abuse of discretion because he was hampered in his efforts by the individual defendants' refusal to arbitrate. The trial court considered, and discredited, this claim in light of the record showing Umana's consistent position that his claims against the individual defendants were not subject to arbitration, and that it was the defendants who had obtained the order compelling arbitration. Whatever Umana's legal position may have been regarding the proper forum for his claims against the individual firm members, however, he did not have the option to do nothing at all. Once the trial court ordered arbitration, he should have moved earlier to compel the arbitration if the defendants were recalcitrant, at which point either he would have had recourse to contempt if the defendants continued to refuse, or, once the arbitration was completed, he could have applied to vacate the award on the ground that his claims against the individual defendants were not subject to the arbitration agreement. Under these circumstances, we perceive no abuse of discretion in the trial court's dismissal of the claims against the individual defendants for Umana's failure to submit those claims to arbitration, as he had been ordered to do. See District of Columbia v. Serafin, 617 A.2d 516, 519 (D.C.1992) (noting trial court authority to dismiss an action when plaintiff fails to comply with court order). For the foregoing reasons, the trial court's denial of the Rule 60(b) motion for new trial, ruling that Umana's claim against Swidler & Berlin was subject to arbitration, confirmation of the arbitral award, and dismissal of the individual defendants are Affirmed.