COFC Restricts “Serial Litigant” From Filing Any More Complaints Without Chief Judge’s Approval

After repeated, repetitive, and frivolous litigation from the same “serial litigant,” the COFC restricted the protester’s ability to file future pro se complaints without first obtaining leave from the chief judge. The court also rejected the bid protest at issue for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The court concluded the protester lacked standing because she was debarred.

Dee Monbo v. United States, COFC No. 25-325C

• Background – The protester had filed several bid protests in the COFC. In one of those other protests, the judge found that the protester lacked standing because she was debarred from bidding on federal contracts. Because the protester remained debarred, the court concluded it still did not have subject-matter jurisdiction over her new bid protest.
• Defective Notice of Appeal – The protester filed a “notice of appeal,” and the court of appeals docketed the appeal. However, because the protester’s notice of appeal was intended to be a response to COFC’s show-cause order and would otherwise be an appeal of a non-appealable interim order, jurisdiction never transferred from COFC to the Federal Circuit. A defective notice of appeal does not become effective to deprive the trial court of jurisdiction simply because the appellate court dockets the appeal. Gilda Industries, Inc. v. United States, 511 F.3d 1348, 1350-51 (Fed. Cir. 2008).
• Further Court Actions – The protester had filed dozens of other cases across the federal court system, with many of them being repetitive and frivolous, while none were meritorious. The court described the protester as “a serial litigant.” Due to her lack of responsiveness to court orders, failures to comply, failures to appear, and failure to purposefully communicate with the court, COFC restricted the protester’s ability to file future pro se complaints with its court. The protester must first request and receive leave from the chief judge before filing a complaint.

Dee Monbo filed pro se. The government was represented by Kelly Palamar of the DOJ.

— Case summary by Joshua Lim, Assistant Editor.