BARBARA CRABB, Chief Judge, District
This is a civil action for injunctive and monetary relief in which plaintiff Patricia Hilst, who is proceeding pro se, alleges that while she worked at defendant Freedom Graphic Systems, she was harassed and ultimately terminated because of her sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. In an order entered on April 21, 2003, I directed plaintiff to supplement her complaint with a copy of her right to sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I advised plaintiff that this was necessary because a right to sue letter is a jurisdictional prerequisite to plaintiff's filing of this lawsuit. Plaintiff has complied with the April 21 order. Thus, I am satisfied that this court has jurisdiction over plaintiff's lawsuit.
The next step is for plaintiff to serve her complaint on the defendant. Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(m), a plaintiff has 120 days after filing a complaint in which to serve the defendant. However, that is an outside limit with few exceptions. This court requires that a plaintiff act diligently in moving her case to resolution. If plaintiff acts promptly, she should be able to serve her complaint on the defendant well before the deadline for doing so established in Rule 4.
To help plaintiff understand the procedure for serving a complaint on a corporation, I am enclosing with this memorandum a copy of document titled "Procedure for Serving a Complaint on a Corporation in a Federal Lawsuit." In addition, I am enclosing to plaintiff an extra copy of her complaint and forms she will need to send to the defendant in accordance with the procedures set out in Option 1 of the memorandum.
ORDER
Now that plaintiff has satisfied this court that she has met the jurisdictional prerequisite to filing her Title VII lawsuit in this court, IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff is to serve her complaint promptly on the defendant corporation and file proof of service of her complaint as soon as service has been accomplished. If, by July 1, 2003, plaintiff fails to submit proof of service of her complaint on the defendant or explain her inability to do so, I will direct plaintiff to show cause why her case should not be dismissed for lack of prosecution.