M.Q. v. Kenneth Genalo
- Andrew Carter
- 1:22-cv-10680
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In M.Q. v. United States, Judge Parker extended discovery on assault, battery, and negligence claims to April 24, 2025.
M.Q. and the United States, because the order changes the discovery schedule for M.Q.’s assault, battery, and negligence claims.
What happened
In M.Q. v. United States, M.Q. asked the court to pause fact discovery while the Government’s partial motion to dismiss was pending. M.Q. asked to continue only two depositions in February, or alternatively to extend discovery for the assault, battery, and negligence claims.
The Government consented to either a pause or an extension, while disagreeing that some claims overlapped or that medical-treatment decisions reflected improper motivation. The parties also disputed the significance of documents produced by the Government and whether they included enough information to identify email custodians.
The court extended the discovery deadline for M.Q.’s assault, battery, and negligence claims to April 24, 2025, and directed the parties to provide a status letter and address whether they wanted a settlement conference. The order was signed by Judge Katharine H. Parker.
The detailed version
- M.Q. v. Kenneth Genalo · No. 1:22-cv-10680
- Andrew Carter
- Jan. 21, 2025
Background
M.Q. requested that the court stay, or pause, all fact discovery while the Government’s pending partial motion to dismiss was resolved. M.Q. proposed continuing only the depositions of Dean Smith and Peter Salmon, rescheduled for February 2025. In the alternative, M.Q. requested that the discovery deadline for the assault, battery, and negligence claims be extended from January 24, 2025, to April 24, 2025.
M.Q. argued that a pause would avoid duplicative depositions, unnecessary expense, and possible reopening of discovery because the motion to dismiss could change which claims remained in the case. M.Q. also cited a December 18, 2024 production of 912 additional documents totaling 4,911 pages and requested more time to review the production and address any discovery disputes.
The Government’s Position
The Government consented to the requested stay or extension, subject to M.Q. proceeding with two of three previously scheduled depositions and subject to the witnesses’ availability. The Government also agreed to reschedule the depositions for February to allow M.Q.’s counsel more preparation time. The Government disagreed that the stayed and non-stayed claims overlapped and disputed M.Q.’s characterization of medical-treatment decisions and alleged improper motivation. It nevertheless consented because M.Q. planned to take numerous depositions and because the Government wanted its witnesses deposed only once.
The Government explained that its December production consisted of emails from fourteen custodians. It stated that the emails themselves identified senders, recipients, copied recipients, and dates and times, and that it would provide custodian information for specific documents if M.Q. identified any documents whose custodians could not be determined.
Ruling
The court ordered that the discovery deadline for M.Q.’s assault, battery, and negligence claims be extended to April 24, 2025. The order also directed the parties to submit a status letter concerning discovery and to address whether they were interested in a settlement conference. The text provided does not clearly state whether the court separately granted or denied the requested stay of all other fact discovery. Judge Katharine H. Parker signed the order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.