Doncouse v. Marlton Hotel Operating LLC
- Garnett
- 1:25-cv-02697
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Doncouse v. Marlton Hotel Operating LLC, Judge Garnett ordered settlement discussions, required a joint status letter, and paused defendants’ response deadline.
Plaintiff Graciela Doncouse, Defendants Marlton Hotel Operating LLC and Village Hotel LLC, and counsel who have appeared or later appear in the case.
What happened
In Doncouse v. Marlton Hotel Operating LLC, and Village Hotel LLC, the court ordered the parties to meet for at least one hour within 30 days after each defendant is served with the summons and complaint. They must make a good-faith effort to settle and discuss whether the plaintiff has standing to bring the case.
Within 15 more days, the parties must file a joint letter saying whether they settled. If not, they must ask either for mediation or a settlement conference with a magistrate judge, or for an initial status conference. The letter must also say whether the defendants plan to answer or ask the court to dismiss the complaint.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett stayed the defendants’ deadline to answer or otherwise respond until the joint letter is filed. The order did not decide the standing issue, any motion to dismiss, or the merits of the case. Counsel who have appeared must serve the order and the judge’s rules on parties or counsel who have not appeared and file proof of that notice.
The detailed version
- Doncouse v. Marlton Hotel Operating LLC · No. 1:25-cv-02697
- Garnett
- Apr. 3, 2025
What the order does
The court issued a case-management and settlement order. It requires the parties to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint on each defendant. The meeting must include a good-faith attempt to settle the action.
The parties must discuss whether Plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning whether she has the legal ability to bring the case in federal court. The order cites two Second Circuit decisions concerning standing but does not decide whether Plaintiff has standing.
Required joint letter
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they settled. If they have not settled, the letter must request either referral to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, with a preference between those options, or an initial status conference.
The letter must also state whether Defendants intend to answer the complaint or move to dismiss it. If Defendants intend to file a motion to dismiss, the letter must briefly describe the anticipated basis for that motion in no more than one paragraph.
Effect on defendants’ response deadline
The deadline for Defendants to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint is stayed, meaning paused, until the joint letter is submitted. After the letter is filed, the court will set either a deadline for an answer or a briefing schedule for a motion to dismiss.
Notice requirements
Counsel who had appeared when the order was issued must promptly provide the order and Judge Garnett’s Individual Rules and Practices to counsel for every other party who had not appeared. If counsel do not know the identity of another party’s counsel, they must send the materials directly to that party. Counsel must file proof that the required notice was provided.
Disposition and scope
This is a procedural order. The court did not rule on standing, any anticipated motion to dismiss, settlement, or the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.