Thorne v. Karbon Bikes, LLC

Order and Procedural Requirements

The court ordered the parties to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. They must make a good-faith effort to settle the action.

During those discussions, the parties must consider whether Plaintiff Braulio Thorne has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing—the requirement that a plaintiff have a sufficient personal connection to the dispute to invoke the court’s authority. They must also consider whether the website involved in the action is a “standalone website,” meaning a business website without a physical location. The order notes that some courts in the Southern District of New York have held that such a website is not a “place of public accommodation” under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If the parties cannot settle on their own, they must discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the court’s mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive.

Joint Letter and Response Deadline

Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must file a joint letter stating whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must ask the court either to refer the case to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, while stating their preference, or to proceed with an initial status conference. The letter must also state whether Defendant Karbon Bikes, LLC intends to answer the complaint or move to dismiss it. If Karbon Bikes plans to seek dismissal, the letter must briefly describe the anticipated basis for that motion in no more than one paragraph.

The deadline for Karbon Bikes 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 to Counsel

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 parties who had not yet appeared, notify those parties personally if their counsel is unknown, and file proof of that notice with the court.

Disposition and Scope

Judge Margaret M. Garnett entered procedural instructions concerning settlement, the parties’ joint filing, notice, and Karbon Bikes’ response deadline. The order did not decide whether Thorne has standing, whether the website is a place of public accommodation, or whether any motion to dismiss should be granted or denied.