Alexandria v. The Health Nuts, Inc.

Order and case-management 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 on The Health Nuts, Inc. The parties must make a good-faith effort to settle the action.

The order directs the parties to consider whether Erika Alexandria has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning a sufficient legal connection to bring the case. They must also consider whether the website involved is a “standalone website”—defined in the order as a business website without a physical location—and whether such a website is a “place of public accommodation” under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The order cited decisions in which some courts in the Southern District of New York held that standalone websites do not qualify as places of public accommodation under that law.

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

Joint letter and response deadline

Within 15 additional days, or 45 days after service of the summons and complaint, the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether the case settled. If it did not settle, 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 The Health Nuts, Inc. intends to answer or move to dismiss the complaint. If it plans to move to dismiss, the letter must briefly state the basis for that anticipated motion in no more than one paragraph.

The court stayed the deadline for The Health Nuts, Inc. to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint. After the joint letter is filed, the court will set a deadline for an answer or a briefing schedule for a motion to dismiss.

Notice to counsel and disposition

Counsel who had appeared when the order issued must promptly serve the order and Judge Garnett’s Individual Rules and Practices on counsel for parties who had not appeared, or on the party personally if counsel’s identity was unknown. Those counsel must file proof of that notice with the court.

Judge Margaret M. Garnett entered a case-management order requiring settlement-related discussions and a joint status letter. The order did not rule on standing, the website’s status under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or any anticipated motion to dismiss, and it did not decide the merits of the action.