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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled May 14, 2025

Giorgio v. WW International, Inc.

Judge
Ronnie Abrams
Docket
1:25-cv-02944
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
BankruptcyCivil Procedure
In one sentence

In Giorgio v. WW International, Judge Abrams ruled the bankruptcy stay applies to WW International and ordered briefing on whether it affects other defendants.

Who this affects

The order directly affects WW International, Inc., which the court said is covered by the bankruptcy automatic stay, and the other defendants, because the parties must address whether the stay also affects them or the scheduled pretrial conference. It also affects the plaintiffs' proposed class action.

What happened

In Giorgio v. WW International, Inc., the plaintiffs brought a proposed class action alleging violations of federal and state laws and common-law claims.

Defendants told the court that WW International, Inc. and certain subsidiaries and affiliates had begun a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. They argued that the bankruptcy filing automatically paused this case as to WW International, Inc.

Judge Ronnie Abrams agreed that the automatic pause applies to WW International, Inc., but said it generally does not cover non-bankrupt co-defendants. She ordered the parties to file a joint letter by May 21, 2025, addressing whether the pause applies to the other defendants and whether a scheduled June 6, 2025, pretrial conference should proceed.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Giorgio v. WW International, Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-02944
Judge
Ronnie Abrams
Date
May 14, 2025

Background

Allison Giorgio, Ashley Rodriguez, Jennifer Torres, Nancy Owen, and Antoinette Wachtl filed a proposed class action against WW International, Inc., WW.com, LLC, Weekend Health of Texas, PA, Weekend Health of New Jersey P.C., Weekend Health of Pennsylvania, P.C., and Brantley T. Jolly, M.D., Prof. Corp. The complaint alleges violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and state laws, along with common-law claims.

Defendants notified the court that WW International, Inc. and certain subsidiaries and affiliates had started a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. They informed the court that this case was automatically paused as to WW International, Inc. under the bankruptcy statute's automatic-stay provision, 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1).

Court's analysis

Judge Ronnie Abrams agreed that the automatic stay applies to WW International, Inc. The court explained that the stay generally applies to bankruptcy debtors and does not extend to non-bankrupt co-defendants, except when a claim against a non-debtor would have an immediate adverse economic effect on the debtor's bankruptcy estate.

The court did not decide whether the stay applies to the other defendants or otherwise affects the case.

Order

The court ordered the parties to submit a joint letter no later than May 21, 2025, stating their positions on whether the automatic stay applies to defendants other than WW International, Inc. or otherwise affects this case. The parties must also address whether the initial pretrial conference scheduled for June 6, 2025, should proceed. The order did not rule on the merits of the plaintiffs' claims.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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