Diomande v. The City of New York
- Sidney Stein
- 1:24-cv-07302
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Diomande v. The City of New York, Judge Stein directed steps to serve six named defendants and declined to authorize service on the NYPD.
Kassia Diomande, The City of New York, the five named police-officer defendants, and the New York City Police Department and New York City Law Department for purposes of service.
What happened
In Diomande v. The City of New York, Kassia Diomande, representing herself, filed a corrected Second Amended Complaint naming The City of New York and five police officers as defendants. The court treated that filing as her operative complaint.
Because Diomande was allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee, she could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. The Clerk was directed to notify the New York City Police Department and the New York City Law Department electronically, and the court requested that the defendants waive formal service of the summons.
Judge Gary Stein did not authorize service on the NYPD if Diomande intended to name it as a defendant, because the order states that the NYPD is not a suable entity. The order also reminded Diomande to notify the court of any address change.
The detailed version
- Diomande v. The City of New York · No. 1:24-cv-07302
- Sidney Stein
- June 4, 2025
Background
Kassia Diomande, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a corrected Second Amended Complaint on June 2, 2025, in compliance with earlier court orders. The court deemed that filing her operative complaint. It names six defendants: The City of New York; NYPD Officer Kelsey Columna, Shield # 05116; NYPD Officer Chabeli Duarte, Shield # 04757; Sgt. Robert Reid, Shield # 03724; NYPD Officer Lesner Delgado, Shield # 23066; and NYPD Officer Joshua Albanese, Shield # 26320.
Diomande had been granted permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. In such cases, the court and the U.S. Marshals Service handle service of process—the formal delivery of the lawsuit and summons to the defendants. The court also extended the service deadline to 90 days after any summonses issue.
Court’s Action
The Clerk of Court was directed to electronically notify the New York City Police Department and the New York City Law Department of the order so service could proceed on The City of New York, Kelsey Columna, Chabeli Duarte, Robert Reid, Lesner Delgado, and Joshua Albanese. The court requested that those defendants waive service of the summons.
If Diomande’s complaint was interpreted to name the NYPD as a defendant, the court did not authorize service on the NYPD. The order states that the NYPD is not a suable entity. The court also reminded Diomande that she must notify the court in writing if her address changes and that the action may be dismissed if she fails to do so.
Disposition
This is an order concerning service of the operative complaint. It authorizes the steps needed to serve the six listed defendants, does not authorize service on the NYPD if it was intended to be named, and does not decide the underlying claims. Judge Gary Stein issued the order on June 4, 2025.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.