Dong v. City University of New York

Background

The defendants asked the court to stay, or pause, discovery while they prepared a motion to dismiss. They also asked the court to adjourn the June 6, 2025 initial pretrial conference indefinitely. The defendants argued that the claims against the City University of New York, its Board of Trustees, City College of New York, and CUNY School of Medicine were barred by the Eleventh Amendment. They stated that the complaint asserted claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law.

The defendants argued that a discovery stay was warranted because their proposed motion could dispose of the entire case, discovery could be burdensome, and the plaintiff would not be prejudiced by a brief delay. The plaintiff opposed the request. The court's order refers to the plaintiff's opposition as Dkt. 26.

Court's Analysis

Courts evaluating a request to stay discovery consider the strength of the proposed dismissal motion, the breadth and burden of the discovery, and the risk of unfair prejudice to the opposing party. Here, the court noted that the defendants had not yet filed their motion to dismiss and that discovery had not been discussed.

Disposition

The court denied the motion to stay discovery without prejudice. The order therefore did not prevent the defendants from filing another request after they file their motion to dismiss. The court granted the request to adjourn the initial pretrial conference and rescheduled it for July 15, 2025, at 11:30 a.m.