Bhagat v. Shah

Background

At a conference, the court addressed several discovery and scheduling issues in Viral Bhagat’s case against Anuja Sharad Shah. The order states that Shah had been directed to provide the court with a copy of In re SunEdison, Inc. Securities Litigation, but had not done so by the original deadline. The court retroactively extended that deadline to July 1, 2025.

Rulings on the Motions and Discovery Requests

The court denied Shah’s motion to unseal documents at ECF 394, which included Bhagat’s tax documents, job-offer letters stating salaries, and a complaint in an American Arbitration Association arbitration. The denial was without prejudice to Shah’s making an application by July 1, 2025, concerning the arbitration complaint, with notice to Meta. The court ordered Bhagat to serve Shah with the documents and file proof of service by June 27, 2025.

The court also concluded that Shah’s objection to Meta’s opposition did not justify allowing additional discovery from Meta at that time. After Bhagat’s deposition, Shah could apply for additional discovery from Meta by July 15, 2025, on notice to Meta, but any application had to include relevant portions of Bhagat’s deposition transcript.

The court denied Shah’s motion to enforce the deposition order. It found that Shah had chosen not to proceed with Bhagat’s deposition on June 26 or Dordi’s deposition on June 27 without first seeking an extension. The court rejected Shah’s contention that she lacked sufficient access to Bhagat’s document production, noting that the production had been provided to her and that she had confirmed downloading it. The court also stated that Bhagat had offered to help her become familiar with the document database, but she did not use that opportunity.

Scheduling Orders and Disposition

The court adjourned Shah’s deposition to allow newly appearing counsel to become familiar with the case. The parties could reschedule Bhagat’s and Dordi’s depositions, and all three depositions had to be completed by July 11, 2025. Shah could seek additional written discovery from Meta by July 15. The order set deadlines for expert disclosures, expert reports, rebuttal reports, and expert depositions, and stated that no further extensions were anticipated absent an extraordinary cause.

The court extended the deadlines for dispositive motions—motions that could resolve claims without a trial—to September 12, 2025, with oppositions due October 15 and replies due October 31. The Clerk was requested to terminate ECF 395, ECF 416, and ECF 423.