Wellington v. The City of New York

Background

Mercy Wellington brought claims against the City of New York, the New York Police Department, Lieutenant Darryl E. Fontaine, Police Officers Rawsan A. Jackson, Kyle M. LaGuardia, and Kelvin Villegasalmazo, Rustam Mukhutdinov, Perry Perlmutter, Angela Mortimer, and Lynn Gore. The opinion describes the amended complaint as concerning Wellington’s eviction from the Harmonia shelter over several days in August 2023.

On August 25, 2025, Defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). On September 17, 2025, the City Defendants moved to stay discovery and postpone the initial pretrial conference; the Harmonia Defendants joined that request. Wellington opposed the stay. A separate request to postpone deadlines for submissions before the conference became moot after Defendants filed a joint letter addressing those deadlines.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that it may stay discovery for good cause under Rule 26(c). It considered the breadth and burden of discovery, potential prejudice to Wellington, and the strength of the pending motion to dismiss.

The first factor weighed against a stay because Defendants did not specifically explain the burden of discovery, and the court had no basis to conclude that discovery would be unusually broad or burdensome. The second factor favored a stay. The court said Wellington was not entitled to discovery to argue that her complaint adequately pleaded her claims, and Defendants represented that the requested stay would last only as long as needed for the court to rule on the motion to dismiss. The third factor also favored a stay because the court had reviewed the dismissal motion and found it was not unfounded in law. The court did not predict the motion’s outcome, but noted that granting it could dispose of some or all of the case and reduce or eliminate the need for discovery.

Ruling

The court concluded that the factors, considered together, established good cause. It granted Defendants’ motion to stay discovery. The October 1, 2025 initial pretrial conference was adjourned without a new date, and discovery was stayed pending a ruling on the motion to dismiss. The Clerk was directed to close the motions at Docket 55 and Docket 57. The opinion did not rule on the merits of the motion to dismiss.