Rahman v. Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:17-cv-05156
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Rahman v. Red Chili, Judge Abrams adopted the report, granted plaintiffs’ motion to strike, and ordered defendants’ answer and defenses stricken.
The order directly affected plaintiffs Mahfujur Rahman and Liton Shah and defendants Mohammed Mojnu Miah and Noor Islam by striking the defendants’ answer and defenses and directing the plaintiffs to seek default. It also addressed the separate default process for Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc.
What happened
In Rahman v. Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc., Mahfujur Rahman and Liton Shah sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. Defendants Mohammed Mojnu Miah and Noor Islam represented themselves, while Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc. had not answered or appeared through a lawyer.
The plaintiffs asked the court to strike Miah and Islam’s answer and defenses because of deficient discovery responses and an alleged violation of a court order. A magistrate judge recommended granting that request and directing the plaintiffs to seek a default judgment.
No party objected to the recommendation. Judge Ronnie Abrams found no clear error, adopted it in full, granted the motion to strike, and ordered the joint answer and defenses stricken. The plaintiffs were directed to move for default against Miah and Islam by January 3, 2020; the court separately directed them to file a corrected proposed certificate of default for Red Chili by December 13, 2019.
The detailed version
- Rahman v. Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc. · No. 1:17-cv-05156
- Ronnie Abrams
- Dec. 5, 2019
Background
Mahfujur Rahman and Liton Shah brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. They named Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc., Mohammed Mojnu Miah, and Noor Islam as defendants. Miah and Islam filed a joint answer and affirmative defenses while proceeding without lawyers. Red Chili did not answer or otherwise appear. The court had previously advised Red Chili that a corporation could not defend the lawsuit without an attorney and that continued failure to appear through counsel could lead to a default judgment.
The plaintiffs later sought permission to file a motion to strike Miah and Islam’s joint answer and affirmative defenses. They cited deficient discovery responses and an alleged violation of an October 5, 2019 order signed by Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman. The motion was referred to Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses, who issued a report and recommendation on July 12, 2019. The report recommended granting the motion, striking the answer and affirmative defenses, and instructing the plaintiffs to seek a default judgment under the court’s local rules and individual practices.
Court’s Review
Because no party objected to the report, the district court reviewed it for clear error—the standard used to determine whether an obvious mistake appeared on the record when no objections are filed. The court found no error and adopted the report in its entirety.
Ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered that the plaintiffs’ motion to strike was granted and that Miah and Islam’s joint answer and affirmative defenses were stricken. The plaintiffs were instructed to move for default against those defendants by January 3, 2020. The order did not enter a default judgment. Separately, because Red Chili had not answered or appeared, the court noted that the plaintiffs’ earlier proposed certificate of default for Red Chili had been rejected as deficient and instructed them to file a corrected proposal by December 13, 2019. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion and mail the order to Miah and Islam.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.