Wickes v. Westfair Electric Co.
- Nelson Roman
- 7:19-cv-10673
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Wickes v. Westfair Electric Co., Judge Roman ordered the Marshals Service to serve the defendants and extended the service deadline.
Patricia Wickes and the named defendants—Westfair Electric Co., Basil Holibus, Jeffrey DeLeo, Tom Griesis, and George Guerrera—were affected by the court’s instructions for service of the lawsuit.
What happened
Patricia Wickes, representing herself, sued Westfair Electric Co. and five individuals, alleging discrimination based on race, sex, and age under several federal and state laws, including Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the New York State Human Rights Law. She also asserted a claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Because the court had allowed Wickes to proceed without paying filing fees, it ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. The court extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summons is issued and instructed Wickes to notify the court if her address changes.
Judge Nelson S. Roman issued the order directing the Clerk of Court to prepare the service forms, issue the summons, and provide the necessary papers to the Marshals Service. The order did not decide whether Wickes’s claims were legally valid.
The detailed version
- Wickes v. Westfair Electric Co. · No. 7:19-cv-10673
- Nelson Roman
- Dec. 17, 2019
Background
Patricia Wickes brought this action without a lawyer against Westfair Electric Co., Basil Holibus, Jeffrey DeLeo, Tom Griesis, and George Guerrera. The opinion says she alleged employment discrimination based on race, sex, and age under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the New York State Human Rights Law. She also asserted a claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The court had previously granted Wickes permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. In such cases, the court explained, the U.S. Marshals Service must serve the summons and complaint when the plaintiff provides the information needed to identify the defendants.
Service order
The court extended the time for service to 90 days after the summons is issued. It explained that Wickes could not have served the defendants before the court reviewed the complaint and ordered that a summons be issued. The court stated that, if service was not completed within that period, Wickes should request an extension of time.
The Clerk of Court was directed to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each defendant, issue the summons, and deliver the necessary paperwork to the Marshals Service. The order included service addresses for Westfair Electric Company and the five individual defendants. Wickes was also directed to notify the court in writing if her address changes, and the court stated that the action could be dismissed if she failed to do so.
Disposition and scope
Judge Nelson S. Roman ordered the Clerk of Court to arrange service through the Marshals Service and directed that a copy of the order and an information package be mailed to Wickes. This was an administrative service order, not a decision on the merits of Wickes’s discrimination or benefits claims. The opinion does not state whether the defendants were ultimately served or whether the claims proceeded.
Date note
The supplied case metadata lists December 17, 2019. The date line in the reproduced opinion is garbled and appears inconsistent, so the metadata date is used here.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.