Gordon v. Drummond

Background

Jermaine Gordon filed the complaint without a lawyer on September 10, 2019, naming C.O. Drummond and C.O. Jackson as defendants. The court directed the Clerk of Court to notify the Department of Corrections and the New York City Law Department that it was seeking waivers of service from the two correction officers. The waiver form was returned unexecuted on November 20, 2019, with the notation: “Cannot identify/Need more information.”

Order to Provide Identification Information

The court cited Valentin v. Dinkins, which requires the court to assist a plaintiff in obtaining information needed to complete service when a defendant cannot be identified. The court found that Gordon’s complaint did not provide enough information to identify Drummond and Jackson for service or waiver of service.

The court ordered Gordon to provide, in a letter, all information he had about each defendant separately. The requested information included the time, date, and location of the incident; each officer’s full name, if known; race, sex, and other physical characteristics; and known work locations or posts and the periods when the officers worked there. Gordon had to send the information to Magistrate Judge Gorenstein and provide a copy to counsel for the City of New York by January 9, 2020.

The City of New York was ordered to file a letter by January 23, 2020 stating one of three things: that the defendants would waive service; the defendants’ full names and service addresses; or, if an officer could not be identified, a detailed explanation of the efforts made to identify that person using Gordon’s information. The order also noted that the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit might assist Gordon with court procedures.

Disposition and Scope

Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein entered an order concerning identification and service of the defendants. The opinion did not rule on the substance of Gordon’s claims.