Tatum v. City of New York
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:19-cv-02581
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Tatum v. City of New York, Judge Ramos extended service deadlines and ordered steps to serve three defendants.
The order affects Wayne Tatum, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Clerk of Court, Nikkal Barnes, Sergeant Facey, Officer Matos, the City of New York, and Aguila, Inc.
What happened
In Tatum v. City of New York, Wayne Tatum had permission to proceed without paying filing fees, but three of five defendants had not been successfully served.
The court said the Marshals Service’s failure to serve the defendants provided a valid reason to extend the service deadline. It also ordered Aguila, Inc., Nikkal Barnes’s former employer, to provide Barnes’s service address.
Judge Edgardo Ramos ordered amended summonses and service paperwork for Sergeant Facey and Officer Matos, extended the service period for them to 90 days after the amended summonses issued, and directed Aguila, Inc.’s counsel to provide Barnes’s address.
The detailed version
- Tatum v. City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-02581
- Edgardo Ramos
- Apr. 21, 2020
Background
Wayne Tatum was permitted to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that service had not been successfully completed on three of the five named defendants: Nikkal Barnes, Sergeant Facey No. 906, and Officer Matos No. 1059. The complaint had been filed more than 90 days earlier, and the usual service deadline under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) had passed.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that when a person proceeding without paying filing fees identifies the defendants, the U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for attempting service. Under the cited Second Circuit authority, the Marshals Service’s failure to complete service automatically provided good cause to extend the Rule 4(m) deadline.
The court also addressed Barnes separately. The City of New York stated that Barnes was not its employee and had formerly worked for an independent contractor, Aguila, Inc. Aguila, Inc. had not provided Barnes’s service address to the City. The court relied on authority requiring assistance from the district court in identifying a defendant for service.
Order
The court directed the Clerk of Court to issue amended summonses for Sergeant Facey and Officer Matos, prepare the U.S. Marshals Service paperwork for them, and deliver the necessary documents to the Marshals Service. The court extended the time to serve those defendants to 90 days from issuance of the amended summonses.
The court directed Aguila, Inc.’s counsel to provide Barnes’s service address to the court by April 27, 2020, and directed the Clerk of Court to mail Aguila, Inc. a copy of the complaint and the order. The court stated that, after receiving Barnes’s address, it would direct preparation of the paperwork needed for the Marshals Service to serve her. Judge Edgardo Ramos did not decide the underlying claims in this order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.