Cruz v. 32BJ SEIU
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:19-cv-11836
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Cruz v. 32BJ SEIU, Judge Schofield denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss as moot and ordered steps to reinstate and serve defendants.
Carina Cruz, 32BJ SEIU, ABM Industries, and the court personnel responsible for issuing and arranging service of process.
What happened
In Cruz v. 32BJ SEIU, Carina Cruz filed a complaint against 32BJ SEIU and Kyle Bragg while representing herself. Defendants later moved to dismiss.
Cruz then filed an amended complaint and a separate statement of facts. Although the amended complaint named only ABM Industries, the statement also asserted claims against 32BJ SEIU and two ABM entities. The court therefore treated the amended complaint as including claims against 32BJ SEIU. Cruz had permission to proceed without paying filing fees, so the court said she could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve process.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield denied the motion to dismiss as moot. The court directed the Clerk to reinstate 32BJ SEIU as a defendant, prepare service paperwork for ABM Industries, send that paperwork to the Marshals Service, close the motion, and mail the order to Cruz.
The detailed version
- Cruz v. 32BJ SEIU · No. 1:19-cv-11836
- Lorna Schofield
- June 23, 2020
Background
Carina Cruz filed a complaint on December 23, 2019, against 32BJ SEIU and Kyle Bragg. Cruz was representing herself. On June 18, 2020, those defendants moved to dismiss the complaint.
On June 22, 2020, Cruz filed an amended complaint. The amended complaint named only ABM Industries, so the Clerk terminated 32BJ SEIU and Kyle Bragg as defendants. Cruz also filed a separate “Statement of Facts Supporting Amended Complaint,” which said she was bringing claims against 32BJ SEIU, ABM Industry Groups, LLC, and ABM Janitorial Services, Inc. The court construed the amended complaint as also bringing claims against 32BJ SEIU.
Service of process
The court noted that Cruz had been granted permission to proceed without paying filing fees. In such cases, the court said, the court and the U.S. Marshals Service can handle service of the lawsuit. The opinion cited the federal statute and rule requiring the court to direct the Marshals Service to serve process for an eligible plaintiff.
Ruling
The court denied as moot the motion to dismiss. The order did not decide whether Cruz’s claims were legally valid.
The Clerk was directed to:
- Reinstate 32BJ SEIU as a defendant; - Prepare a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form and a summons for ABM Industries, and provide the necessary paperwork to the Marshals Service for service; - Close the motion filed at Docket No. 42; and - Mail the order to Cruz.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.