Francis v. Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC
- John Cronan
- 1:20-cv-04015
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ashley Francis v. Tompkins Square Acquisition, Judge Torres indefinitely postponed the deadline to seek default judgment against the landlord.
Ashley Francis, Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC, Seven A Cafe Inc., and New 7A Cafe, LLC; the order specifically postponed action concerning a potential default judgment against Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC while claims against the other defendants remained unresolved.
What happened
Ashley Francis asked the court to postpone the deadline for seeking a default judgment against Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC while claims continued against Seven A Cafe Inc. and New 7A Cafe, LLC.
Francis had already obtained a formal entry of default against Tompkins Square. The request cited the risk that deciding the defaulting defendant’s liability or damages before the other defendants’ claims could produce inconsistent results and affect the tenant’s operations.
The court granted the request and indefinitely postponed the deadline for Francis to file for default judgment against Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC. Judge Analisa Torres signed the order on August 12, 2020.
The detailed version
- Francis v. Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC · No. 1:20-cv-04015
- John Cronan
- Aug. 12, 2020
Background
Ashley Francis’s complaint sought damages and an order requiring the defendants to make accessibility changes to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The defendants included Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC, described as the landlord-defendant, and Seven A Cafe Inc. and New 7A Cafe, LLC, described as the appearing, non-defaulting defendants.
Francis had obtained a certificate of default against Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC. Francis asked the court to postpone the deadline for filing a motion for default judgment against that company until the claims against the other defendants were resolved. The request relied on decisions stating that courts generally should wait to enter default judgment against one defendant in a multi-defendant case until the claims against the remaining defendants have been litigated. Francis also argued that an early judgment could effectively grant the requested accessibility-related injunction against the tenant and could affect the tenant’s operations.
Ruling
The court granted the request. The deadline for Francis to file for default judgment against Tompkins Square Acquisition LLC was adjourned indefinitely. The order did not decide the merits of Francis’s claims or enter a default judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.