Perez v. Sixth Avenue Restaurant Management LLC
- Ona Wang
- 1:19-cv-09316
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Perez v. Sixth Avenue Restaurant Management, Judge Wang granted Defendants’ discovery requests for three more deposition hours and signed authorizations.
Perez must provide three additional hours of deposition testimony and signed authorizations requested by Defendants. The parties must confer about the continued deposition and submit a joint status letter.
What happened
In Perez v. Sixth Avenue Restaurant Management LLC, Defendants asked the court to continue Perez’s deposition for three additional hours and to require her to sign authorizations for tax, medical, and employment records. The deposition had been delayed by interpreter and videoconferencing problems, and Perez’s counsel objected to some of the authorizations.
The court granted the applications. It ordered that Perez be produced for three more hours of testimony and that the parties confer about a date for the continued deposition. It also ordered Perez to provide Defendants with signed authorizations by October 8, 2021.
Judge Ona T. Wang also directed the parties to file a joint status letter on October 30, 2020. The order resolved ECF 62; it did not decide the underlying employment-discrimination claims.
The detailed version
- Perez v. Sixth Avenue Restaurant Management LLC · No. 1:19-cv-09316
- Ona Wang
- Oct. 1, 2020
Background
Defendants Sixth Avenue Restaurant Management, LLC, Peak Management Services, LLC, LT Hospitality Management, Inc., and Laurent Tourondel asked the court to resolve two discovery disputes. The opinion identifies some entities as having been improperly named with “d/b/a” designations.
First, Defendants sought three additional hours to complete Perez’s seven-hour deposition. The deposition was conducted by videoconference and required a Spanish interpreter. Technical problems delayed its start, and the first interpreter later left after disagreements with Perez’s counsel about the translation. A second interpreter was located, and the deposition resumed. After about four hours on the record, Perez’s counsel sought to stop for the day and said he would not bring Perez back. Defendants argued that they were entitled to complete the seven hours allowed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(d)(1).
Second, Defendants sought signed authorizations for Perez’s tax records, medical records from Mount Sinai Beth Israel, and employment records from a restaurant where she claimed to have obtained work after her separation. Defendants argued these records were relevant to Perez’s employment-discrimination claims under the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws, including claimed damages and alleged emotional distress. Perez’s counsel objected to the tax and employment authorizations as irrelevant or disproportionate, according to the opinion.
Ruling
The court stated: “Applications GRANTED.” It ordered that Perez be produced for an additional three hours of testimony and directed the parties to meet and confer about a date for the continued deposition. It also ordered Perez to produce signed authorizations to Defendants by October 8, 2021. The court directed the parties to submit a joint status letter on October 30, 2020 and stated that ECF 62 was resolved.
This was a discovery order. The court did not decide the merits of Perez’s employment-discrimination claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.