Teachey v. Equinox Holdings, Inc.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:18-cv-10740
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Teachey v. Equinox, Judge Liman reopened limited discovery for a deposition and held Equinox’s summary-judgment and sanctions motions in abeyance.
Gregory Teachey and Equinox Holdings, Inc.; the order also concerns Michael Shkreli’s deposition availability.
What happened
In Teachey v. Equinox Holdings, Inc., Equinox asked the court to dismiss all of Gregory Teachey’s claims through summary judgment. Teachey submitted a declaration from former coworker Michael Shkreli.
Equinox argued that the court should strike Shkreli’s declaration as a sanction because Teachey’s counsel said it no longer represented Shkreli and that Shkreli was unavailable for a deposition. The court found that Equinox’s cited case was not directly on point.
Judge Lewis J. Liman allowed the parties to reopen discovery for the limited purpose of helping Equinox obtain Shkreli’s deposition. The court held Equinox’s summary-judgment and sanctions motions in abeyance and directed Teachey to tell the court by November 20, 2020, when Shkreli had been made available.
The detailed version
- Teachey v. Equinox Holdings, Inc. · No. 1:18-cv-10740
- Lewis Liman
- Nov. 6, 2020
Background
Equinox moved for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all claims against it. In opposition, Gregory Teachey submitted a declaration from former coworker Michael Shkreli. Equinox argued in reply that the court should strike the declaration as a sanction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 because Teachey’s counsel had stated that it no longer represented Shkreli and that Shkreli was completely unavailable when Equinox sought to depose him.
Court’s action
The court stated that the decision Equinox cited was not directly on point. The court observed that, regardless of whether Teachey’s counsel currently represented Shkreli, counsel appeared to be in a position to assist Equinox in securing Shkreli’s availability for a deposition.
The court allowed the parties to reopen discovery for the limited purpose of Teachey assisting Equinox in obtaining Shkreli’s deposition, as a possible cure or mitigation of the alleged Rule 37 violation. Teachey was directed to inform the court no later than November 20, 2020, when Shkreli had been made available for deposition, which the court said should occur as soon as possible.
Disposition
Judge Lewis J. Liman held Equinox’s motion for summary judgment and motion for sanctions in abeyance. The order did not decide either motion on the merits.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.