HC2, Inc. v. Messer
- Lewis Liman
- 1:20-cv-03178
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In HC2, Inc. v. Andrew Delaney, Judge Liman ordered HC2 to file authentic copies of documents supporting Delaney’s employment counterclaim.
HC2, Inc. was ordered to file the affidavit or declaration and authentic copies of the specified documents; Andrew Delaney’s counterclaims were not resolved.
What happened
In HC2, Inc. v. Andrew Delaney, Andrew Delaney’s counterclaims referred to health guidance, a New York executive order, and a presidential speech. The allegations supported his claim that ending his employment after his March 17, 2020 email violated New York Labor Law Section 740.
The court ordered HC2, Inc. to file an affidavit or declaration by December 4, 2020, attaching authentic copies of the documents cited in the counterclaims and the email. The documents were required to have existed before March 18, 2020.
Judge Lewis J. Liman issued this document-related order without deciding whether Delaney’s employment claim was legally valid. The order was procedural and did not resolve the counterclaims.
The detailed version
- HC2, Inc. v. Messer · No. 1:20-cv-03178
- Lewis Liman
- Nov. 30, 2020
Background
Andrew Delaney’s amended counterclaims referred to guidance issued by the New York City Health Department on February 14, 2020; interim guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 2, 2020; and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s March 7, 2020 executive order. The counterclaims also referred to a speech by President Trump. The allegations were made in support of Delaney’s claim that the termination of his employment after his March 17, 2020 email violated New York Labor Law Section 740.
Court’s Order
The court explained that, when deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), it may consider documents attached to or incorporated into the complaint. The court therefore ordered HC2, Inc. to file, by December 4, 2020, an affidavit or declaration attaching authentic copies of the documents referred to in paragraphs 36 through 38 and paragraph 14 of the counterclaims, as well as the documents referred to in the March 17, 2020 email. The court stated that all of those documents should have existed before March 18, 2020.
Disposition and Effect
Judge Lewis J. Liman entered the document-submission order. The opinion does not state that the court ruled on the validity of Delaney’s counterclaims or on the motion to dismiss itself. The order required HC2 to provide supporting documents; it did not dismiss, grant, or deny the counterclaims.
Naming note
The supplied case name identifies the defendant as Messer, but the opinion’s caption identifies the defendant as Andrew Delaney. This summary follows the opinion’s caption.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.