Sweigert v. Goodman
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:18-cv-08653
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sweigert v. Goodman, Judge Aaron ordered pro se defendant Jason Goodman to answer specified claims by January 29, 2021.
Defendant Jason Goodman must answer the specified paragraphs by January 29, 2021. The order also affects George Sweigert by requiring a response to the remaining allegations in the case.
What happened
In Sweigert v. Goodman, the court addressed Defendant Jason Goodman’s failure to respond to the plaintiff’s amended complaint and allowed supplemental allegations.
The court had previously dismissed the complaint’s First and Fourth Claims and limited which paragraphs of the supplemental complaint became part of the case. Goodman had appeared without a lawyer but had not answered the remaining allegations.
Judge Stewart D. Aaron ordered Goodman to file an answer to specified paragraphs by January 29, 2021, and directed the Clerk to mail the order to the self-represented parties.
The detailed version
- Sweigert v. Goodman · No. 1:18-cv-08653
- Valerie Caproni
- Dec. 28, 2020
Background
George Sweigert filed a Second Amended Complaint containing 133 substantive paragraphs. On March 2, 2020, Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron recommended dismissing the First and Fourth Claims. On August 3, 2020, District Judge Valerie Caproni adopted those recommendations.
Sweigert later sought permission to file a supplemental complaint. On October 8, 2020, the court ordered that the Second Amended Complaint would be supplemented only by paragraphs 1, 39 through 45, and 47 through 50 of the Verified Supplemental Complaint filed at ECF No. 150.
Order
Defendant Jason Goodman had appeared without a lawyer and had not responded to the Second Amended Complaint as supplemented. The court noted that it must make reasonable allowances to protect self-represented parties from accidentally losing important rights because of their lack of legal training.
Judge Aaron ordered Goodman to file an answer no later than January 29, 2021. The answer must address paragraphs 1 through 28, 69 through 110, 123, and 125 through 133 of the Second Amended Complaint, along with paragraphs 1, 39 through 45, and 47 through 50 of the Verified Supplemental Complaint. The Clerk was asked to mail a copy of the order to the self-represented parties.
Effect of the Order
This order sets a deadline and identifies the allegations requiring an answer. It does not decide the truth of those allegations or resolve the remaining claims on their merits.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.