St. John v. Reliance Communications
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-02252-SDA
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In St. John v. Reliance Communications, Judge Abrams ordered the parties to discuss consenting to Magistrate Judge Aaron handling all further proceedings.
The parties to the case were required to discuss consent to having Magistrate Judge Aaron conduct all further proceedings and meet the two-week filing deadlines if they consented or did not consent.
What happened
In St. John v. Reliance Communications, the parties told the court that mediation had been unsuccessful. The court said the case would be referred separately to Magistrate Judge Aaron for general pretrial matters.
The court ordered the parties to discuss whether they would voluntarily allow Judge Aaron to handle all further proceedings. If both agreed, they had two weeks to submit a completed consent form. If either party did not agree, the parties had to file a joint letter within two weeks without identifying who withheld consent.
Judge Ronnie Abrams also stated that withholding consent would not lead to negative consequences and reminded the parties that settlements of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act generally require court approval. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- St. John v. Reliance Communications · No. 1:20-cv-02252-SDA
- Ronnie Abrams
- Feb. 8, 2021
Background
The parties notified the court that mediation had been unsuccessful. The order states that, by a separate order, the case would be referred to Magistrate Judge Aaron for general pretrial matters.
Consent to Magistrate Judge
To conserve resources and promote efficiency, the court ordered the parties to discuss whether they would consent under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) to having Magistrate Judge Aaron conduct all further proceedings. If all parties consented and the court approved the completed form, Judge Aaron would conduct the remaining proceedings instead of the district judge. Any appeal would go directly to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
If any party did not consent, the parties were required to file a joint letter within two weeks of the order stating that they did not consent, without identifying the party or parties who withheld consent. The order expressly stated that withholding consent would not result in adverse consequences.
Additional Reminder and Ruling
The court reminded the parties that settlements of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act generally require court approval. This order addressed mediation, pretrial referral, and possible consent to magistrate-judge jurisdiction; it did not resolve the merits of the underlying dispute. Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered the parties to follow the specified consent or non-consent procedures.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.