Kamal v. G E R Industries, Inc.
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:20-cv-05671
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Kamal v. G E R Industries, Judge Briccetti granted Kamal permission to add GER Vietnam as a defendant after finding good cause and no unfair prejudice.
Syed Kamal may amend his complaint to add GER Vietnam Co., Ltd. as a defendant. The existing defendants must address the amended pleading, but the opinion does not decide the underlying age-discrimination claims.
What happened
In Kamal v. G E R Industries, Inc., Syed Kamal sued several defendants, alleging age discrimination under federal and New York law. He asked to add GER Vietnam Co., Ltd. as another defendant.
The court found good cause for the late amendment because Kamal said he recently learned that GER Vietnam and G E R Industries were being treated as separate legal entities. The court also found that the defendants had not shown unfair prejudice, bad faith, undue delay, or that the proposed amendment would be futile.
Judge Briccetti granted the motion for leave to file an amended complaint. He directed Kamal to file it separately by May 14, 2021, and instructed the Clerk to terminate the letter-motion.
The detailed version
- Kamal v. G E R Industries, Inc. · No. 7:20-cv-05671
- Vincent Briccetti
- May 10, 2021
Background
Syed Kamal brought age-discrimination claims under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the New York State Human Rights Law against G E R Industries, Inc.; GER Architectural Manufacturing Incorporated; Robert-George Realty Corp.; and George Roach. Kamal moved for permission to amend his complaint to add GER Vietnam Co., Ltd. as a defendant.
Legal standard
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 generally requires courts to freely allow amendments when justice requires. A court may deny an amendment because of undue delay, improper purpose or bad faith, unfair prejudice to the opposing party, or futility. Because Kamal sought to amend after the deadline in the scheduling order, Rule 16(b)(4) also required him to show good cause, which depends on the moving party's diligence.
Court's reasoning
The court found good cause because Kamal said he recently discovered that GER Vietnam was not part of G E R Industries, contrary to his earlier understanding. Kamal stated that he learned this during George Roach's deposition, which occurred between March 3 and March 25, 2021. He moved to amend on April 14, 2021, after the defendants declined to consent. The court therefore found that he acted diligently and had not unduly delayed.
The court also found that the defendants had not shown undue prejudice. The discovery deadline was July 15, 2021, leaving several months for any additional discovery. Kamal's counsel represented that testimony about GER Vietnam had already been obtained from Roach and a non-party witness and that counsel did not expect to recall Roach because of the motion. The court rejected the defendants' argument that the possible lack of personal jurisdiction over GER Vietnam showed undue prejudice because the defendants cited no authority supporting that argument. The court also found no indication that the amendment was sought for delay or in bad faith, and found that the proposed amendment was not futile.
Disposition
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti granted the motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Kamal was ordered to file the amended complaint separately by May 14, 2021. The Clerk was instructed to terminate the letter-motion, identified as Document 45.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.