Cazares v. 2898 Bagel & Bakery Corp.
- Alison Nathan
- 1:18-cv-05953
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Cazares v. 2898 Bagel, Judge Nathan extended damages-filing deadlines, set response rules, and warned that damages could be decided from written submissions alone.
The order affected the plaintiffs, particularly the six plaintiffs whose damages evidence was insufficient, as well as Damas, the plaintiffs’ counsel, 2898 Bagel & Bakery Corp., and Shlomo Sela.
What happened
In Cazares v. 2898 Bagel & Bakery Corp., the plaintiffs did not timely provide additional evidence supporting damages for six named plaintiffs. They instead requested more time while their lawyer’s request to withdraw from representing Wendy Patricia Damas remained pending.
The court extended the plaintiffs’ deadline to file and serve the supplemental damages submission to November 23, 2021, and extended the defendants’ response deadline to December 10, 2021. The corporate defendant was reminded that it could respond only through a lawyer, while Shlomo Sela could respond without a lawyer by mailing his submission to the court’s Pro Se Office. The court also required service of the orders and Spanish translations on Damas and warned that it could prepare a damages recommendation from the written submissions alone if the defendants did not respond.
Judge Alison Nathan’s order changed the deadlines and procedures for the damages inquest but did not decide the amount of damages.
The detailed version
- Cazares v. 2898 Bagel & Bakery Corp. · No. 1:18-cv-05953
- Alison Nathan
- Oct. 6, 2021
Background
By an earlier order dated June 7, 2021, the court directed the plaintiffs to provide additional evidence supporting damages claims by Fanny Jisselle Lizardo Fabre, Idor Jean Luckner, Jose G. Reyes, Luis Alberto Salas Umana, Wendy Patricia Damas, and Poco J. Quedraogo. The plaintiffs did not file the required supplement by June 25. Instead, they requested an extension while their counsel’s motion to withdraw from representing Damas was pending. The court had given Damas an opportunity to respond to that motion and scheduled a conference for November 9, 2021.
Order
The court extended the deadline for the plaintiffs’ supplemental damages submission to November 23, 2021. By that date, the plaintiffs had to serve the submission, this order, and the June 7 order on the defendants and file proof of service.
The court also directed counsel to serve Damas promptly with this order and the June 7 order, together with Spanish translations, and to file proof of that service by October 13, 2021. The defendants’ deadline to respond to the supplemental submission was extended to December 10, 2021.
The court again stated that 2898 Bagel & Bakery Corp., as a corporation, could not appear in the court without an attorney. Any response or request for a damages hearing by that defendant therefore had to be submitted through counsel. The court permitted Shlomo Sela to respond without a lawyer by mailing his response to the court’s Pro Se Office.
Effect of the Order
The court stated that if the defendants did not respond by December 10, 2021, it would prepare a report and recommendation about damages based only on the plaintiffs’ written submissions. It also stated that it would not hold a damages hearing unless a defendant requested one in writing by that date. The order addressed filing deadlines, service, representation, and the possible procedure for determining damages; it did not determine the damages amount or resolve the underlying claims. Judge Alison Nathan issued the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.