Abadi v. British Airways PLC
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:21-cv-10825
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Abadi v. British Airways PLC, Judge Gardephe ordered service through Marshals, extended the service deadline, and declined to identify unnamed employees.
Aaron Abadi, British Airways PLC, Matthew Roberts, Wendy Gomez, and the unnamed British Airways employees; the order concerns service and identification, not whether discrimination occurred.
What happened
In Abadi v. British Airways PLC, Aaron Abadi, representing himself, alleges that the defendants discriminated against him because of a disability. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying filing fees in advance.
The court ordered the Clerk of Court and the U.S. Marshals Service to issue and serve the paperwork on British Airways PLC, Matthew Roberts, and Wendy Gomez. It extended the service deadline to 90 days after the summonses are issued. The court declined at this time to help identify other unnamed British Airways employees because the complaint did not describe them specifically enough.
Judge Gardephe also directed Abadi to notify the court of any address change and warned that the case could be dismissed if he failed to do so. This order did not decide whether the alleged disability discrimination occurred.
The detailed version
- Abadi v. British Airways PLC · No. 1:21-cv-10825
- Paul Gardephe
- Jan. 25, 2022
Background
Aaron Abadi, appearing without a lawyer, alleges that the defendants discriminated against him based on a disability. The court had previously granted his request to proceed without prepaying filing fees.
Service on Named Defendants
Because Abadi was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the court ruled that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. The court extended the usual service period: the complaint and summonses must be served within 90 days after the summonses are issued. If service is not completed within that period, Abadi must request an extension of time.
The court instructed the Clerk of Court to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for British Airways PLC, Matthew Roberts, and Wendy Gomez; issue summonses; and deliver the necessary paperwork to the Marshals Service. The court also directed Abadi to notify the court in writing if his address changes and stated that the action may be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Unnamed Employees
The complaint referred to several other British Airways employees but did not identify which employees Abadi intended to sue or provide enough information about their roles or the dates of the alleged discrimination. The court therefore declined at that time to seek the identities of the unnamed employees.
Disposition
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to issue summonses, complete the service forms, and deliver the documents to the U.S. Marshals Service for service on British Airways PLC, Matthew Roberts, and Wendy Gomez. It also directed that a copy of the order and an information package be mailed to Abadi. The order addressed service and identification issues; it did not decide the merits of Abadi’s disability-discrimination allegations.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.