Aponte v. Clinton Street Pizza Inc.
- Kimba Wood
- 1:22-cv-03188
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
Aponte v. Clinton Street Pizza, Judge Wood, granted leave to amend the wage and discrimination complaint.
Nancy Aponte and Angelo Gabriel Alves Marques were allowed to file an amended complaint against Clinton Street Pizza Inc., Francesco Taormina, Amedeo Orlando, and Alexander Lyudmir. The order also imposed response, scheduling, and service-related deadlines on the parties.
What happened
Aponte v. Clinton Street Pizza Inc. involved claims by Nancy Aponte and Angelo Gabriel Alves Marques against their former restaurant employers for unpaid wages, overtime, tips, required wage documents, and discrimination. The court had previously denied their request for default judgment because the complaint did not properly state federal claims.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend. It found no undue delay, bad faith, unfair prejudice, or futility, and noted that the proposed amended complaint corrected alleged defects without adding new claims. The court also warned that the amended complaint must explain why venue is proper in the Southern District of New York and set deadlines for filing, answering, scheduling, and reporting efforts to serve Orlando.
Judge Kimba M. Wood ordered the plaintiffs to file and serve the amended complaint by July 23, 2021. Lyudmir and Taormina had to answer by August 6, the parties had to submit a proposed schedule and discovery plan by August 13, and the plaintiffs had to update the court about serving Orlando by September 23.
The detailed version
- Aponte v. Clinton Street Pizza Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-03188
- Kimba Wood
- Apr. 19, 2022
Background
Nancy Aponte and Angelo Gabriel Alves Marques sued Clinton Street Pizza Inc., doing business as Rizzo’s Fine Pizza, and Francesco Taormina, Amedeo Orlando, and Alexander Lyudmir. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants failed to pay them for all hours worked, failed to pay overtime, took tips, and failed to provide required wage notices and wage statements. They also alleged discrimination under federal and New York City law.
The Clerk entered defaults against Clinton Street Pizza Inc. and Taormina after they failed to appear. Lyudmir appeared without a lawyer and filed an answer. Orlando was believed to be overseas and had not been served. The plaintiffs then sought a default judgment against Clinton Street Pizza Inc. and Taormina.
On May 17, 2021, the court denied the default-judgment application because the complaint did not adequately state a basis for relief under federal law. Because the federal claims were not adequately pleaded, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction—the court’s authority to hear related state and city claims—over the remaining claims. The court allowed the plaintiffs to seek permission to amend.
Leave to Amend
The plaintiffs filed a letter motion and proposed amended complaint. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2) generally directs courts to freely allow amendments when justice requires. Courts may deny leave for reasons such as undue delay, bad faith, prejudice, or futility, meaning the proposed amendment could not support a viable claim.
The court found no reason to deny leave. It found no allegation of undue delay or bad faith, and the motion was unopposed. Discovery had not begun, and the proposed amended complaint did not add new claims. The court also found the amendment was not futile because it addressed defects identified in the earlier complaint, including the lack of allegations about the defendants’ annual gross sales that were required for the federal wage claims.
The court noted a venue concern. The plaintiffs had alleged that venue was proper because the defendants resided in Queens County, but the court stated that Queens County is in the Eastern District of New York. The court directed the plaintiffs to state the basis for venue in the Southern District of New York if they continued to assert that venue was proper there.
Case Management and Disposition
The court stated that once filed, the amended complaint would replace and nullify the original complaint. It granted the plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend and ordered the following:
- The plaintiffs had to file the amended complaint by July 23,
- - The plaintiffs had to serve it on Clinton Street Pizza Inc., Taormina, and Lyudmir. - The plaintiffs’ request for an additional 60 days to try to locate and serve Orlando was granted. They had to file a status report on those efforts by September 23,
- - Lyudmir and Taormina had to answer the amended complaint by August 6,
- - The parties had to meet and confer and submit a joint letter with a proposed scheduling order and discovery plan by August 13, 2021.
Judge Kimba M. Wood signed the order. The order addressed amendment and case-management steps; it did not decide whether the plaintiffs ultimately prevailed on their wage or discrimination claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.