El Dey v. Brann

Background

Abdullah Spencer El Dey brought this civil-rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that several members of the New York City Department of Correction failed to protect him while he was jailed on Rikers Island. On March 10, 2022, the court granted Defendants permission to take El Dey’s deposition, which is a formal examination under oath during a lawsuit.

The deposition began on March 24 but did not finish after two and a half hours. The opinion states that the session could not be completed because of a scheduling conflict on the Department of Correction’s part. Fact discovery was extended to May 22 to allow the deposition to be completed. When Defendants attempted to continue the deposition on May 17, El Dey refused to appear.

Rulings

The court granted Defendants’ motion to compel El Dey to appear for the deposition. It ordered him to attend a second session of no more than four hours to complete the deposition. The court warned that failure to comply could result in sanctions, including dismissal.

The court also granted Defendants’ request to extend the discovery deadlines. It extended the fact-discovery deadline to June 10, 2022, and ordered the Superintendent or other official in charge of the North Infirmary Command to produce El Dey at a location within the facility with video-conference capabilities before that date. The court stated that no further discovery extensions would be granted. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 47 and mail El Dey a copy of the order.

Effect of the Order

This was a discovery order, not a decision on whether El Dey’s failure-to-protect claims were valid. The order addressed completion of his deposition and the timing of fact discovery.