Yovanny Dominguez v. The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:19-cv-10335
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Yovanny Dominguez v. The Cheesecake Factory, Judge Liman ordered plaintiff to decide whether to amend after a related appeals-court ruling, while postponing the motion to dismiss.
Yovanny Dominguez and The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc.; the order sets deadlines and next steps but does not decide the pending motion to dismiss.
What happened
Yovanny Dominguez v. The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc. was paused while the Second Circuit considered similar legal issues. The defendant had already filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the complaint, but had not filed an answer.
The Second Circuit later ruled in a related case that conclusory statements about intending to return to a defendant’s stores were not enough to establish standing—the legal requirement that a plaintiff show a sufficient connection to the dispute. That appeals-court decision had not yet become final because its mandate had not issued.
Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered Dominguez to tell the court within 30 days after the mandate issues whether he will amend his complaint or proceed with the original complaint. If he amends, he will have 45 days after the mandate issues; if he does not, the court will consider the pending motion to dismiss.
The detailed version
- Yovanny Dominguez v. The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-10335
- Lewis Liman
- June 30, 2022
Background
The court had stayed the case while the Second Circuit considered appeals involving the same issues and arguments. At that time, The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc. had filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, and no answer had been filed.
Related appellate decision
On June 2, 2022, the Second Circuit issued its decision in a consolidated appeal. The appeals court held that plaintiffs’ conclusory claims that they intended to return to defendants’ stores were insufficient to establish standing. Standing is the legal requirement that a plaintiff have a sufficient connection to the dispute to invoke the court’s authority. The Second Circuit’s mandate had not yet issued.
Order
The court ordered Dominguez to submit a letter within 30 days after the mandate issues stating whether he intends to amend his complaint in light of the Second Circuit’s decision or stand on the original complaint. If Dominguez intends to amend, he may do so within 45 days after the mandate issues. If he amends, The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc. may move against the amended complaint or file an answer. If he does not amend, the court will proceed to consider the pending motion to dismiss. The order did not decide that motion or the merits of the case.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.