Azzarmi v. 55 Fulton Market

Background

This was a discovery-management order issued after a status conference. The order states that the court had previously dismissed Azzarmi’s claims against Key Food Stores Cooperative Inc., Madeline Donahue, and Shamin Chaitram. The clerk was directed to terminate those defendants and recaption the action as Azzarmi v. 55 Fulton Market, et al. The remaining defendants identified in this order are 55 Fulton Market and Angel Parma.

Discovery Rulings

The court denied Azzarmi’s motion to compel answers to interrogatories. It concluded that Azzarmi had already exceeded the 25-interrogatory limit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(a)(1). It also found that the interrogatories went beyond the subjects identified in Local Civil Rule 33.3(a) and did not appear to be the most practical way to obtain the information. The ruling was without prejudice to Azzarmi’s right to seek permission to serve targeted interrogatories after the parties’ depositions were completed.

The court denied Azzarmi’s motion to compel responses to requests for admission and granted the defendants’ motion for a protective order concerning those requests. The court explained that requests for admission are intended to narrow or eliminate factual issues, not to serve as a general discovery device, and that they must be simple and direct. This ruling was without prejudice to Azzarmi’s right to serve targeted requests for admission after the depositions, if necessary.

The court denied Azzarmi’s motion to compel responses to requests for production because the requests sought documents connected to improper interrogatories. Separately, however, the court ordered the defendants to produce by August 30, 2022, all nonprivileged documents concerning Azzarmi; specified incidents involving suspected shoplifting at 55 Fulton Market’s grocery store; an incident in which employees allegedly barred Azzarmi from the store or attempted to do so; and store policies, rules, or guidelines concerning suspected shoplifters that were in effect in October 2019 or May 2020. If no responsive nonprivileged documents existed, the defendants had to say so in writing. If documents were withheld as privileged, the defendants had to provide a privilege log.

Other Case-Management Directions

The parties had to serve any required supplemental disclosures by August 16, 2022. Azzarmi had to produce original electronic versions of photographs, recordings, and other images of the grocery store, Angel Parma, or other 55 Fulton Market employees, along with the communications through which Azzarmi received any such materials from another person.

Azzarmi’s deposition and Parma’s deposition were scheduled for the week of September 5, 2022, by videoconference. The deposition of 55 Fulton Market under Rule 30(b)(6), which permits an organization to designate a representative to testify about specified topics, was scheduled for the week of September 12, 2022. Azzarmi had to serve the deposition notice by August 23, 2022. Fact discovery and all discovery were to be completed by October 7, 2022. The order also set a status conference for October 13, 2022, and required a joint status letter by October 10, 2022.

Azzarmi told the court that she did not intend to seek damages based on lost employment opportunities with the current or former defendants. The order did not decide the merits of the underlying claims. Judge Barbara Moses entered and signed the order.