Leroy v. Livingston Manor Central School District

Background

Defendants filed a letter motion concerning issues that arose during LeRoy’s deposition and requested additional time to complete fact discovery. The deposition had ended early because of LeRoy’s military-related commitment. During the deposition, defendants asked about a March 2021 photograph depicting a White student pinning a Black student’s head on a desk. LeRoy’s counsel objected on relevance grounds and instructed him not to answer questions about the photograph.

Defendants also reported that LeRoy had testified that he viewed Facebook posts and comments concerning the April 2021 social-media posts at issue, but had not searched his phone, other electronic devices, or social-media accounts for documents responsive to discovery requests. Defendants asked the court to require those searches and requested an extension of the fact-discovery deadline from August 15, 2022, to October 14, 2022.

Rulings

The court granted defendants’ letter motion, overruled LeRoy’s relevance objection, and stated that defendants could question him about the March 2021 photograph and the circumstances surrounding it during his deposition. The court explained that whether the photograph or related testimony would be appropriate at trial could be addressed later through trial motions or courtroom objections.

The court ordered LeRoy to search his electronic devices and social-media accounts for information responsive to defendants’ requests or interrogatories. Responsive material had to be produced by September 9, 2022. If no responsive material existed, LeRoy’s counsel had to confirm that fact in writing to defendants’ counsel by the same date. The court stated that it would consider sanctions if LeRoy failed to comply and that additional extensions based solely on his active-duty military status would not be granted.

The court extended the deadline to complete fact discovery to October 14, 2022. It adjourned the scheduled September 8 status conference with Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause to October 13, 2022, and directed the parties to ask Judge Nelson Roman to reschedule a later conference until after discovery ended. The clerk was directed to terminate the motions at ECF Nos. 28 and 29.

Disposition and Classification

This was a discovery and scheduling order, not a decision on the underlying claims. The opinion text clearly states that the defendants’ letter motion was granted and that LeRoy’s relevance objection was overruled. The reproduced text concerning LeRoy’s “counter motion” is incomplete and does not clearly show the exact disposition verb for that motion.