The Estate of Juan Ortiz v. Archcare at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care…

Background

The excerpt consists of a letter from Archcare’s counsel and a court directive concerning a request to pause proceedings. The case was brought by the Estate of Juan Ortiz, acting through a proposed administrator, against Archcare at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center and other defendants.

Defendant’s request

Archcare asked the court to stay the case and postpone anticipated motions, as well as any consideration of sending the case back to state court, until the Second Circuit decided related appeals. According to Archcare, those appeals involved federal jurisdictional questions concerning claims related to COVID-19 countermeasures and could affect whether this federal court had authority to hear the case.

Archcare said it expected to move to dismiss before answering the complaint. It asserted that the proposed administrator lacked the legal capacity to prosecute claims for the decedent’s estate because an administrator had not properly been appointed. Archcare also asserted that the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act provided immunity for the claims and that New York’s Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act independently barred the claims. The excerpt does not provide the plaintiff’s substantive response to those arguments.

Court’s action

Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the plaintiff to file a response of no more than three pages by January 4, 2023. He also stated that the parties should be prepared to discuss the matter at a conference scheduled for January 11, 2023. The excerpt does not state that the court granted or denied the requested stay, ruled on remand, or decided Archcare’s anticipated dismissal arguments.

Classification

This is a procedural order because it addresses case management and a requested pause in proceedings without deciding the parties’ underlying legal claims.