Labombard v. Harrell

Background

Two individually named defendants had not been served: Brian Harrell and the unidentified warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The City of New York said it had not waived service for the warden because the complaint described abuse lasting nearly a year, during which a new warden was hired, making it unclear which person the plaintiff intended to identify. It also said Harrell was no longer employed by the agency.

At an initial pretrial conference on January 18, 2023, the plaintiff identified the unnamed warden as Warden Dumbar, although he was unsure of the exact spelling. The opinion describes the plaintiff as representing himself. Under Valentin v. Dinkins, a self-represented litigant is entitled to the district court’s assistance in identifying a defendant.

Orders

The court ordered the New York City Law Department, which represented and acted as agent for the New York City Department of Correction, to determine the identity of the unnamed warden and the address where that person could be served. The court also directed the Law Department to provide a residential address where Harrell could be served. The Law Department had to provide the information to the plaintiff and the court by February 20, 2023. The plaintiff had to serve the additional defendants by April 24, 2023.

The court stayed proceedings, including the time for the plaintiff to respond to the pending motion to dismiss, and stayed discovery until June 8, 2023. It scheduled a conference for that date and took the plaintiff’s request for appointment of counsel under advisement.

Disposition and significance

This was an administrative and procedural order addressing service of defendants, the schedule, and discovery. The court did not rule on the pending motion to dismiss, decide the request for appointed counsel, or resolve the underlying claims. The order was signed by Judge Lewis J. Liman.