Wang v. JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-04401
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wang v. JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc., Judge Caproni denied plaintiffs’ default-judgment motion without prejudice because notice to three defendants was uncertain.
The ruling directly affected plaintiffs Chunming Wang, Xian Qing Ye, and Ruiyan Liu; defaulting defendants Yong Chen Teng, John Chen, and John Shi; their attorney Jason Houda; and the court clerk.
What happened
In Wang v. JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc., three plaintiffs asked the court to enter judgment because Yong Chen Teng, John Chen, and John Shi had not defended the case. Jason Houda represented the plaintiffs at the hearing.
The plaintiffs said they served the three defendants by giving the lawsuit papers to a cashier at JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc. and mailing copies to that company. But JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc. said it did not know who those defendants were or how they were connected to the restaurant, causing the court to doubt that they received notice.
Judge Valerie Caproni denied the motion for default judgment without prejudice to refiling with proof that the three defendants received actual notice of the lawsuit and the motion. She also ordered Mr. Houda to properly refile his notice of appearance by 5:00 p.m. that day and directed the Clerk to vacate the certificate of default.
The detailed version
- Wang v. JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc · No. 1:22-cv-04401
- Valerie Caproni
- May 4, 2023
Background
Plaintiffs Chunming Wang, Xian Qing Ye, and Ruiyan Liu moved for default judgment against Yong Chen Teng, John Chen, and John Shi. Default judgment is a judgment requested when a defendant has failed to defend the case. The plaintiffs appeared at the hearing through Jason Houda.
The opinion states that the Wong Law Firm had filed a notice of appearance on Mr. Houda’s behalf, but the filing came from Vincent Wong’s PACER account and was not registered in the court’s electronic filing system.
Service and Notice
The plaintiffs served the summons, amended complaint, and civil cover sheet on the three defaulting defendants by delivering copies to a cashier at JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc. They also mailed copies to JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc. The non-defaulting defendants, including JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc., stated that they did not know who the defaulting defendants were or how they were associated with the restaurant.
Ruling
The court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment without prejudice to refiling with proof that Yong Chen Teng, John Chen, and John Shi received actual notice of the lawsuit and the motion for default judgment. Judge Valerie Caproni found reason to doubt that JFD Sushi Restaurant Inc. forwarded the service papers to those defendants because the company said it did not know their identities or how to reach them.
The court further ordered Mr. Houda to refile the notice of appearance from his own PACER account by 5:00 p.m. on May 4, 2023. It also directed the Clerk of Court to vacate the Clerk’s Certificate of Default at docket entry 37.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.