Wood v. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc.
- Analisa Torres
- 1:22-cv-09493
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wood v. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc., Judge Torres denied a stay and referral-objection extension, granted a reassignment-objection extension, and ordered an amended complaint.
The three pro se plaintiffs—Tzvee Wood, Andrea Malester, and Alexis Gottschalk—must file an amended complaint by July 6, 2023, and objections to reassignment by July 13, 2023. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc. and the other defendants are affected by the continued proceedings and the rulings on referral and service.
What happened
In Wood v. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc., the three pro se plaintiffs asked the court to pause the case because of Tzvee Wood’s unknown health condition and to give them more time to object to the case’s reassignment and to the referral of pretrial matters to a magistrate judge.
Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc. did not oppose a reasonable extension for objections to reassignment or referral, as long as the court set a specific deadline. Mutual opposed a general pause in the proceedings.
Judge Analisa Torres denied the request for a temporary stay, ordered the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint by July 6, 2023, granted more time to object to reassignment until July 13, 2023, and denied more time to object to referring pretrial matters to the magistrate judge.
The detailed version
- Wood v. Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-09493
- Analisa Torres
- May 22, 2023
Background
The court reviewed letters from the pro se plaintiffs dated May 15, 2023, and from Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc. (Mutual) dated May 18, 2023. The case had initially been assigned to Judge Laura Taylor Swain on November 22, 2022, and was reassigned to Judge Analisa Torres on April 24, 2023. The docket also identified several earlier matters as related to this case.
The plaintiffs said they planned to oppose the reassignment to Judge Torres and the identification of this case as related to an earlier matter. They also sought to object to referring pretrial matters to Judge Valerie Figueredo. Because of Tzvee Wood’s “unknown health condition,” they requested a temporary pause in the case through at least July 6, 2023, and more time to file their anticipated objections.
Mutual did not oppose a reasonable extension for objections to reassignment or to the referral, if the court set a specific filing date. Mutual opposed a general stay of the proceedings. Mutual also stated that it intended to serve the plaintiffs with a single copy of correspondence and other papers unless the court directed otherwise. The court encouraged the parties to discuss service and reminded Mutual that it must comply with applicable court rules and law; it did not decide whether Mutual’s proposed service method satisfied due process.
Court’s rulings
1. Temporary stay: The court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary stay. It ordered them to file an amended complaint by July 6, 2023. The court stated that the 10-page complaint filed on November 3, 2022, was not signed by the plaintiffs and was not a complete pleading.
2. Objections to reassignment: The court granted the plaintiffs’ request for more time to file objections to reassignment. It set July 13, 2023, as the deadline.
3. Objections to referral of pretrial matters: The court denied the plaintiffs’ request for more time to object to referring pretrial matters to Judge Figueredo. It explained that there is no authority for a litigant to object to referring a civil action to a magistrate judge for non-dispositive matters, and that a district judge does not need the parties’ consent to make such a referral.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to the pro se plaintiffs.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.