Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:20-cv-01786
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee, Judge Caproni adopted the recommendation and granted Defendants’ motion on the state-law claims without leave to amend.
Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid’s state-law battery and medical-malpractice claims were dismissed without leave to amend. The defendants prevailed on their motion concerning those claims, while Gomez-Kadawid’s federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 remained at issue. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying court fees.
What happened
Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid sued Dr. Jessica Lee, Dr. Lena Alsabban, and Dr. Sarah Leavitt over an allegedly nonconsensual dental procedure while he was a pretrial detainee. He asserted constitutional, battery, and medical-malpractice claims.
The court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation and granted Defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on the battery and medical-malpractice claims without leave to amend. Those claims were dismissed because they were time barred and because Gomez-Kadawid did not timely serve notice on NYC Health + Hospitals. His federal constitutional claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 remained pending.
Judge Valerie Caproni found no clear error after neither side objected to the recommendation. She also ruled that appellate review was precluded, denied permission to appeal without paying court fees, and directed the clerk to close the motion.
The detailed version
- Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee · No. 1:20-cv-01786
- Valerie Caproni
- July 21, 2023
Background
Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid filed claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal civil-rights statute, along with state-law claims for battery and medical malpractice. He alleged that the defendant doctors performed a surgical dental procedure on him without his consent while he was a pretrial detainee at Bellevue Hospital Center. The opinion states that he proceeded without a lawyer when he filed the complaint.
The defendants initially moved to dismiss the complaint. The court denied that motion without prejudice and allowed Gomez-Kadawid to amend, including to address whether he had timely served notice of his state-law claims on NYC Health + Hospitals and whether the statutes of limitations should be extended or the defendants prevented from relying on them. Gomez-Kadawid filed an amended complaint. The defendants later moved for judgment on the pleadings on the battery and medical-malpractice claims, arguing that those claims were time barred.
Recommendation and ruling
Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo recommended granting the motion and dismissing the state-law claims without leave to amend because the claims were time barred and Gomez-Kadawid had failed to timely serve notice of them on NYC Health + Hospitals. The parties were given fourteen days to object, but neither party filed objections.
Judge Valerie Caproni reviewed the recommendation under the clear-error standard used when no objections are filed. She found no clear error, adopted the recommendation in full, and granted the defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on the state-law claims without leave to amend. The opinion expressly states that Gomez-Kadawid’s federal § 1983 claim remained at issue.
Appeal and other directives
Because the parties had been warned about the consequences of failing to object, the court ruled that appellate review of this decision was precluded. The court certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying court fees for an appeal. It directed the clerk to close the open motion and mail a copy of the order to Gomez-Kadawid.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.