Antolini v. 110 Thompson St Owners Corp
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:19-cv-10567
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
Antolini v. 110 Thompson St Owners Corp.; Judge Gardephe granted tenant defendants’ dismissal motion and denied it as to landlord defendants.
The ruling removed Sebastian Pourrat and Soseb LLC as defendants by granting their dismissal motion as to Antolini’s claims against them. The claims against Lynne Kanter and 110 Thompson St. Owners Corp. were not dismissed by this order. Soseb LLC remained a third-party plaintiff and counter-defendant.
What happened
In Antolini v. 110 Thompson St Owners Corp., Dino Antolini, a wheelchair user, claimed that defendants failed to remove or address physical barriers at a restaurant called Cocotte. He brought disability-rights, state and city human-rights, and negligence claims.
Cocotte permanently closed, and the tenant defendants argued that Antolini’s claims against them no longer presented a live dispute. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the Americans with Disabilities Act claims against the tenants as moot, declining jurisdiction over the state-law claims against them, and denying dismissal of the claims against the landlord defendants. No party objected.
Judge Gardephe found no clear error, adopted the recommendation in full, and granted the tenant defendants’ motion to dismiss as to Antolini’s claims against them. He denied the motion as to the claims against the landlord defendants and terminated the tenant defendants from the case as defendants.
The detailed version
- Antolini v. 110 Thompson St Owners Corp · No. 1:19-cv-10567
- Paul Gardephe
- July 25, 2023
Background
Dino Antolini, a wheelchair user, sued Lynne Kanter and 110 Thompson St. Owners Corp. (the landlord defendants), and Sebastian Pourrat and Soseb LLC (the tenant defendants). Antolini asserted claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law, along with negligence claims. He alleged that the defendants failed to remove or remediate physical barriers that prevented access to Cocotte, a restaurant operated by the tenant defendants in a building owned by the landlord defendants.
The complaint was filed on November 14, 2019. In 2020, the tenant defendants sought dismissal, arguing that the claims against them had become moot because Cocotte had permanently closed, would not reopen, and the tenant defendants had vacated the premises. The parties agreed that the dismissal request could be decided based on their pre-motion letters, without additional briefing. The court referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Lehrburger for a report and recommendation.
Report and Recommendation
Judge Lehrburger recommended that the Americans with Disabilities Act claims against the tenant defendants be dismissed as moot. The recommendation also advised that the court decline to exercise jurisdiction over the state-law claims against the tenant defendants. As to any request to dismiss Antolini’s claims against the landlord defendants, who had not moved for dismissal, Judge Lehrburger recommended denying the motion.
The parties were warned that objections had to be filed within 14 days and that failing to object would waive judicial review. No party filed an objection. Because there were no objections, Judge Gardephe reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the record rather than conducting a fresh review of the disputed issues.
Ruling
Judge Gardephe found the recommendation thorough, well-reasoned, and free of clear error. He adopted it in its entirety. The court granted the tenant defendants’ motion to dismiss as to Antolini’s claims against the tenant defendants and denied the motion as to Antolini’s claims against the landlord defendants.
The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate Sebastian Pourrat and Soseb LLC as defendants and to terminate the dismissal motion. Soseb LLC’s separate status as a third-party plaintiff and counter-defendant was left unchanged.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.