Watson v. Manhattan Luxury Automobiles, Inc. d/b/a Lexus Of Manhattan

Background

An August 7, 2023, order approved the plaintiffs’ proposed methodology for identifying class members who would receive notice. The defendant then moved for reconsideration of that order and asked the court to stay, or temporarily pause, the August 31, 2023, deadline for issuing notice while the reconsideration motion was pending.

Court’s reasoning

The court explained that reconsideration is available only when a party identifies a controlling change in law, new evidence, or a clear error or manifest injustice. It is not a way to relitigate issues already decided or present arguments that could have been made earlier.

The court found that the defendant had not been denied an opportunity to respond to the approved methodology. A prior order had allowed the defendant to submit a two-page response to the plaintiffs’ proposal, and the defendant had done so. The court also found that the reconsideration motion raised the same objections made in that response: that the plaintiffs’ request fundamentally altered the certified classes and departed from the methodology previously submitted by the defendant’s expert. The court stated that those objections had already been considered.

Disposition

The court denied the defendant’s motion for reconsideration of the August 7, 2023, order. It separately denied the defendant’s request for a stay of the August 31, 2023, class-notice deadline. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the motion at Docket 234.