Castro v. Do it Best Commerce Company, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:23-cv-07923
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Castro v. Do it Best Commerce Company, Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint report without deciding the case’s merits.
Felix Castro and the other plaintiffs, and Do it Best Commerce Company, LLC, are required to participate in the ordered settlement discussions and submit the joint letter.
What happened
Castro v. Do it Best Commerce Company, LLC involves Felix Castro and other plaintiffs against Do it Best Commerce Company, LLC. The order required the parties to try to settle the case shortly after the summons and complaint were served.
The parties must meet for at least one hour within 30 days and discuss whether the plaintiff has met the basic requirement of having standing to sue. If they cannot settle, they must also discuss whether mediation or a settlement conference with a magistrate judge would help.
Within 45 days of service, the parties must send a joint letter stating whether they settled. If not, they must ask for mediation or a settlement conference, or request an initial status conference, as ordered by Judge Jennifer L. Rochon. The order did not decide the merits of the dispute.
The detailed version
- Castro v. Do it Best Commerce Company, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-07923
- Rochon
- Sept. 12, 2023
Order
The court ordered the parties to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. They must make a good-faith effort to settle the action. During those discussions, they should consider whether the plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the legal requirement that a plaintiff be entitled to bring the case. The order cited two Second Circuit decisions concerning standing.
If the parties cannot settle on their own, they must also discuss whether additional settlement efforts through the district’s court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Reporting Requirement
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter telling the court whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must request either a referral to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, while stating a preference between those options, or an initial status conference.
Disposition
This order addressed settlement procedures and possible standing concerns but did not decide the merits of the claims. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon entered the order on September 12, 2023.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.