Perlman v. General Electric
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:22-cv-09823
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Perlman v. General Electric, Judge Engelmayer ordered Perlman to update the court about her appeal before deciding whether to stay proceedings.
Carol Perlman, the defendants, and the district-court proceedings affected by Perlman’s pending appeal.
What happened
In Perlman v. General Electric, the court had dismissed Carol Perlman’s case while allowing her to seek permission to file an amended complaint. Perlman later appealed that dismissal, filed an amended complaint, and the defendants moved to dismiss it.
The court explained that filing an appeal may transfer authority over the appealed issues from the district court to the appeals court. The court therefore needed more information about the appeal before proceeding with the case.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ordered Perlman to file a letter by September 19, 2023, updating the court on the appeal’s status. He stated that the court would stay the proceedings if the appeal was still pending.
The detailed version
- Perlman v. General Electric · No. 1:22-cv-09823
- Paul Engelmayer
- Sept. 14, 2023
Background
The court had dismissed Carol Perlman’s case on June 30, 2023, but allowed her to seek permission to file an amended complaint by July 14. The court later extended that deadline to August 14.
On July 28, Perlman filed a notice of appeal from the order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss. While that appeal was pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Perlman filed an amended complaint on August 14. The defendants then moved to dismiss the amended complaint.
Jurisdictional issue
The defendants’ motion did not address the possible effect of Perlman’s pending appeal. The district court nevertheless considered the issue because it has an independent obligation to determine whether it has subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning authority to hear and act on the matter. The court explained that filing a notice of appeal gives the appeals court authority over the appealed issues and removes the district court’s control over those issues.
Order
The court directed Perlman to file a letter by September 19, 2023, reporting the status of her appeal. The court stated that, if the appeal remained pending, it would stay the proceedings in the district court until the appeal was resolved. The order did not decide the defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.