Lombardo v. Trans Union, LLC

Background

The defendant moved for reconsideration of the court’s July 21, 2023 order, which had granted in part and denied in part the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court later explained the basis for that ruling in a September 27, 2023 bench ruling. The defendant specifically challenged the decision to deny summary judgment on Lisa Lombardo’s claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law concerning the accuracy and handling of consumer credit information.

Reasoning

Local Civil Rule 6.3 requires a motion for reconsideration or reargument to be served within 14 days after the court’s determination of the original motion. The court stated that, if the deadline was measured from the September 27 bench ruling, the motion was due October 11, 2023. Because the defendant filed its motion on October 25, the court denied it as untimely.

The court added that the motion would also be denied if the court considered it on the merits. The court had independently considered and applied Sessa v. Trans Union LLC, a 2023 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, when denying summary judgment on Lombardo’s Fair Credit Reporting Act claim. The defendant argued that it had not been able to brief Sessa before filing its summary-judgment motion, but the court said that fact was irrelevant because the court had considered Sessa itself. The court further stated that disagreement with a ruling is not enough for reconsideration and that the defendant had not shown an intervening change in controlling law, new evidence, a clear error, or a need to prevent serious injustice.

Ruling

Judge Vincent L. Briccetti denied the reconsideration motion. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion. The order did not alter the earlier ruling that had granted in part and denied in part the defendant’s summary-judgment motion.