Young v. West Virginia Wesleyan College
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:24-cv-01499
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Young v. West Virginia Wesleyan College, Judge Tarnofsky ordered the parties to meet about settlement and standing and report back.
Lewshawn Young and West Virginia Wesleyan College, who must participate in the required settlement process and jointly report to the court.
What happened
In Young v. West Virginia Wesleyan College, the court ordered the plaintiff and defendant to try to settle the case shortly after the summons and complaint are served.
Within 30 days, the parties must meet for at least one hour and discuss settlement, including whether the plaintiff has shown that he has the required legal standing to bring the case. If they cannot settle, they must discuss whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference would help.
Judge Tarnofsky ordered the parties to submit a joint letter within 45 days stating whether they settled and, if not, asking the court to choose mediation, a settlement conference, or an initial case-management conference.
The detailed version
- Young v. West Virginia Wesleyan College · No. 1:24-cv-01499
- Paul Engelmayer
- Mar. 4, 2024
Order
The court issued a case-management and settlement order requiring Lewshawn Young and West Virginia Wesleyan College to take specified steps after service of the summons and complaint.
Required settlement meeting
Within 30 days after service, the parties must meet and confer for at least one hour in a good-faith effort to settle the action. Their discussions must include whether the plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning whether he has the legal right to bring the case. The order cites decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning standing.
If the parties cannot settle the action themselves, they must also discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the District's court-annexed mediation program or before Magistrate Judge Tarnofsky would be productive at that time.
Joint letter and next steps
Within 45 days after service, the parties must submit a joint letter telling the court whether they have settled. If they have not settled, the letter must ask the court to do one of three things: refer the case to mediation, set a settlement-conference date, or proceed with an initial case-management conference.
The opinion does not decide the standing issue or the merits of the underlying dispute.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.