Lewis v. Newburgh Housing Authority

Background

The court reviewed a report and recommendation by Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause. The recommendation advised granting Newburgh Housing Authority and Marc Starling’s motion for sanctions and dismissing Regina Lewis’s case with prejudice. Lewis represented herself and filed objections.

The dispute concerned Lewis’s refusal to attend a deposition that Judge Krause had ordered on July 12, 2023. Lewis argued that the defendants had waived their opportunity to depose her twelve years earlier. The defendants responded that they had never had an earlier opportunity to depose her.

Court’s Analysis

The court reviewed Lewis’s specific objection from the beginning because objections to a magistrate judge’s recommendation receive a fresh review. It found that Lewis did not identify any earlier opportunity for the defendants to depose her, and it agreed that the defendants had not waived the deposition.

The court also held that, even if Lewis believed the deposition order was wrong, she was required to appeal it and obtain a stay—a court order temporarily pausing its effect—before refusing to comply. Lewis did not appeal the order or request a stay. The court stated that self-represented litigants must comply with court orders just as represented parties must.

The court reviewed the rest of the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake apparent from the record, and found none.

Disposition

Judge Cathy Seibel rejected Lewis’s objection and adopted Magistrate Judge Krause’s report and recommendation as the decision of the court. The court granted the defendants’ motion for sanctions and dismissed the case with prejudice. It imposed no award of expenses under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(d), directed the Clerk to terminate the pending motion, and closed the case.