Pasha v. New York State Department of Health
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:22-cv-03355
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Pasha v. New York State Department of Health, Judge Ramos denied Pasha’s requests for expedited discovery and an electronic filing fee waiver.
Pasha and the defendants in the case, New York State Department of Health and The Excusearch Group.
What happened
In Pasha v. New York State Department of Health, Pasha asked the court to allow discovery to begin early and to waive fees for accessing court documents electronically. The defendants opposed expedited discovery.
The court applied a standard requiring reasonableness and good cause for discovery before the usual scheduling process. It found that Pasha had not shown either and denied the request for expedited discovery.
Judge Ramos also denied Pasha’s request for an electronic filing fee waiver. The court directed Pasha to contact the Pro Se Intake Unit about receiving electronic filing notifications and explained that doing so would allow one free electronic copy of filed documents.
The detailed version
- Pasha v. New York State Department of Health · No. 1:22-cv-03355
- Edgardo Ramos
- Mar. 14, 2024
Requests before the court
The court considered Pasha’s March 8, 2024 letter requesting expedited discovery and a waiver of fees for accessing documents through the court’s electronic filing system. The defendants had argued that expedited discovery was not warranted.
Expedited discovery
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) generally requires parties to meet and confer before beginning discovery. The court explained that it may sometimes allow discovery earlier, applying a flexible standard that requires reasonableness and good cause. The court found that Pasha had not demonstrated either reasonableness or good cause to expedite discovery. It therefore denied Pasha’s request for expedited discovery.
Electronic filing fee waiver
Pasha also requested a fee waiver to access documents through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system. The court denied the request for an electronic filing fee waiver. It directed Pasha to contact the Pro Se Intake Unit to consent to receiving electronic filing email notifications and explained that, after doing so, Pasha could receive one free electronic copy of each filed document when downloading it during the first viewing.
Disposition
The court denied both requests: expedited discovery and an electronic filing fee waiver.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.