Barnhart v. Town of Parma

252 F.R.D. 156, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73757, 2008 WL 4207761
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 15, 2008
DocketNo. 07-CV-6056T
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 252 F.R.D. 156 (Barnhart v. Town of Parma) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnhart v. Town of Parma, 252 F.R.D. 156, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73757, 2008 WL 4207761 (W.D.N.Y. 2008).

Opinion

DECISION & ORDER

MARIAN W. PAYSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By order dated July 3, 2007, this matter has been referred to the undersigned for the supervision of pretrial discovery and the hearing and disposition of all non-dispositive motions, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 636(b)(A) and (B). (Docket #8). Currently pending before this Court is plaintiffs motion to amend his Complaint and to add another plaintiff. (Docket # 15). Defendants oppose the motion to add a party plaintiff and oppose certain (but not all) of the proposed amendments. (Docket # 19).

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 27, 2006, plaintiff Bruce Barnhart (“Barnhart”) filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) against his employer, the Town of Parma, New York (the “Town”). (Docket # 15). That charge alleged that his supervisor, A1 Leone (“Leone”), subjected him to age discrimination and gender-based harassment. (Docket # 15). On October 4, 2006, Barnhart filed an amended charge with the EEOC alleging that the Town had retaliated against him for having engaged in protected activity. (Docket # 15). After the EEOC issued right to sue letters relating to both charges (Docket # 15), Barnhart commenced this action on January 26, 2007. (Docket # 1). Barnhart thereafter filed a second amended charge with the EEOC alleging further retaliation by the Town. (Docket # 15).

On June 6, 2007, Paul Eiehas (“Eichas”) filed a charge with the EEOC alleging that the Town had discriminated against him on the basis of age and had retaliated against him. (Docket # 15). On July 11, 2007, Eichas filed a second EEOC charge alleging further retaliation by the Town. (Docket # 15). Eichas received a right to sue letter from the EEOC on August 2, 2007. (Docket # 15). Barnhart now moves to add Eiehas as a party plaintiff in this action.

Barnhart’s originally-filed Complaint asserts three causes of action against the Town and an unidentified “Town Board Supervisor”: a claim of discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) (first cause of action); a claim of retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) (second cause of action); and, a claim of retaliation under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) (third cause of action). (Docket # 1). His current motion seeks the following relief: (1) withdrawal of his ADEA claim; (2) addition of causes of action for gender-based discrimination, namely, same-sex harassment under Title VII and the NYSHRL; (3) addition of a cause of action for same-sex harassment under the Equal Protection Clause, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and, (4) addition of Eichas as a party plaintiff in all causes of action except that alleging same-sex harassment under Title VII.1 Barnhart further seeks to amend his complaint to include additional factual allegations. (Docket # 15).

[158]*158The Town does not oppose the first and second amendments — amendments that indeed are proper under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It does oppose the third and fourth proposed changes, which are addressed below.

DISCUSSION

Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that once the time for amending a pleading as of right has expired, a party may request leave of the court to amend, which shall be “freely give[n] ... when justice so requires.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). If the underlying facts or circumstances relied upon by the party seeking leave to amend may be a proper subject of relief, the party should be afforded the opportunity to test the claim on its merits. See United States ex rel. Maritime Admin. v. Continental Illinois Nat’l Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, 889 F.2d 1248, 1254 (2d Cir.1989). “In the absence of any apparent or declared reason — such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc. — the leave sought should, as the rules require, be ‘freely given.’ ” Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962).

While the court retains discretion to grant or deny leave to amend under Rule 15(a), “[the] outright refusal to grant the leave without any justifying reason appearing for the denial is not an exercise of discretion; it is merely abuse of that discretion and inconsistent with the spirit of the Federal Rules.” Id. at 182, 83 S.Ct. 227; Ruffolo v. Oppenheimer & Co., 987 F.2d 129, 131 (2d Cir.1993); Evans v. Syracuse City Sch. Dist. 704 F.2d 44, 46 (2d Cir.1983).

Despite the ordinarily lenient standard imposed, if the amendment proposed by the moving party is futile, “it is not an abuse of discretion to deny leave to amend.” Ruffolo v. Oppenheimer & Co., 987 F.2d at 131. The determination whether a proposed amendment is futile is made under the same standard as that used to determine whether a claim would be subject to a motion to dismiss. See Hampton Bays Connections, Inc. v. Duffy, 212 F.R.D. 119, 123 (E.D.N.Y.2003) (citing A.V. by Versace, Inc. v. Gianni Versace S.p.A., 160 F.Supp.2d 657, 666 (S.D.N.Y.2001)). The proposed amended claim must contain “more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1964-65, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Rather, it “must allege facts that are not merely consistent with the conclusion that the defendant violated the law, but which actively and plausibly suggest that conclusion.” Port Dock & Stone Corp. v. Oldcastle Northeast, Inc., 507 F.3d 117, 121 (2d Cir.2007) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 127 S.Ct. at 1966); Sengillo v. Valeo Elec. Sys., Inc., 536 F.Supp.2d 310, 312 (W.D.N.Y.2008) (applying Bell Atlantic Corp. standard).

Of particular importance in considering a party’s motion to amend is whether the non-moving party will be prejudiced by such an amendment. According to the Second Circuit, when evaluating prejudice, a court must consider “whether the assertion of the new claim would: (i) require the opponent to expend significant additional resources to conduct discovery and prepare for trial; (ii) significantly delay the resolution of the dispute; or (iii) prevent the plaintiff from bringing a timely action in another jurisdiction.” Block v. First Blood Assocs., 988 F.2d 344, 350 (2d Cir.1993) (citations omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
252 F.R.D. 156, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73757, 2008 WL 4207761, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnhart-v-town-of-parma-nywd-2008.