Cuffee Jr. v. Gonzalez

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

HIAWATHA CUFFEE, JR., Plaintiff, ORDER -against- 15 Civ. 8916 (PGG) THE CITY OF NEW YORK; OFFICER GONZALEZ #17148; and OFFICER SQUILLARO #18036, Defendants.

PAUL G. GARDEPHE, U.S.D.J.: By letter dated November 22, 2019 (Dkt. No. 96), Defendants appeal Magistrate Judge Freeman’s November 7, 2019 order (Dkt. No. 93) directing Defendants to respond to Plaintiff's discovery requests no later than December 9, 2019. Defendants contend that Judge Freeman’s order should be vacated, because this Court has restricted discovery to the discrete issue of whether Plaintiff may pursue this lawsuit despite signing a release. (Dkt. No. 96 at 2-4) Although Defendants argued in an April 11, 2019 letter (Dkt. No. 66) and at an April 18, 2019 conference (Dkt. No. 86 at 5-6) that discovery should be limited to the release issue, this Court never issued such a limitation. Defendants’ appeal is therefore denied. Misas v. N.-Shore Long Island Jewish Health Sys., No. 14-CV-8787 (ALC) (DJF), 2016 WL 4082718, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. July 25, 2016) (“A magistrate judge possesses wide discretion in handling discovery disputes.”’).

The Clerk of Court is directed to mail a copy of this order to pro se Plaintiff by certified mail. Dated: New York, New York December 3, 2019 SO ORDERED. / f fesdAApdybh Paul G. Gardephe United States District Judge