Datto v. Florida International University Board of Trustees et al

Filing 15

ORDER denying as moot 12 Motion to Expedite. Signed by Judge Beth Bloom on 4/9/2020. See attached document for full details. (jbs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Case No. 1:20-cv-20360-BLOOM/Louis
JEFFREY PETER DATTO, PH.D.,
Plaintiff,
v.
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES, et al.,
Defendants.
________________________________/
ORDER
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon pro se Plaintiff’s Expedited Motion for Alternative
Service of Process through Process Server by Electronic Mail, or in the Alternative, for a 90-Day
Extension of Time to Effect Personal Service, ECF No. [12] (“Motion”). The Court has reviewed
the Motion, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the
following reasons, the Motion is denied as moot.
Plaintiff filed this action on January 28, 2020, see ECF No. [1], which generated a service
deadline of April 27, 2020. The Motion represents that Plaintiff reached out to counsel for
Defendant, FIU Board of Trustees (“Defendant”), on February 11, 2020 and was told that service
is not accepted by mail and that Plaintiff was to “have the Complaint properly served to [counsel’s]
office on behalf of the Board of Trustees.” ECF No. [12] at 2. Plaintiff then unsuccessfully
requested Defendant to agree to waive service, so he retained the services of a process server. See
id. On March 31, 2020, Defendant’s counsel’s office instructed Plaintiff by email to have the
process server email them a copy of his badge and the complaint, and they relayed that they would

Case No. 1:20-cv-20360-BLOOM/Louis
let Plaintiff know if they will accept service. See ECF No. [13]. The process server provided the
requested information to Defendant’s counsel’s office on April 1, 2020. See id.
On April 2, 2020, Defendant’s counsel’s office by email informed the process server that
“[a]t this time due to exigent circumstances caused by the COVID-19/Coronavirus situation, our
office will accept service for this Complaint via email. . . . please note that this acceptance does
not waive FIU’s right to require service by legally available means in the future once we have
returned to normal operations.” See id. The returned proof of summons, moreover, reflects that
Defendant was served on April 1, 2020, and it attaches the correspondence between the process
server and Defendant’s counsel’s office. See id. The record, accordingly, demonstrates that
Defendant has accepted service of process, and Defendant’s response deadline to the Complaint is
April 22, 2020. See ECF No. [14]. The relief that Plaintiff seeks in the Motion is, consequently,
unnecessary and the matter is moot.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Motion, ECF No. [12], is
DENIED AS MOOT.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, on April 9, 2020.

_________________________________
BETH BLOOM
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Copies to:
Counsel of Record
Jeffrey Peter Datto, Ph.D.
3352 W. 98th Place
Hialeah, FL 33018
215-915-4416

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Case No. 1:20-cv-20360-BLOOM/Louis
Email: [e-mail]

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