Laborers' Pension Fund et al v. Rojas Concrete, Inc. et al

Filing 38

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 12/1/2009:Mailed notice(srn, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION LABORERS' UNION FUND, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ROJAS CONCRETE, INC., et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No.

09 C 2950

MEMORANDUM ORDER Rojas Concrete, Inc. and Oscar Rojas (collectively "Rojas") have filed their Answer to the ERISA Complaint brought against them by several employee benefit plans ("Funds"). This

memorandum order is issued sua sponte because of one problematic aspect of that responsive pleading. Despite the clarity of the formula prescribed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(5) as the basis for obtaining a deemed denial of a complaint's allegations, Rojas' counsel have inappropriately sought to employ a less demanding standard in Answer ¶¶3, 4, 10, 14 and 19--see App'x ¶1 to State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Riley, 199 F.R.D. 276, 278 (N.D. Ill. 2001). Accordingly those

flawed disclaimers are stricken, but with leave granted to file an appropriate amendment to the Answer (not a self-contained rewritten Answer) on or before December 14, 2009. No charge is to be made to Rojas by their counsel for the added work and expense incurred in correcting counsel's errors. Rojas' counsel are ordered to apprise their clients to that

effect by letter, with a copy to be transmitted to this Court's chambers as an informational matter (not for filing).

________________________________________ Milton I. Shadur Senior United States District Judge Date: December 1, 2009