Austrheim v. Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital et al

Filing 17

MEMORANDUM Order Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 2/22/2010:Mailed notice(srn, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION LYNN T. AUSTRHEIM, Plaintiff, v. ALEXIAN BROTHERS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL, et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No.

10 C 428

MEMORANDUM ORDER Defendants Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital and Mark Frey have filed their Answer and Affirmative Defenses ("ADs") to the employment discrimination Complaint brought against them by Lynn Austrheim ("Austrheim"). This memorandum

order is issued sua sponte to address two problematic aspects of that responsive pleading. To begin with, each of Answer ¶¶8, 13.2, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6 and 13.7 invariably follow a properly articulated invocation of the disclaimer permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(5) by a denial of the allegations that are the subject of those disclaimers. That is of course oxymoronic--how can a party that asserts (presumably in good faith) that it lacks even enough information to form a belief as to the truth of an allegation then proceed to deny it in accordance with Rule 11(b)? purported denials are stricken. As for the ADs, AD 2 seems on its face to add nothing to AD 1. If defense counsel views matters differently, AD 2 must be Accordingly all of those

fleshed out to identify any claimed defects in the assertion of Austrheim's claims. Absent such a filing on or before March 5,

2010, AD 2 will be stricken as well.

________________________________________ Milton I. Shadur Senior United States District Judge Date: February 22, 2010