Polletta v. Dart et al

Filing 70

MEMORANDUM Order: For the reasons stated in this memorandum order, plaintiff's motion to compel 41 is granted, with Sheriff Dart being ordered to comply with that motion at the earliest feasible date. Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 7/25/2017:Mailed notice(clw, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

NICHOLAS POLLETTA,
Plaintiff,
v.
THOMAS DART, Sheriff of Cook County,
et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 16 C 9492

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Plaintiff Nicholas Polletta ("Polletta") has filed "Plaintiff's Motion To Compel
Identifying Information of Putative Class Members" (Dkt. No. 41). That motion seeks to
implement Polletta's Supplement to Complaint ¶¶ 13-15 (Dkt. No. 20), which identifies the
projected putative class as persons "who use a crutch, walker or cane to navigate the ramps in the
basement of the Leighton courthouse" -- a proposal that would appear to be a logical counterpart
to the order entered by this Court's colleague Honorable Robert Gettleman that calls for "a
written policy to provide assistance to wheelchair users when traveling up and down the same
ramps at issue in the supplement" (id.).
As defense counsel has put the matter during a conference with Polletta's counsel on
May 24, 2017, Sheriff Thomas Dart "will not agree to voluntarily produce this material until
after the case is certified by the Court under Rule 23" (Dkt. No. 41 ¶ 10). That position is
untenable, for it creates a Catch 22 situation: What Polletta is requesting, after all, is an
important component of the judicial determination as to whether a class should or should not be

certified. Accordingly Polletta's Dkt. No. 41 motion is granted, with Sheriff Dart being ordered
to comply with that motion at the earliest feasible date.

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Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge
Date: July 25, 2017

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