Fierro v. The City of New York, Department of Education et al

Filing 45

ORDER: granting 44 Letter Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery; granting 44 Letter Motion for Discovery. The parties request for an extension of fact discovery is granted. The deadline for the completion of fact discovery is exten ded to October 7, 2022. The deadline for completion of depositions is extended to September 23, 2022. The deadline for the service of requests to admit is extended to September 9, 2022. The deadline for the completion of expert discovery is extended to November 21, 2022. The deadline for party proponent disclosures is extended to October 7, 2022. The deadline for party opponent disclosures is due no later than October 21, 2022. The deadline for motions for summary judgment motions is extended to January 6, 2023. The joint status letter described in the Court's April 27, 2022 order is due no later than January 13, 2023. The status conference currently scheduled for November 9, 2022 is adjourned to January 16, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the motion at Dkt. No. 44. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Gregory H. Woods on 7/29/2022) (ama)

MEMORANDUM ENDORSED

USDC SDNY
DOCUMENT
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
DOC #:
DATE FILED: 7/29/2022
T HE CITY OF NEW YORK

LAW DEPARTMENT

HON. SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX
Corporation Counsel

100 CHURCH STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10007

BILAL HAIDER
Assistant Corporation Counsel
Labor and Employment Law Division
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

July 27, 2022
BY ECF
Honorable Gregory H. Woods
United States District Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007
Re:

Fierro v. The City of New York, Department of Education
20 Civ. 9966 (GHW)

Your Honor:
I am an attorney in the Office of the Hon. Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, Corporation
Counsel of the City of New York, assigned to represent defendant in the above-referenced
matter. Defendant writes on behalf of the parties to respectfully request (1) an extension of time
from August 25, 2022, to October 7, 2022, to complete fact discovery and (2) the Court’s
endorsement of the Proposed Stipulation of Confidentiality and Protective Order annexed hereto.
On April 27, 2022, Your Honor issued an Order requiring the parties to complete
fact discovery by August 25, 2022. (See Civil Case Management Plan And Scheduling Order
dated April 27, 2022, ECF No. 40.) Since Your Honor’s Order, the parties have been actively
engaged in discovery. Thus far, the parties have responded to interrogatories and document
requests in writing and have produced approximately 400 pages of documents and multiple audio
recordings.
Defendant also produced a spreadsheet showing the six hundred and forty-two
(642) Principal and Assistant Principal positions that plaintiff applied for between 2018 and
2019. According to the spreadsheet, plaintiff was interviewed for eighty-one (81) of those
positions. As plaintiff’s counsel stated during the April 27th initial conference, plaintiff is
seeking documents related “hundreds of applications” for Principal and Assistant Principal
positions that plaintiff applied for between 2018 and 2019. Defendant has agreed to produce
non-privileged, responsive documents related to the application process for the Principal and
Assistant Principal positions that Plaintiff applied for in 2018-2019 and was subsequently
interviewed for, if they can be located in a reasonable search.

In light of the numerous positions for which plaintiff was interviewed, additional
time is needed for the undersigned to obtain, redact, and produce these documents to plaintiff.
These documents are not kept in a centralized computer system within the DOE. In order to
collect these documents, DOE has contacted the current principal offices and superintendent
officers that were responsible for the interviewing and hiring of the eighty-one (81) positions that
plaintiff was interviewed for. Most of these documents are stored in hard copy form. Also,
many of the individuals with access to these physical files are currently on vacation as most
schools are not fully staffed during the summer months. Additional time is also needed for the
parties to review this outstanding discovery prior to depositions so that individuals will not have
to appear for a second deposition once more documents are obtained.
To date, the undersigned has received responsive documents related to the
application process for fourteen (14) positions. Defendant has agreed to produce these
documents on a rolling basis and intends to make a production prior to the mediation session
currently scheduled for August 18, 2022.
Accordingly, the parties seek an extension of time from August 25, 2022, to
October 7, 2022 to complete fact discovery. This is the parties’ first request for an extension of
time to complete fact discovery.
Additionally, the parties respectfully request that the Court so-order the annexed
Stipulated Confidentiality Agreement and Protective Order. Pursuant to Rule 4(D) of this
Court’s Individual Rules, the parties have annexed an additional copy of the proposed Protective
Order with a blackline showing all deviations from the Court’s Model Protective Order.
Accordingly, the parties jointly request that the Court so-order the annexed Stipulated
Confidentiality Agreement and Protective Order.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Bilal Haider
cc:

Matthew Ian Marks, Esq. (via ECF)
Counsel for Plaintiff

Bilal Haider
Assistant Corporation Counsel

The parties request for an extension of fact discovery is granted. The deadline for the completion of fact
discovery is extended to October 7, 2022. The deadline for completion of depositions is extended to
September 23, 2022. The deadline for the service of requests to admit is extended to September 9, 2022.
The deadline for the completion of expert discovery is extended to November 21, 2022. The deadline for
party proponent disclosures is extended to October 7, 2022. The deadline for party opponent disclosures
is due no later than October 21, 2022. The deadline for motions for summary judgment motions is
extended to January 6, 2023. The joint status letter described in the Court's April 27, 2022 order is due no
later than January 13, 2023. The status conference currently scheduled for November 9, 2022 is adjourned
to January 16, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the motion at Dkt. No. 44.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 29, 2022
New York, New York

_____________________________________

GREGORY H. WOODS
United States District Judge