Bernier et al v. Gard Recycling, Inc. et al

Filing 55

ORDER granting 54 Letter Motion for Extension of Time to File. APPLICATION GRANTED. Plaintiff's deadline to move for a default judgment against corporate Defendants Gard Recycling, Inc., DRC Group, Inc. and Beverage Recycling Corporation is a djourned sine die. Pursuant to the Second Amended Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order, (Doc. 50), fact discovery has concluded. No later than January 3, 2025, the parties are to submit a joint letter updating the Court on the status of the case , including but not limited to whether either party intends to file a dispositive motion, what efforts the parties have made to settle the action, whether any discovery disputes remain outstanding, and whether the parties request referral to a Magist rate Judge for settlement purposes. If either party contemplates filing a dispositive motion, the parties should be prepared to discuss a briefing schedule at the post-discovery conference. The Court will conduct a telephonic post-discovery conference on January 10, 2025 at 2:00 P.M. The dial-in number is 1-855-244-8681 and the access code is 2309 3085 835. There is no attendee ID. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Vernon S. Broderick on 11/26/2024) (sgz)

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November 25, 2024
VIA ECF
Hon. Vernon S. Broderick
United States District Judge
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, NY 10007
Re:

Bernier et al. v. Gard Recycling, Inc. et al.,
Case No.: 23-CV-761 (VSB)

Dear Judge Broderick:
This firm represents Plaintiffs in the above-referenced matter. We write to request
an extension of the deadline to file a default judgment against Gard Recycling, Inc., DRC Group,
Inc. and Beverage Recycling Corporation until after the claim against the answering Defendants,
Guastavo Rodriguez and Alex Doljansky, is resolved or, if the Court declines to grant this request,
until January 10, 2025. We apologize for the delay in making this application, which was due on
November 18, 2024. Unfortunately, due to turnover at our firm, the Court’s deadlines were not
calendared and we only today discovered the error.
On October 24, 2024, the Court ordered Defendants to file a letter by October 31,
2024 advising the Court whether they intended to retain counsel. The Court also indicated that the
failure to retain counsel would result in the Corporate Defendants being held in default. The Court
then ordered Plaintiffs to move for a default judgment by November 18, 2024 should Defendants
fail to submit a letter by October 31, 2024, which Defendants failed to do.
We respectfully request that the Court adjourn the deadline to move for a default
judgment against the Corporate Defendants in order to avoid the possibility of inconsistent
judgments between the Corporate Defendants, which are now in default, and Defendants Guastavo
Rodriguez and Alex Doljansky, who can proceed pro se. Courts have declined to enter a default
judgment against a non-answering defendant when there were answering defendants in the matter
because of the risk of inconsistent judgments and waste of judicial resources that would arise from
having to determine damages for the same work more than once. Lemache v. Tunnel Taxi Mgmt.,
LLC, 354 F. Supp. 3d 149, 154 (E.D.N.Y. 2019) (citing cases). We therefore respectfully request

that the Court adjourn Plaintiffs’ deadline to move for a default judgment until after the claims
against Defendants Guastavo Rodriguez and Alex Doljansky are resolved.
In the alternative, if an adjournment until the resolution of the active claim is not
possible, we respectfully request an extension until January 10, 2025 to file the motion. From
December 9, 2024 until December 20, 2024 I am on trial in a class action case Gonzalez v. Allied
Concrete et al., 2:14-cv-4771 (LGD) in Central Islip. The Gonzalez trial is a jury trial that involves
over a dozen witnesses, including an expert who will have to fly in for the trial. This trial will
therefore take up the overwhelming majority of my firm’s time until the end of the year. We
therefore request this extension.
We thank the Court for its consideration of this letter.
Respectfully submitted,
-----------/s/-----------------------Michael Taubenfeld

Date: November 26, 2024
Plaintiff's deadline to move for a default judgment against corporate Defendants Gard
Recycling, Inc., DRC Group, Inc. and Beverage Recycling Corporation is adjourned
sine die.
Pursuant to the Second Amended Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order,
(Doc. 50), fact discovery has concluded.
No later than January 3, 2025, the parties are to submit a joint letter updating the
Court on the status of the case, including but not limited to whether either party
intends to file a dispositive motion, what efforts the parties have made to settle the
action, whether any discovery disputes remain outstanding, and whether the parties
request referral to a Magistrate Judge for settlement purposes. If either party
contemplates filing a dispositive motion, the parties should be prepared to discuss a
briefing schedule at the post-discovery conference.
The Court will conduct a telephonic post-discovery conference on January 10, 2025
at 2:00 P.M. The dial-in number is 1-855-244-8681 and the access code is 2309
3085 835. There is no attendee ID.