Brown v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Corrections

Filing 157

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER granting 156 MOTION for Extension of Time to to file Motions filed by Dawn L. Brown. IT IS ORDERED that to the extent that Brown wishes to file any other pre-trial motions she must do so on or before March 15, 2021. Signed by Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson on March 9, 2021. (kjn)

Case 1:15-cv-00918-CCC Document 157 Filed 03/09/21 Page 1 of 2

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
DAWN L. BROWN,
Plaintiff,
v.
COMMONWEALTH OF
PENNSYLVANIA, DEPT. OF
CORRECTIONS, et al.,
Defendants.

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Civil No. 1:15-CV-918

(Judge Conner)
(Magistrate Judge Carlson)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
THE BACKGROUND OF THIS ORDER IS AS FOLLOWS:
The plaintiff, Dawn Brown, is a former employee of the Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections. In 2015, Brown brought a series of sweeping workplace
discrimination claims against her former employers. The instant case was not
Brown’s first lawsuit against the Department of Corrections. Previously in 2014,
Brown had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer relating to alleged
acts of sexual harassment and retaliation that took place beginning in 2009. Brown
v. Dep’t. of Corrections, Civil No. 1:14-CV-201. In 2017, the court granted summary
judgment in favor of all of the defendants, except one defendant who had not been

Case 1:15-cv-00918-CCC Document 157 Filed 03/09/21 Page 2 of 2

served by Brown. Brown then voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit as to this remaining
defendant.
In the meanwhile, Brown filed this second workplace discrimination lawsuit
in 2015. This case has been pending for nearly six years. Over the span of this
longstanding litigation, the remaining claims in Brown’s lawsuit have been
narrowed considerably. At this juncture, Brown’s sole remaining legal claim is an
allegation that she was discharged in July of 2015 in retaliation for the exercise of
her First Amendment rights.
Brown is now representing herself in this lawsuit, her previous counsel having
withdrawn due to irreconcilable conflicts with the plaintiff. (Docs. 104-112). In this
capacity, acting as her own counsel Brown has recently filed a motion for extension
of time which sought to extend a pre-trial motions deadline from March 9 to March
15, 2021. (Doc. 156). This motion is GRANTED and IT IS ORDERED that to the
extent that Brown wishes to file any other pre-trial motions she must do so on or
before March 15, 2021.
SO ORDERED this 9th day of March 2021.

S/Martin C. Carlson
Martin C. Carlson
United States Magistrate Judge

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