Bhatt v. Comm'r of N.J. DOL

Full title: CHAULA S. BHATT, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF NJ DOL et al., Defendants.

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

Date published: Oct 25, 2018

Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-5654 BRM-DEA (D.N.J. Oct. 25, 2018)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-5654 BRM-DEA

10-25-2018

CHAULA S. BHATT, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF NJ DOL et al., Defendants.

DOUGLAS E. ARPERT UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on an informal Application by Defendants¹ for an Order compelling Plaintiff to respond to certain outstanding discovery requests. See Def. Letter to the Court dated August 15, 2018. ECF No. 80. Specifically, in June 2018 the New Jersey Department of Labor Defendants served interrogatories to be answered by Plaintiff. Id. at 2. To date, Plaintiff has not responded.

1 By Order dated September 18, 2018, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti granted Defendant Middlesex County Welfare Board's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint. ECF No. 78. --------

In addition, the Court conducted a telephone status conference on August 15, 2018. Plaintiff failed to participate in that conference. During that conference, defense counsel represented to the Court that neither has had any communication from Plaintiff other than an email acknowledgement from Plaintiff on July 25, 2018. Further, despite several requests, Plaintiff has not provided any telephone contact information.

During a previous telephone status conference with the Court on May 16, 2018, Plaintiff advised that she was traveling out of the country until late June, when she expected to return from India. As of this writing, the Court has had no further communication from Plaintiff including no response to the instant application. Accordingly, good cause appearing for the entry of this Order

IT IS on this of 25th day of October 2018,

ORDERED that Plaintiff must serve answers to the New Jersey Department of Labor Defendants' interrogatories by November 30, 2018. Failure to do so may result in the imposition of sanctions, including dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint; and it is

FURTHER ORDER that the Court will conduct a telephone status conference on December 19, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. Defense counsel must initiate the call. Plaintiff is advised that failure to participate in the conference may result in the imposition of sanctions, including dismissal of Plaintiff's Complaint; and it is

FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall be mailed to Plaintiff by the Clerk of the Court to her address of record and service by counsel for the New Jersey Department of Labor Defendants by electronic mail.

s/ Douglas E. Arpert

DOUGLAS E. ARPERT

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE