Opinion
21-CV-6296 (JMF) 21-CV-6308 (JMF) 21-CV-6310 (JMF) 21-CV-6312 (JMF) 21-CV-6314 (JMF) 21-CV-6320 (JMF) 21-CV-6322 (JMF) 21-CV-6325 (JMF) 21-CV-6326 (JMF) 21-CV-6331 (JMF) 21-CV-6340 (JMF) 21-CV-6341 (JMF) 21-CV-6351 (JMF) 21-CV-6353 (JMF) 21-CV-6375 (JMF) 21-CV-6377 (JMF) 21-CV-6384 (JMF)
08-09-2021
IN RE IBM ARBITRATION AGREEMENT LITIGATION
ORDER
JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge:
On July 23, 2021, Plaintiff William Chastka filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that certain provisions of an arbitration agreement he signed as an employee of Defendant International Business Machines Corporation (“IBM”) are unenforceable. See Chastka v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6296, ECF No. 1. Since then, other Plaintiffs have filed similar suits in this Court. Although the actions have not been deemed related, the undersigned agreed in the interests of efficiency to accept any case that another judge agrees to reassign. To date, in addition to Chastka, the following sixteen such actions have been reassigned (or will soon be reassigned) to the undersigned:
1. Abt v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6308
2. Brown v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6310
3. Burgoyne v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6312
4. Carlton v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6314
5. Cote v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6320
6. Davis v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6322
7. Duffin v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6325
8. Flannery v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6384
9. Gianiny v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6377
10. Goeckermann v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6326
11. Kamienski v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6331
12. Leigh v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6375
13. McHugh v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6340
14. Plotzker v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6341
15. Vornhagen v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6351
16. Warren v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 21-CV-6353
Counsel are hereby ORDERED to appear for a telephone conference on August 12, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. to discuss how to handle these cases. The conference will be held remotely by telephone in accordance with Rule 2(B) of the Court's Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, available at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-jesse-m-furman. The parties should join the conference by calling the Court's dedicated conference line at (888) 363-4749 and using access code 542-1540, followed by the pound (#) key. (Members of the public and press may also attend using the same dial-in information; they will not be allowed to speak during the conference.) Counsel should review and comply with the rules regarding teleconferences in the Court's Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, including Rule 2(B)(i), which requires the parties, no later than 24 hours before the conference, to send a joint email to the Court with a list of counsel who may speak during the teleconference and the telephone numbers from which counsel expect to join the call.
This Order shall also apply to all other cases involving the same arbitration agreement filed against IBM assigned to the undersigned before the time of the scheduled conference. The Clerk of Court is directed to docket this Order in all of the above-captioned cases.
SO ORDERED.