Brownyard v County of Suffolk

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed an order granting the plaintiffs' motion for a protective order and limiting discovery to certain original plaintiffs. The court held that, because individual standing was a threshold issue and each plaintiff had to establish personal monetary damages, the defendants demonstrated that the requested discovery was material and necessary.

Holdings

1. The Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion by striking requests for production numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 and limiting discovery to the original plaintiffs; the protective-order motion therefore had to be denied.
2. The appeal from the February 6, 2023 order was dismissed as academic because reversal of the October 24, 2022 order eliminated the operative underlying determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion by striking the defendants' discovery requests and limiting discovery to the three original plaintiffs.
2. Whether the requested discovery was material and necessary to the defense, including the defendants' standing defense.
3. Whether the appeal from the order entered upon reargument was academic after reversal of the underlying order.

Disposition

reversed