Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied a request for an indicative ruling under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62.1 from parents of students at iBrain, adopting the City of New York's argument that the motion lacked evidentiary support.
The City opposed the motion, arguing that the Department of Education is not responsible for averting iBrain’s alleged closure or sustaining its financial viability. The City also noted that Plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of a material change in circumstances, submitting only emails from iBrain’s COO Daniel Sebbag to himself, which did not satisfy a prior court directive to produce actual communications with parents.
The Court agreed, noting that Plaintiffs’ assertions concerning the school’s closure are speculative and unsupported by compelling evidence. The Court found persuasive the reasoning of Judge Lewis J. Liman in Ramos v. Samuels, where emergency relief was denied for similar reasons.
While denying the indicative ruling, the Court agreed with the City's request that limited discovery into iBrain’s financial condition is appropriate. The Court encouraged the parties to meet and confer regarding the contours of such discovery, noting that similar proceedings are ongoing in other cases within this district, including Mendez v. Aviles Ramos and Abreu et al v. Aviles-Ramos.