New York Judge Denies TRO for Special Ed Student, Orders Inquiry into Coordinated Emergency Filings

MANHATTAN (LN) — U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett on Thursday denied a special education parent’s motion for a temporary restraining order seeking immediate payment for her child’s school placement, ruling the plaintiff failed to adequately brief the legal standards for injunctive relief and ordering a status letter on potential discovery into coordinated emergency filings.

The plaintiff, represented by Jeffrey Arlen Spinner of the Liberty & Freedom Law Group, sought the order to compel the New York City Department of Education to pay for her child’s placement at iBrain following a State Review Officer decision.

In support of the motion, the plaintiff submitted an email she purportedly received from iBrain stating the school would be closed on April 16 and 17 due to “staffing challenges related to delays in payments from the Department of Education.”

Garnett noted that the plaintiff’s declaration from Spinner summarized two similar recent emails from iBrain to parents but did not state what knowledge Spinner had about the school’s finances or whether iBrain had reopened since the motion was filed.

The judge emphasized that injunctive relief is an “extraordinary remedy” that is “never awarded as of right” and requires a showing of likely success on the merits and irreparable harm.

“Plaintiff has entirely failed to brief the Winter factors,” Garnett wrote. “And, although a likelihood of irreparable harm is the single most important prerequisite to the issuance of a preliminary injunction, Plaintiff has failed to comprehensively or persuasively argue that this case meets that prerequisite.”

Even assuming the missed school days constituted irreparable harm, Garnett found the evidence insufficient to link the closure to the Department of Education’s payments.

“It is entirely unclear how long the closure will last,” she wrote. “Furthermore, besides the unsupported hearsay statements presented, the Court has no basis to conclude iBrain is closed due to delayed payments from DOE.”

Garnett also pointed out that the plaintiff did not explain how funding a single student’s pendency would alleviate the underlying problem of iBrain’s ability to pay more than 200 staff members and past-due rent.

The judge noted she was aware the plaintiff had filed emergency motions in several other cases based on the same emails, including cases before Judges Richard Aronoff, Katherine Polk Failla, Deborah A. Batts, and Lewis J. Liman.

On April 20, Liman ordered the plaintiff in one of those cases to meet and confer with the DOE and file a letter about whether a referral to Judge Kevin Thomas Cave for discovery concerning the emergency motions would facilitate efficiency and judicial economy.

Garnett ordered the parties to file a joint status letter by Friday, April 24, 2026, providing their views on whether a referral to Cave for discovery would facilitate judicial economy.

The court will issue an appropriate order addressing the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction after receiving the status letter.