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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

FORT PIERCE DIVISION

CASE NO.: 2:20-14208-CIV-MARTINEZ-MAYNARD

STEVEN BRIGATI, PAUL DESOYE, 

THOMAS MAYRIDES, DENNIS 

PAYNE, T. MICHAEL PAYNE, W.O. 

PEARCE and GARY SCARAFONI, on 

behalf of themselves and all others 

similarly situated, Plaintiffs,

v.

HFM, INC., a Florida for profit 

corporation, and WORCESTER 

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, a 

Massachusetts nonprofit corporation,

Defendants.

PLAINTIFFS’ UNOPPPOSED MOTION TO DROP PARTIES AND 

INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW

Motion

By their undersigned attorney and pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 21, Plaintiffs move the Court to drop Paul DeSoye, W.O. Pearce and Gary 

Scarafoni as Plaintiffs and proposed class representatives from Plaintiffs’ Second 

Amended Complaint (Dkt. No. 52). Reducing the number of Plaintiffs and proposed 

class representatives will streamline these proceedings without adversely impacting 

the remaining Plaintiffs’ ability to represent the proposed class fully and 

adequately, should it be certified.

Memorandum of Law

“On motion or on its own, the court may at any time, on just terms, add or 

Case 2:20-cv-14208-JEM Document 56 Entered on FLSD Docket 01/26/2021 Page 1 of 9
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drop a party." Fed. R. Civ. P. 21. “The decision of whether to drop a party from a 

case pursuant to Rule 21 ‘is left to the sound discretion of the trial court.’" Garcia v. 

Chapman, 911 F. Supp. 2d 1222, 1245 (S.D. Fla. 2012)(citing Lampliter Dinner 

Theater, Inc. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 792 F.2d 1036, 1045 (11th Cir. 1986)). 

Where, as here, the pleadings are not closed and depositions of the parties 

have not been taken, removing Plaintiffs will not impact the administration of 

justice. Moreover, Defendants do not object to the dropping of Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs 

therefore respectfully request that their Motion be granted. 

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO S.D. FLA. LOCAL RULE 7.1(a)(3)

I certify that, on January 25, 2021 at 4:22 p.m., after filing Defendants’ 

Response to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Amend Scheduling Order (Dkt. No. 45), Motion 

and Incorporated Memorandum of Law to Strike Second Amended Complaint (Dkt. 

No. 47) and Seek Attorneys' Fees and Costs (Dkt. No. 50), Defendants’ counsel sent

me the email, attached as Exhibit 1, indicating that Defendants did not object to 

Paul DeSoye, W.O. Pearce and Gary Scarafoni being dropped as Plaintiffs and 

proposed class representatives. 

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Elaine Johnson James

Florida Bar No. 791709

ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com

ejjames50@icloud.com

ELAINE JOHNSON JAMES P.A.

P.O. Box 31512

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33420

Telephone No.: (561) 245-1144

Facsimile: (561) 244-9580

Attorney for Plaintiffs

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was filed on 

January 26, 2021 with the Clerk of Court by using the CM/ECF system, which 

system served Defendants’ counsel:

Noel R. Boeke

noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Charles Wachter

charles.wachter@hklaw.com

Holland & Knight LLP

100 North Tampa Street, Suite 4100

Tampa, FL 33602

Jennifer L. Chunias (pro hac vice)

jchunias@goodwinlaw.com

Courtney L. Hayden (pro hac vice)

chayden@goodwinlaw.com

Goodwin Procter LLP

100 Northern Avenue

Boston, MA 02210

/s/ Elaine Johnson James

Elaine Johnson James 

Florida Bar No. 791709

Case 2:20-cv-14208-JEM Document 56 Entered on FLSD Docket 01/26/2021 Page 3 of 9
EXHIBIT 1

Case 2:20-cv-14208-JEM Document 56 Entered on FLSD Docket 01/26/2021 Page 4 of 9
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Elaine

From: Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>

Sent: Monday, January 25, 2021 4:22 PM

To: Elaine; Hayden, Courtney

Cc: noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: RE: Brigati v. HFM

Elaine,

Thanks for your email.  Just to confirm, we understand that it is your intention to seek the Court’s permission to (1)

withdraw the as‐filed version of the Second Amended Complaint you filed on Friday, January, 22, (2) file the version of

the Second Amended Complaint that was attached to Defendants’ Motion for Leave to Amend in October, and (3) move

to voluntarily dismiss three of the named Plaintiffs from this matter.   If this is correct, Defendants do not oppose any of

this.  Unfortunately, until the Court rules on Plaintiffs’ anticipated requests above, Plaintiffs’ Second Amended

Complaint as filed on Friday, January 22 remains on the docket.  Further, Defendants were instructed by the Court to

submit their response to your motion last week by the end of the day today.   Given this, Defendants must to proceed to

file our response and motion to strike, until Plaintiffs’ anticipated requests above have been addressed by the Court.   

We are glad to discuss the outstanding discovery and deposition scheduling once we have word from the Court on these

items.     

Thanks again,

Jennifer

Jennifer L. Chunias

Goodwin Procter LLP 

100 Northern Avenue 

Boston, MA 02210

o +1 617 570 8239 

f +1 617 321 4415 

JChunias@goodwinlaw.com | goodwinlaw.com 

From: Elaine <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com>  

Sent: Monday, January 25, 2021 12:59 PM

To: Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com>; Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>

Cc: noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: Brigati v. HFM

As a head’s up, Courtney, you need not spend the afternoon on a motion to strike.  I will withdraw the complaint.   

Jennifer:

I need to delete Pearce, DeSoye & Scarafoni as Plaintiffs and the jury trial demand before filing the October 2020

iteration of the Complaint.  Is that acceptable to Defendants?

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Also, Mr. Mayrides documents were not delivered by FedEx on Saturday; according the FedEx’s tracking app, they will be

delivered today.  Upon my receipt of them, I will advise when we can produce them, which I assure you will be as soon

as practicable.

Elaine  

From: Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com>  

Sent: Monday, January 25, 2021 11:27 AM

To: Elaine <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com>

Cc: Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>; noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: RE: Brigati v. HFM

Thanks, Elaine. I will send a dial‐in.

From: Elaine James <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com>  

Sent: Monday, January 25, 2021 11:17 AM

To: Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com>

Cc: Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>; noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: Re: Brigati v. HFM

Good morning. I will look forward to hearing from you at 4 PM.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 25, 2021, at 10:39 AM, Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com> wrote:

  

Hi Elaine,

  

I hope you had a nice weekend. Could you please let us know your availability for a 30‐minute meet and

confer today during the following timeslots? Given the Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint filed on

Friday differs from the version approved by the Court, Defendants intend to move to strike it today.

  

 11:30am‐1pm

 1:30‐2:15pm

 4‐4:30pm

  

Thank you,

Courtney

  

From: Elaine <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com>  

Sent: Friday, January 22, 2021 9:54 PM

To: Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>

Cc: Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com>; noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: Brigati v. HFM

  

Thank you, Jennifer.

  

I have filed the Second Amended Complaint which, as I advised earlier, differs from the version

appended to the Motion for Leave.  We have added a Plaintiff, Gary Cantrell, and removed

three.  Despite the change in Plaintiffs, I will of course supplement the productions that are not

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complete, as per my email below.  Should Defendants desire to depose the former Plaintiffs, they will

appear.

  

We are obtaining from Mr. Cantrell the documents that Defendants requested from the other Plaintiffs;

I will provide them to you with or without a formal request ASAP. Mr. Cantrell of course will be available

for deposition between Feb. 1 and 19.

  

Additionally, having begun the review of about 20 of the Club’s annual membership directories in mid‐

December, we believe that more than 500 golf and tennis master memberships have been sold and that

the turnover requirements have been met.  Accordingly, we now seek to certify a class of equity Club

members.   

  

The lists of members, referenced in the Plaintiffs’ discovery responses, which are being culled from the

directories, are not complete.  However, I will provide the lists of golf and tennis master members and

standalone equity tennis members and Mr. Brigati’s supplemented answers to interrogatories to you by

January 25.   

  

You have made clear, and I acknowledge, Defendants’ reservation of the right to object to the second

amended complaint.  Obviously, I disagree with your interpretation of the Court’s order granting leave

to amend.  Irrespective of that disagreement, Plaintiffs and their counsel  intend not only to meet our

obligations under the federal and local rules, but also to cooperate with Defendants and their counsel

informally to make the discovery process, in particular, and the litigation process in general as seamless

and pleasant as practicable.

  

After you review the complaint, let me know if there are additional documents which Defendants need

before the depositions.  I will do my best to provide them promptly.   

  

Best regards,

Elaine  

<image001.jpg>

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

From: Chunias, Jennifer <JChunias@goodwinlaw.com>  

Sent: Friday, January 22, 2021 3:49 PM

To: Elaine <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com>

Cc: Hayden, Courtney <CHayden@goodwinlaw.com>; noel.boeke@hklaw.com

Subject: Re: Brigati v. HFM

  

  

Thanks, Elaine.  I unfortunately do not seem to have a voicemail from you, so really appreciate the email

follow up.   

As for the depositions next week, we can agree to postpone them as you suggest.  We also tentatively

agree to the new dates you propose below, subject to confirming our schedules and reviewing the

Amended Complaint we understand you will be filing today, as you seemed to suggest it might be

different than the version you filed with your clients’ motion for leave to amend.   We will get back to

Case 2:20-cv-14208-JEM Document 56 Entered on FLSD Docket 01/26/2021 Page 7 of 9
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you by COB Monday, January 25 to confirm these new deposition dates below or propose others.  So

please hold the dates below until COB Monday.   

Thank you for confirming that additional documents will be forthcoming.  Please also let us know when

we can expect your clients’ supplemental interrogatory responses.   

Thanks again, Elaine.  I hope you are well and staying safe.

Jennifer

  

Jennifer L. Chunias

Goodwin Procter LLP

100 Northern Avenue

Boston, MA 02110

p:  (617) 570‐8239

m:  (617) 515‐9677

jchunias@goodwinlaw.com

On Jan 22, 2021, at 2:38 PM, Elaine <ejames@elainejohnsonjames.com> wrote:

  

Good afternoon.  Hope all is well.

  

I am writing to follow up on my voice message to Jennifer. Since last we communicated,

we have confirmed that all of the currently named Plaintiffs are available for deposition

between Feb. 2‐19, 2020.  I have asked each to specifically confirm his availability as

follows, and will advise you presently if there are any problems. Please note that I

described them as “currently named Plaintiffs” because some will not be denominated

as such in the Second Amended Complaint being filed today.   

  

Brigati‐Feb. 2;

DeSoye‐Feb. 4

Scarafoni‐Feb.10

D. Payne‐Feb. 11

Mayrides‐Feb. 15

Pearce‐Feb. 16

M. Payne‐Feb. 17 (must end by 3 pm)

  

Of course, if any of the aforementioned days is not convenient for you, we can adjust.

  

Some of my clients had difficulty accessing the documents responsive to Defendants’

requests; some for technological reasons and others for logistical reasons. The

productions from Tom Mayrides,  Dennis Payne, Mike Payne and Wink Pearce require

supplementation.   D. Payne’s and Pearce’s documents will be uploaded tomorrow, Jan.

23.  Mayrides’ documents are in route via FedEx; assuming that I receive them

tomorrow, we can upload them by Tuesday, January 26.   There are technological

problems with accessing M. Payne’s files, on which we are working.    

  

Would you kindly confirm that the depositions scheduled for next week will be re‐

scheduled?  I greatly appreciate your professional courtesy and flexibility in this regard.   

  

Thank you very much,

Elaine  

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