| Tatas Said He Was Beaten As
Kurd At Ali Baba Terrace Now Dispute On Loan
and Complaint
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
January 29 – Mehmet Tatas
worked at Ali Baba's Terrace
restaurant a block from the
United Nations until, he says,
the owner Ali Riza Dogan,
Senol Bakir and Tolgahan
Subakan learned that he was
Kurdish.
Then he was
assaulted, and called a
terrorist because his "son
refused to join the Turkish
Army."
He was told to
remove his Facebook page so
that no one would think Ali
Baba's Terrace supported the
PKK. Tatas became sick, and
sued.
Ali Baba's
Terrace, which is also accused
in the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York of discriminating against
a gay employee, removed the
case to the SDNY, where it was
assigned to Judge Edgardo
Ramos.
On May 27
Judge Ramos held a conference
in the case, and Inner City
Press covered it, below.
On November
11, the lawyer for Ali Baba
and co-defendant Ali Riza
Dogan wrote to Judge Ramos to
dismiss with prejudice two of
Dogan's counterclaims, for
"fraud embezzlement" and
"fraud and assault." She wrote
that "Mr. Dogan is unable to
voluntarily withdraw these two
counterclaims as of right,
because pursuant to FRCP41(c),
such withdrawal must be done
'before a responsive pleading
is served.'" But it is hard to
see Judge Ramos not agreeing
to dismiss these (or nearly
any other) counterclaims.
Watch this site.
On October
7, Tatas asked for permission
to file 50 interrogatories,
since he cannot afford a court
reporter for depositions: "Re:
Tatas v. Ali Baba’s Terrace,
Inc. et al., 1:19-cv-105951
Dear Judge Ramos: I am writing
to request permission to serve
Defendants additional,
substantive interrogatories
that go beyond the scope
permitted in Local Rule 33.3,
and in greater number
permitted by Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 33(a). I would
like to serve an additional 50
interrogatories that will take
the place of depositions. I am
asking for permission to serve
these additional
interrogatories as I am pro se
and cannot afford the cost of
a court reporter for
depositions. I asked opposing
counsel for permission to
serve additional
interrogatories on September
23rd, but have not received an
answer." Watch this
site.
It emerged
that Ali Baba's Terrace's
lawyer in both cases, Diane
Krebs, did not want any
discussion of settlement to be
made public because, she said,
of "another case" - on
information and belief, the
anti-gay discrimination case.
Judge Ramos
patiently explained to Tatas
that agreeing to a discovery
schedule does not mean
settling.
On October 23
Judge Ramos held another
conference. He approved the 50
interrogatories in place of a
deposition; Tatas zeroed in on
the restaurant misidentifying
the Turkish official he
"yelled at and refused to
serve" as being the Prime
Minister, and not the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Melvut
Cavusglu." Judge Ramos told
Tatas he could raise that at
any trial.
Now on January 29
Judge Ramos held another
proceeding. Tatas had an
interpreter, not simultaneous;
he apologized for typing $500
loans and not $5000, then said
it was $1000. Ali Baba's
lawyer said they should not be
required to respond to
discovery requests about
Tatas' complaint. Judge Ramos
disagreed, since Tatas is
claiming retaliation for
having complained.
Inner City Press,
which is covering both cases,
will have more on this. The
Kurdish case is Tatas v. Ali
Baba's Terrace, Inc. et al.,
19-cv-10595 (Ramos).
***
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