Ann Marie Donio
How Judge Donio decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a motion to amend she keeps the inquiry narrow under Rule 15(a)/Rule 21 and rejects merits or jurisdiction objections aimed at the amendment -- current parties lack standing to assert futility on behalf of a proposed new defendant, and a personal-jurisdiction challenge belongs in a later dispositive motion, not in opposition to leave to amend.
“the Court concludes that Defendants lack standing to oppose the motion with respect to Jeffrey Geragi, and the Court rejects futility as a basis to deny the pending motion.”
On FLSA conditional certification she applies the 'fairly lenient' two-step standard, treating a uniform written policy (here a CBA's 10-minute pre-shift requirement) as enough of a 'modest factual showing' that putative members are similarly situated -- but she trims overbroad notice mechanics (first-class mail only, 45-day opt-in, no SSNs/postings absent a compelling reason).
“the express language of the policy relied upon by Plaintiffs inherently demonstrates the 'similarly situated' nature of the potential collective action members with respect to Defendant's pre-shift requirement.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Motion to amend N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motions to dismiss N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Involuntary dismissal failure to prosecute N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to strike pleading N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motion for conditional certification N = 1 |
Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to compel mediation stay N = 1 |
Moot / procedural: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for leave to file a first amended complaint [Doc. No. 22] shall be, and hereby is, GRANTED”
“ORDERED that Defendants' motion to compel early mediation and to stay discovery [Doc. No. 27] shall be, and hereby is, DISMISSED AS WITHDRAWN.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs' motion to conditionally certify this action as a collective action [Doc. No. 10] shall be, and hereby is, GRANTED IN PART”
“ORDERED that this Court hereby ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable Ann Marie Donio ... ORDERED that this case shall be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Court respectfully recommends that Defendant's answer be stricken ... ORDERED that Defendant's answer to Plaintiff's complaint [D.I. 11] shall be, and is hereby, stricken.”
“ORDERED that Defendants' motion to dismiss [Docket Item 151] shall be, and is hereby, GRANTED IN PART and DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN PART; and ... ORDERED that this case shall not be dismissed at this time”