A. Kathleen Tomlinson
How Judge Tomlinson rules, drawn from 5 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Tomlinson no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Tomlinson
A. Kathleen Tomlinson served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York from 2006 until her death in 2021. Before joining the court, she worked for the Nassau County Legal Aid Society, clerked for U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt, and practiced at Farrell Fritz.
How Judge Tomlinson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Maitland v. Fishbein, Tomlinson recommended declining supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims after recommending dismissal of the federal claims. The plaintiffs alleged only residency, which did not establish the citizenship needed for diversity jurisdiction.
“diversity jurisdiction turns on the citizenship of each party, not the residency of each party. This is because ‘allegations of residency alone cannot establish citizenship . . . .’”
In Annexstein v. Inzerilli, she recommended denying two medical expenses for lack of documentation while allowing the plaintiff 14 days to supply supporting records.
“Judge Tomlinson recommended that the Court deny the plaintiff’s request for the following medical expenses due to a lack of sufficient documentation”
Procedural preferences
In Sciascia v. Prime Protective Services, Inc., District Judge Spatt adopted her unopposed report and recommendation after finding it persuasive and free of legal or factual error.
“The Court has reviewed Judge Tomlinson’s Report and finds it be persuasive and without any legal or factual errors. There being no objection to Judge Tomlinson’s Report, the Court adopts the Report.”
In Copelin v. Martinez, Tomlinson recommended dismissing a self-represented plaintiff’s civil-rights case for failure to prosecute. District Judge Feuerstein adopted the recommendation without objection and dismissed the case with prejudice under Rule 41(b).
“recommending that this case be dismissed for plaintiff's failure to prosecute.”
Cautions
In Annexstein v. Inzerilli, the district judge adopted her default judgment damages recommendation only in part, modifying the award to include medical costs documented after the recommendation.
“Judge Tomlinson’s Report and Recommendation is adopted in part and modified in part. The Court ... modifies the damages award to include the $140,308.84 in medical costs”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED, that Judge Tomlinson’s Report and Recommendation is adopted in its entirety; and it is further ORDERED, that a default judgment be entered against the Defendants.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against the defendants Northwell Staffing Agency, LLC, and Veronica Woods ... is granted and that Defendants ... are permanently enjoined from (1) providing or promoting any services under the name NorthWell Staffing Agency”
“ORDERED, that Judge Tomlinson’s Report and Recommendation is adopted in part and modified in part. The Court awards the plaintiff: ... for a total award of $2,180,808.84.”
“plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is granted and the June 29, 2013 Arbitration Award is confirmed”
“Defendants’ motions to dismiss plaintiffs’ federal claims are granted. The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ state law claims.”
Pro se 42 U.S.C. 1983 civil-rights action. Tomlinson recommended dismissing the case for FAILURE TO PROSECUTE under Rule 41(b): not a ruling on any party motion. District Judge Feuerstein adopted on clear-error review (no objections) and dismissed with prejudice. This is a sua sponte dismissal. The order states: 'This case is dismissed with prejudice for plaintiffs failure to prosecute, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).'
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- E.D.N.Y. referral magistrate, Central Islip (Long Island), 2006-2021.
- Two faces to her docket: (1) as the directly-assigned magistrate, a steady stream of criminal magistrate-judge matters (arrest/search warrants, initial appearances, pen-register and historical cell-site applications) and 636(c) consent civil cases; (2) as an R&R author for the district judges, the dispositive/default civil work reflected in her published recommendations: ERISA and union welfare-fund collections (Sciascia, Empire State Carpenters), Lanham Act trademark (Northwell Health), FLSA/wage (Villatoro, Gomez surfaced in the consent sample), personal-injury default inquests (Annexstein), and pro se 1983 and diversity suits (Copelin, Maitland).
- The mix is qualitative (drawn from case-level records).
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Tomlinson was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2021.
| Motions pending more than six months | 10 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 3 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 25 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | 10 | 25 |
| Mar 2021 | 8 | 23 |
| Sep 2020 | 8 | 21 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Tomlinson no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.