Marcia M. Henry
How Judge Henry decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On summary judgment she applies the Scott v. Harris video-contradiction rule rigorously: where a contemporaneous recording blatantly contradicts the non-movant's account, no reasonable jury could credit the account and summary judgment is warranted. In an FTCA assault/battery case the pat-down video showed a routine screening with no strikes or lingering contact, so she recommended granting the TSA's MSJ; the recommendation survived de novo review of the pro se plaintiff's objections. If your client's narrative conflicts with clear video, expect it to lose at summary judgment.
“the video contradicts Plaintiff's version of events so thoroughly that no reasonable jury could credit his recollection. Defendant is accordingly entitled to summary judgment. See Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380 (2007)”
On FTCA suits against the TSA she reads the 28 U.S.C. 2680(h) 'investigative or law enforcement officers' proviso to cover a TSO conducting an airport screening pat-down, so sovereign immunity does NOT bar an intentional-tort (assault/battery) claim -- she denied the government's motion to dismiss on that ground. A plaintiff invoking the law-enforcement-proviso waiver against TSA screeners has a viable path past the threshold immunity defense in her courtroom.
“the TSO who conducted the pat-down falls within the "investigative or law enforcement officers" proviso of 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) and, therefore, sovereign immunity does not bar Plaintiff's suit against the TSA.”
On default-judgment motions she grants the core relief but prunes the complaint and the defendants: she enters judgment on the primary wage/contract/trademark claims while dismissing standing-deficient add-on claims. In Nicholas she granted the FLSA/NYLL default against the corporate defendants but dismissed the NYLL wage-notice and wage-statement claims without prejudice for lack of a tangible injury (standing). Don't pad a default motion with statutory-notice claims that lack a concrete injury -- they get carved out.
“Judge Henry "recommend[ed] that Plaintiff's wage notice and wage statements claims . . . be dismissed without prejudice for lack of standing."”
Procedural preferences
Default judgments are not rubber-stamped, and she enforces the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: before entering a default against an individual defendant she requires a non-military-status affidavit, and she recommended DENYING the default against an individual where the plaintiff filed no SCRA affidavit or information about the defendant's military status (the district judge later cured it on de novo review). File the SCRA affidavit and the Local Civil Rule 55.2 papers up front for every individual defaulting defendant.
“Plaintiff failed to comply with the ... Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the "SCRA") as to Obayah because he did not file an affidavit or "any information in the motion papers about . . . [Obayah]'s military status." ... Judge Henry therefore recommended that the Court deny Plaintiff's motion for default judgment as to Obayah.”
She will hold a default-judgment motion in abeyance rather than rule it when there is a pending, competing motion to vacate the Clerk's entry of default -- sequencing the vacatur question first instead of racing to judgment. Expect default and vacatur motions to be resolved in logical order, not first-filed order.
“recommending that default judgments against Defendants ... be held in abeyance pending decisions on Defendants Claire Construction Corp. and Homeport LLC's motions to vacate the Clerk's entry of default.”
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.
| Default judgment N = 5 |
Granted in part: 3Denied: 1Moot / procedural: 1 | counts only |
| Motions to dismiss N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Summary judgment N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to amend N = 1 |
Denied: 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.
“On November 30, 2021, Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") recommending that default judgments against Defendants Claire Construction Corp., Homeport LLC, HP Services Inc., Shallan Haddad, and Walter Orue be held in abeyance pending decisions on Defendants Claire Construction Corp. and Homeport LLC's motions to vacate the Clerk's entry of default.”
“By report and recommendation dated February 6, 2025, Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry recommended that the Court deny Plaintiff's motion to amend the Complaint (the "R&R"). ... the Court adopts the R&R in its entirety and denies Plaintiff's motion to amend the Complaint.”
“Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry recommended that the Court deny with prejudice plaintiff Wendy Baez's "Request for Sum Certain Default Judgment." ... the Court ... adopts the R&R in its entirety. Therefore, it is ordered that the R&R is adopted in its entirety, and this action is dismissed with prejudice.”
“Judge Henry recommended that the motion be denied because the TSO who conducted the pat-down falls within the "investigative or law enforcement officers" proviso of 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) and, therefore, sovereign immunity does not bar Plaintiff's suit against the TSA. ... Defendant's motion to dismiss is denied in its entirety”
“The Court agrees with Judge Henry that the TSA is entitled to summary judgment on both Plaintiff's assault claim and his battery claim and adopts the R&R in its entirety. ... Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety, and Plaintiff's Freedom of Information Act claim is dismissed as moot.”
“By report and recommendation dated March 18, 2025, Judge Henry recommended that the Court (1) grant Plaintiff's motion to amend the case caption to reflect Obayah's legal name and (2) grant in part and deny in part Plaintiff's motion for default judgment ... Judge Henry therefore recommended that the Court deny Plaintiff's motion for default judgment as to Obayah.”
“I therefore adopt the Report and Recommendation, in its entirety, as the opinion of the Court ... Accordingly, plaintiff's motion for default judgment is granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiff is awarded $175,173.82 in damages: including (1) $54,535.47 for unpaid overtime wages; (2) $28,051.44 in unpaid spread of hours pay; (3) $82,586.91 in liquidated damages; and (4) $10,000 for wage notice and wage statement violations.”
“plaintiff's motion for default judgment is granted in part and denied in part. The Clerk of Court shall enter default judgment against Defendant Ghost Fitness NYC, LLC on Counts I, II, IV, V, VII, and VIII. Plaintiff is awarded $5,051,415.00, including $5,051,013.00 in treble damages and $402.00 in costs”