Judge Vincent L. Briccetti
Plaintiffs’ 2008 class action claimed Community Choice Health Plan of Westchester Inc. (CCHP), Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center Inc. and Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester Inc.—as a single employer—violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Applying the analysis in Ciaramella v. Reader’s Digest Ass’n, a magistrate judge determined the parties did not intend to be bound by oral representations and informal agreements in e-mails forming the basis of settlement negotiations. Rejecting objections by plaintiffs and CCHP, district court denied the purported settlement’s enforcement. Applying the Second Circuit’s analysis in Winston v. Mediafare Entertainment Corp., it affirmed the magistrate judge’s conclusion that the agreement’s language showed the parties did not intend to be bound absent a signed, written agreement. The fact that plaintiffs ceased discovery during negotiations did not constitute the purported settlement agreement’s partial performance. Quoting Conway v. Brooklyn Union Gas Co., the court observed that “a party’s decision not to resume active litigation during settlement discussions does not weigh for or against enforcing the contract.”
