# 161704_2026_Jane_Doe_v_Cornell_University_Inc_et_al_AFFIDAVIT_AFFIRMATI_100_1

Source: https://lucycraig.blog/media/761
File: 161704_2026_Jane_Doe_v_Cornell_University_Inc_et_al_AFFIDAVIT_AFFIRMATI_100_1.pdf
Format: application/pdf
Description: ATTORNEY  AFFIRMATION OF  JAMES C. KNOX IN  OPPOSITION TO  PLAINTIFF’S MOTION  FOR AN  ADJOURNMENT
Alt text: ATTORNEY  AFFIRMATION OF  JAMES C. KNOX IN  OPPOSITION TO  PLAINTIFF’S MOTION  FOR AN  ADJOURNMENT

## OCR / extracted text

--- Page 1 ---
1 
 
SUPREME COURT 
STATE OF NEW YORK                    COUNTY OF NEW YORK  
 
 
JANE DOE, 
 
 
 
 
 
Petitioner, 
 
-against- 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, INC., CHI PHI CHAPTER 
HOUSE ASSOCIATION, CHI PHI FRATERNITY, INC., 
CHI PHI EDUCATIONAL TRUST, ALPHA BETA HOUSE 
CORPORATION OF DELTA DELTA DELTA, DELTA 
DELTA DELTA SORORITY, ZAREEN ENTERPRISE LLC 
d/b/a MOONIES BAR & NIGHTCLUB, MATTHEW 
INGALLS, JOHNATHAN NEWELL, WINSTON LEE, 
GILLIO LOPES, DIEGO SARABIA, SCOTT NORRIS,  
SCOTT KRETZSCHMAR, JOHN DOE (FACULTY), JOHN 
DOE (ALUMNI), JOHN DOES (EXECUTIVE BOARD), and 
ORAZIO PETITO, 
 
 
 
 
 
Defendants. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ATTORNEY 
AFFIRMATION OF 
JAMES C. KNOX IN 
OPPOSITION TO 
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 
FOR AN 
ADJOURNMENT 
 
 
Index No. 161704/2026
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
JAMES C. KNOX, an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, affirms under 
penalty of perjury the following:  
1. 
I am a member of Hacker Murphy LLP, attorneys for defendant Diego Sarabia 
(hereinafter “defendant”), and am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this matter. I 
submit this affirmation in opposition to plaintiff’s application seeking an adjournment of 
defendant’s pending motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 99).  
2. 
Defendant respectfully submits that plaintiff has failed to demonstrate good cause 
for the substantial adjournment requested.  Plaintiff does not address the obvious prejudice to 
defendant that would be occasioned by the requested delay. 
3. 
The pending motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint was timely filed and noticed 
in accordance with the CPLR. 
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
1 of 6

--- Page 2 ---
2 
 
4. 
Plaintiff now seeks an extraordinarily lengthy adjournment to respond, but plaintiff 
does not contend that counsel is unavailable; that counsel has a conflicting trial schedule; that 
counsel suffers from any medical, mental, or personal hardship; or that there exists any other 
circumstance preventing counsel from preparing opposition papers within the ordinary briefing 
schedule. 
5. 
In short, plaintiff identifies no present inability to timely oppose defendant’s 
motion.  
6. 
Instead, plaintiff speculates that other defendants may elect to file motions at some 
date in the future, and that it would be more convenient for her to respond to all such motions (if 
filed) simultaneously. 
7. 
Plaintiff elected to commence a multi-defendant action containing numerous causes 
of action and extensive factual allegations.   
8. 
The prospect of responding to motion practice from multiple defendants is an 
ordinary consequence of such a litigation decision and does not, standing alone, justify delaying 
the determination of the instant motion which is already properly before the Court.  
9. 
Plaintiff makes no claim that the hypothetical potential motions from other 
defendants may include similar issues.  Each defendant’s situation is factually specific and distinct. 
Plaintiff will need to respond to any future motion on its own merits, making it unlikely that an 
adjournment would result in any benefit of convenience.   
10. 
Plaintiff’s convenience is not the equivalent of necessity; nor is convenience good 
cause for the requested adjournment.   
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
2 of 6

--- Page 3 ---
3 
 
11. 
Defendant respectfully submits that his pending motion should not be delayed 
based upon hypothetical anticipated motions that have not yet been filed and whose nature remains 
unknown.   
12. 
Plaintiff’s assertion that defendant’s motion has “complex issues of law” which 
“need to be examined against [the] extensive complaint” is belied by the content of defendant’s 
straightforward motion.   
13. 
Plaintiff waited too long to bring her intentional tort claims against defendant, and 
she relies on an obviously fictional duty to support her negligence claim.  Plaintiff has no other 
claims against this defendant, and these are not complicated issues.    
14. 
Defendant’s simple motion addresses those issues and other pleading deficiencies 
plainly evident on the face of the complaint in a very brief memorandum of law.  Plaintiff makes 
no argument that she would have any real difficulty timely responding to defendant’s arguments. 
15. 
While defendant’s counsel appreciates requests for reasonable accommodations 
when circumstances require them, plaintiff has never given any reason – not now or in her prior 
requests to defendant for an adjournment – evincing any genuine need for an extension, much less 
a need for a two-month extension.  
16. 
Defendant’s refusal to consent does not establish good cause for the requested 
relief, especially when he would be prejudiced by the requested delay. 
17. 
Whether plaintiff granted extensions of time to other defendants is of no moment 
to defendant, and irrelevant to the issues of good cause and prejudice.  Defendant is an individual 
and should not be collectivized with any other defendant. 
18. 
Plaintiff has asserted serious and salacious allegations against defendant, but most 
of plaintiff’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations. 
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
3 of 6

--- Page 4 ---
4 
 
19. 
The only claim not so barred – sounding in negligence – is brought despite the plain 
absence of any legally cognizable duty.  
20. 
Plaintiff should have known that her claims against defendant were legally 
untenable when she brought them. 
21. 
Plaintiff’s request for an adjournment appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to 
unnecessarily delay an unfavorable decision.  
22. 
In the event the Court determines that some additional time is warranted, defendant 
respectfully requests any adjournment be limited to the minimal period sufficient to permit plaintiff 
to prepare opposition papers to defendant’s motion.  
WHEREFORE, defendant Diego Sarabia respectfully requests that plaintiff’s application 
for an adjournment (Dkt. No. 99). be denied or, in the alternative, that any adjournment be limited 
to a very brief period deemed appropriate by the Court, together with such other and further relief 
as the Court deems just and proper. 
I affirm this 5th day of November, 2026, under penalties of perjury under the law of New 
York, which may include a fine or imprisonment, that the foregoing is true, except as to matters 
alleged on information and belief and as to those matters I believe it to be true, and I understand 
that this document may be filed in an action or proceeding in a court of law.  
DATED: Albany, New York  
 
November 5, 2026 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
 
 
HACKER MURPHY, LLP 
 
 
 
_____________________________________  
By: James C. Knox 
      Alishah Bhimani 
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
4 of 6

--- Page 5 ---
5 
 
Attorneys for Defendant Diego Sarabia 
 
Office & P.O. Address 
 
22 Corporate Woods Boulevard, Suite 404 
 
Albany, NY  12211 
 
Telephone:  518-274-5820 
 
jknox@hackermurphy.com  
abhimani@hackermurphy.com 
 
 
 
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
5 of 6

--- Page 6 ---
6 
 
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 202.8-B 
 
 
I, James C. Knox, hereby certify pursuant to Rule 202.8-b of the Uniform Rules of the 
Supreme Courts, that the length of this Affirmation, exclusive of the signature block and of this 
certification itself, is 838 words. In making this certification, I have relied on the word count tool 
in the word processing program that I used to compose this document, Microsoft Word. 
 
Dated: Albany, New York 
 
November 5, 2026 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
HACKER MURPHY LLP 
 
 
 
By:_______________________________________  
James C. Knox 
Attorneys for Defendant Diego Sarabia 
Office & P.O. Address 
22 Corporate Woods Boulevard, Suite 404 
Albany, NY  12211 
Telephone:  518-274-5820 
jknox@hackermurphy.com  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/05/2026 07:23 PM
INDEX NO. 161704/2026
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 100
RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/05/2026
6 of 6

## Transcript



## Machine-readable JSON

https://lucycraig.blog/media/761/index.json