Emergency application

Protection from out-of-state lawsuits

New Jersey Transit Corporation v. Jeffrey Colt

Granted

No. 25A287Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice SotomayorFrom Court of Appeals of New York

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on September 19, 2025: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.

Filed September 11, 2025Ruled September 19, 20258 days after filing

What's being asked

New Jersey Transit, its bus subsidiary, and driver Ana Hernandez ask the Court to pause a New York County damages trial. Jeffrey Colt says a New Jersey Transit bus hit him in a Manhattan crosswalk in 2017. He and Betsy Tsai sued the agency, its bus subsidiary, and driver Hernandez. The transit agency seeks the pause while the Court considers whether it has government immunity from lawsuits.

What the Court did

The Court granted (approved) NJ Transit’s request, pausing (staying) the September 15 damages trial in New York County. The pause lasts until the Court completes two pending cases about whether NJ Transit has government immunity from lawsuits. It did not decide that question, and it did not publish how the justices voted.

Vote not published · 9the order does not say how they voted: Roberts
Thomas
Alito
Sotomayor
Kagan
Gorsuch
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Jackson

The order does not say how any justice voted, as is usual on the emergency docket.

Half of 300 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 28 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 8 days after filing.

What it means

This temporary pause does not decide who should win the crash lawsuit. The New York County Supreme Court damages trial remains paused. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the immunity question in two related cases.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A287. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026

Docket timeline

FiledSep 11, 2025
Application (25A287) for a stay, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
Application (PDF)Appendix (PDF)Document 3 (PDF)
Administrative staySep 12, 2025
Order entered by Justice Sotomayor: Upon consideration of the application of counsel for the applicants, it is ordered that the trial in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, Index No. 158309/2017, is hereby stayed pending further order of Justice Sotomayor or of the Court.
ResponseSep 12, 2025
Response to application from respondent Jeffrey Colt and Betsy Tsai filed.
Response (PDF)Document 2 (PDF)
ReplySep 12, 2025
Reply of applicant New Jersey Transit Corporation, NJ Transit Bus Operations, Inc., and Ana Hernandez filed.
Reply (PDF)Document 2 (PDF)
Referred to the full CourtSep 19, 2025
Application (25A287) referred to the Court.
OrderSep 19, 2025
Application (25A287) for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is granted. The Court has already granted certiorari on the sovereign immunity issue decided below, and the pending damages trial before the Supreme Court of the State of New York would be barred if New Jersey Transit Corporation were entitled to sovereign immunity from suit. Respondents, on the other hand, identify no tangible irreparable harm they would face if the trial were delated until after this Court decides the pending case. The trial scheduled for September 15, 2025, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, is therefore stayed pending the issuance of the mandate of this Court in NJ Transit Corp., et al. v. Colt, Jeffrey, et al., case No. 24-1113, and Galette, Cedric v. NJ Transit Corp., case No. 24-1021.
8 days after filing
OrderSep 19, 2025
Application (25A287) for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is granted. The Court has already granted certiorari on the sovereign immunity issue decided below, and the pending damages trial before the Supreme Court of the State of New York would be barred if New Jersey Transit Corporation were entitled to sovereign immunity from suit. Respondents, on the other hand, identify no tangible irreparable harm they would face if the trial were delated until after this Court decides the pending case. The trial scheduled for September 15, 2025, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, is therefore stayed pending the issuance of the mandate of this Court in NJ Transit Corp., et al. v. Colt, Jeffrey, et al., case No. 24-1113, and Galette, Cedric v. NJ Transit Corp., case No. 24-1021.
8 days after filing

The case below

Ruling under review: Court of Appeals of New York, No. 72
Filings: The application (PDF)Appendix with the lower-court ruling (PDF)