NEW ROCHELLE, NY (July 12, 2026) — A Westchester County mother’s lawsuit seeking a $12,627.50 tuition refund from Anna & Jack’s Treehouse, LLC and Rob Rubicco has ended in a settlement, according to court records filed in Westchester County Supreme Court — but not before the plaintiff’s attorney had to press for two months just to get a signed agreement delivered.
As Talk of the Sound reported in Part XVI, Jana Junuz sued the defendants in August 2024, alleging they refused to refund prepaid tuition after she withdrew her son from the program in March 2024, and had instead demanded she sign a non-disparagement agreement and, later, a confession of judgment as conditions for a refund Rubicco had already verbally agreed to. Junuz moved for a default judgment on Nov. 24, 2025, after the defendants’ verified answer was rejected as untimely.
A settlement, one day after the default motion
According to a Jan. 29, 2026 letter to the court from Junuz’s attorney, Jared K. Cook of Tully Rinckey PLLC, the parties reached a settlement in principle on Nov. 25, 2025 — one day after the default judgment motion was filed. The letter states Junuz accepted the defendants’ offer to settle “for a specific sum,” in exchange for a release of claims and a non-disparagement agreement. The settlement amount is not disclosed in the court filings reviewed by Talk of the Sound.
Cook’s letter states he and defense counsel Jeffrey M. Schwartz spent the following weeks negotiating the form of the agreement and reached final language on Dec. 16, 2025.
Two months of delay before the agreement was executed
What followed, according to Cook’s letter, was a lengthy chase to actually obtain a signed copy. Schwartz told Cook that his client had signed the agreement in his office on Dec. 23, 2025, but that he was leaving for vacation and would send the executed copy upon his return on Jan. 6, 2026. That deadline passed. Schwartz then said he would send it Jan. 10; that deadline also passed. Cook followed up again Jan. 15; Schwartz said he would call the next day “to finalize the file,” but did not. Cook wrote that he continued following up by phone and email on Jan. 19, 21, 22 and 28 without any response.
“I am hesitant to ascribe bad faith to another member of the bar,” Cook wrote to the court, “and I am therefore choosing to hope that Mr. Schwartz has innocently neglected to deliver the executed settlement agreement.” He warned that if the agreement was not delivered within seven calendar days, Junuz intended to move to enforce the settlement and seek sanctions.
The court had already scheduled a Feb. 3, 2026 conference requiring both appearances and the settlement agreement.
Agreement finally delivered
The following day, Jan. 30, 2026, Cook wrote to the court again to report that he had received the signed settlement agreement from Schwartz that afternoon and forwarded it to his client for final execution. He wrote that he expected to deliver a fully executed copy to the defendants shortly and anticipated filing a stipulation of dismissal “next week, after payment has been made.”
Justice Robert S. Ondrovic endorsed that letter, granting the application and directing that a stipulation of discontinuance be filed by Feb. 17, 2026, or that the parties appear. That deadline was later administratively extended when the court rescheduled a related conference from Feb. 17 to Feb. 18, 2026.
Case discontinued
A Stipulation of Discontinuance, signed by both Cook and Schwartz, was filed Feb. 27, 2026, formally closing the case without costs to either side. The stipulation lists the defendants as Anna & Jack’s Treehouse, LLC and Rob Rubicco.
Talk of the Sound has not obtained records showing the final settlement amount or when payment was actually made, and — consistent with the non-disparagement terms described in Cook’s letter — does not expect further public detail on the settlement’s substance to become available through the court file.
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Editor’s note: On July 9, 2026, four plenary summonses were served on this publication’s publisher by Sheehan & Partners LLP on behalf of LLCs associated with Robert P. Rubicco, in connection with this series. Talk of the Sound continues to report on matters of public record and will provide updates on that litigation as appropriate.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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