Adams v. Homeward Residential, Inc.
Filing
32
ORDER denying 21 Motion to Stay Discovery; granting 23 Motion to Compel Discovery. To the extent Defendant has not done so, it is directed to supplement its discovery responses by January 31, 2014. Signed by Magistrate Judge Sonja F. Bivins on 1/15/2014. Copies to parties. (sdb)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ANNIE B. ADAMS,
:
:
: CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-00329-WS-B
:
:
:
:
:
:
Plaintiff,
vs.
HOMEWARD RESIDENTIAL,INC.,
Defendant.
ORDER
This
action
is
before
the
Court
on
Defendant
Homeward
Residential, Inc.’s Motion to Stay Discovery or Alternatively,
Motion
for
Bifurcation
of
Discovery
and
Entry
of
Amended
Scheduling Order (Doc. 21) and Plaintiff Annie Adams’ Motion to
Compel
Discovery
(Doc.
23).
Upon
consideration,
Defendant’s
motion to stay is DENIED, and Plaintiff’s motion to compel is
GRANTED.
I. Background
Plaintiff filed this action in June 2013 as a purported
class
action.1
(Doc.
1).
Plaintiff
alleges
that
Defendant
engaged in deceptive collection activity by failing to comply
with the requirements of 15 U.S.C. § 1692g. Counsel for the
1
The complaint was amended on December 4, 2013. A copy of a
letter referenced in the original complaint was attached as an
exhibit to the amended complaint. (Doc. 19).
parties met, and pursuant to the Court’s preliminary scheduling
order, submitted a joint report of the parties’ planning meeting
on September 9, 2013.
(Doc. 9).
In the report, Plaintiff took
the position that discovery should focus on class discovery and
the merits of her claim.
(Doc. 9 at 2).
Defendant took the
position that discovery should focus on “the propriety of class
certification, and not on the merits of the case.”
(Id.)
On
September 11, 2013, the court entered a Rule 16(b) scheduling
order
which
individual
provides
claims
of
that
discovery
the
named
is
to
Plaintiff
focus
and
on
the
the
class
certification issues, and is to be completed by March 14, 2014.
(Doc. 11).
Plaintiff served discovery requests on Defendant on
September 9, 2013. (Doc. 21-1).
were
received
on
November
Defendant’s discovery responses
5,
2013.
Subsequent
thereto,
Plaintiff’s counsel repeatedly contacted defense counsel about
alleged deficiencies with the responses.
(Doc. 23 at 2-3).
On December 10, 2013, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss
and a motion seeking an order staying discovery or bifurcating
discovery
21).
into
merits/class
certification
phases.
(Docs.
20,
In the motion to stay (Doc. 21), Defendant argues that all
discovery should be stayed because Plaintiff has failed to state
a claim for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Defendant
contends
that
permitting
Plaintiff
to
conduct
discovery on class certification issues prior to a ruling on
2
Defendant’s motion to dismiss would be prejudicial to Defendant
because it will have to expend significant resources to comply
with expansive discovery requests on issues that may not survive
Defendant’s
motion
to
dismiss.
(Doc.
21
at
3).
In
the
alternative, Defendant contends that the Court should bifurcate
discovery so that the initial discovery focuses solely on the
merits of Plaintiff’s claim, and only broadened discovery if
issues relating to Plaintiff’s claims are decided in her favor.
(Id.
at
argues
4).
that
Plaintiff
a
stay
opposes
would
Defendant’s
reward
defense
efforts to delay discovery in this case.
stay
request
counsel
(Doc. 29).
for
and
their
Plaintiff
further argues that counsel for the parties met and agreed to a
discovery plan that did not provide for bifurcated discovery;
thus, Defendant should not be allowed to belatedly alter the
discovery schedule in this case.
(Id.).
Plaintiff also asserts
that contrary to Defendant’s assertion, the Manual for Complex
Litigation Third does not contemplate “merits” discovery first,
but
instead
contemplates
discovery first.
proceeding
(Id. at 4).
with
class
certification
Plaintiff has asserted similar
arguments in its motion to compel discovery.
(Doc. 23).
In
opposing Plaintiff’s motion to compel, Defendant again argues
that
all
permitting
discovery
Plaintiff
should
to
be
stayed
conduct
at
discovery
this
point
while
because
Defendant’s
motion to dismiss is pending would require Defendant to expend
3
significant
resources
to
comply
with
expansive
discovery
requests on issues that may not survive the motion to dismiss.
(Doc. 28).
II. Discussion
Courts have “broad discretion over the management of pretrial activities, including discovery and scheduling.”
Johnson
v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Ga., 263 F.3d 1234, 1269 (11th
Cir. 2001).
Further, the Eleventh Circuit has observed that
whenever possible, facial challenges to the legal sufficiency of
a complaint, raised in a dispositive motion to dismiss, should
be resolved before discovery begins.
Cotton v. Massachusetts
Mut. Life Ins. Co., 402 F.3d 1267, 1292 (11th Cir. 2005); see
also Moore v. Potter, 141 F. Appx. 803, 807-08 (11th Cir. 2005)
(unpublished)2 (upholding the staying of discovery until ruling
on the defendant's motion to dismiss).
Of course, the rationale
for such is that early resolution of
purely legal questions
obviates the need for costly discovery.
See Chudasama v. Mazda
Motor Corp., 123 F.3d 1353, 1367-68 (11th Cir. 1997) (discussing
the various costs of discovery, which can be avoided if a court
dismisses a nonmeritorious claim before discovery has begun).
In the case at hand, Defendant filed the pending motion to
2
“Unpublished
opinions
are
not
considered
binding
precedent, but they may be cited as persuasive authority.” 11TH
CIR. R. 36-2 (2005).
4
dismiss at least three months after the scheduling order had
been entered and after discovery was well underway.
Given that
the motion to dismiss is based on information that was readily
available to Defendant, it is not clear why Defendant did not
seek a stay on the front end, but instead waited until the
parties were fully engaged in discovery to seek a stay.
What is
clear, however, is that halting discovery at this stage will
interfere with the scheduling order that is in place, and will
result in unnecessary delay if the motion to dismiss is denied.
The risk that Defendant will be forced to engage in needless
discovery could have been addressed early on had Defendant acted
promptly in filing its dispositive motion and request for a
stay.
Accordingly,
the
undersigned
finds
that
under
the
circumstances of this case, a stay of discovery at this juncture
is not appropriate.
The
Court
bifurcation.
likewise
denies
Defendant’s
request
for
As noted supra, before entry of the scheduling
order in this case, counsel for the parties conferred and filed
a Rule 26(f) report wherein both parties agreed that discovery
should focus on the propriety of class certification.
taken
that
early
position,
Defendant
is
now
estopped
Having
from
arguing, during the height of discovery, that discovery should
be confined to the claims of the named Plaintiff.
Accordingly,
Defendant’s motion to stay discovery is DENIED, and Plaintiff’s
5
motion to compel is GRANTED.
To the extent Defendant has not
done so, it is directed to supplement its discovery responses by
January 31, 2014.
DONE this the 15th day of January, 2014.
/s/ SONJA F. BIVINS
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
6
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