Mueller v. Car Wash Partners Incorporated

Filing 56

ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Strike (Doc. 48 ) is denied. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint (Doc. 47 ) is denied. Signed by Judge Rosemary Marquez on 2/16/21. (MYE)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Stephanie Mueller,
Plaintiff,

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ORDER

v.

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No. CV-20-00045-TUC-RM

Car Wash Partners Incorporated,

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Defendant.

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Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint

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(Doc. 47), and Defendant’s combined Response and Motion to Strike (Doc. 48). 1 For the

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following reasons, both Motions will be denied.

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I.

Background

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Plaintiff initiated this action on January 27, 2020, alleging that Defendant

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terminated her employment because she was pregnant, in violation of Title VII of the

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Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Doc. 1 at 4.)2 The Court issued a Scheduling Order setting a

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June 30, 2020 deadline for amending pleadings, a December 11, 2020 deadline for

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completing discovery, and a January 11, 2021 deadline for filing dispositive motions.

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(Doc. 22 at 1-3.)3
Plaintiff filed the pending Motion to Amend on December 15, 2020—nearly six

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Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 51) will be resolved separately.
All record citations herein refer to the page numbers generated by the Court’s electronic
filing system.
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These deadlines were proposed by the parties in their Joint Rule 26(f) Report. (Doc. 20
at 6-7.)
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months after expiration of the deadline for amending pleadings, four days after the close

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of discovery, and less than a month before the dispositive motion deadline. (Doc. 47.)

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II.

Motion to Strike

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Defendant asks the Court to strike Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend on the grounds

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that it fails to abide by this Court’s Scheduling Order and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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16. (Doc. 48 at 1-2, 4-7, 10.) Defendant also asks the Court to order Plaintiff to pay the

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attorneys’ fees it incurred in responding to the Motion, as a sanction under Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 16(f). (Id.)

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A.

Legal Standard

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“[A] motion to strike may be filed only if it is authorized by statute or rule . . . or if

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it seeks to strike any part of a filing or submission on the ground that it is prohibited (or

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not authorized) by a statute, rule, or court order.” LRCiv 7.2(m)(1). Under Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 16(f)(1)(C), the Court “may issue any just orders” if a party or its

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attorney “fails to obey a scheduling . . . order.” “Instead of or in addition to any other

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sanction, the court must order the party, its attorney, or both to pay the reasonable

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expenses—including attorney’s fees—incurred because of any noncompliance” with Rule

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16, “unless the noncompliance was substantially justified or other circumstances make an

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award of expenses unjust.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f)(2).

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B.

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The Court construes Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend as both requesting leave to

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amend her Complaint and requesting modification of the Court’s Scheduling Order. See

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Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271, 1294 (9th Cir. 2000). Although motions to

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extend deadlines set forth in the Scheduling Order should be filed prior to expiration of

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the deadline that the movant seeks to extend (Doc. 22 at 6), the Court does not find that

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striking Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend or imposing sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil

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Procedure 16(f) is appropriate under the circumstances. Instead, the Court will consider

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Plaintiff’s diligence in seeking modification of the Scheduling Order as part of its

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analysis of the merits of her Motion to Amend. Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion to

Discussion

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Strike will be denied.

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III.

Motion to Amend

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Plaintiff requests leave of Court to amend her Complaint to add a request for

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punitive damages along with the following allegations: (1) “Defendant engaged in

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unlawful intentional discrimination and acted either with malice or with reckless

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indifference to Plaintiff’s federally protected rights” and (2) “Because Defendant engaged

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in unlawful intentional discrimination and acted with malice or with reckless indifference

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to Plaintiff’s federally protected rights, Plaintiff is entitled to an award of punitive

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damages against Defendant pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(a)(1).” (Doc. 47-1 at 3-4.)

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A.

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When a scheduling order’s deadline for amending pleadings has expired by the

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time a motion to amend is filed, the motion is properly examined first under Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 16(b) as a motion to modify the scheduling order. Coleman, 232 at

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1294. Rule 16(b)(4) provides that a scheduling order “may be modified only for good

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cause and with the judge’s consent.” “This standard ‘primarily considers the diligence of

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the party seeking the amendment.’” Coleman, 232 F.3d at 1294 (quoting Johnson v.

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Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992)). Modification of a

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scheduling order is appropriate if the order “cannot reasonably be met despite the

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diligence of the party seeking” the modification. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 advisory committee’s

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notes to 1983 amendment. But if the moving “party was not diligent, the inquiry should

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end.” Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609; see also Wong v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 410 F.3d

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1052, 1060 (9th Cir. 2005) (“Parties must understand that they will pay a price for failure

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to comply strictly with scheduling and other orders . . . .”).

Legal Standard

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If the party seeking to amend shows good cause under Rule 16(b)(4), the Court

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must then analyze whether amendment would be proper under the liberal requirements of

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Rule 15(a). Johnson, 975 F.2d at 608.

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matter of course under Rule 15(a)(1), “a party may amend its pleading only with the

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opposing party’s written consent or the court’s leave.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). The

With the exception of amendments made as a

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Court has discretion in determining whether to grant or deny leave to amend, Foman v.

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Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962), but leave should freely be given “when justice so

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requires,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). In determining whether to grant leave to amend under

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Rule 15(a)(2), the Court considers whether there has been “‘undue delay, bad faith or

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dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by

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amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of

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allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.’” Eminence Capital, LLC v.

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Aspeon, Inc., 316 F.3d 1048, 1052 (9th Cir. 2003) (per curiam) (quoting Foman, 371 U.S.

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at 182).

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B.

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A plaintiff bringing a Title VII action against a defendant that “engaged in

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unlawful intentional discrimination” may recover punitive damages if she demonstrates

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that the defendant “engaged in a discriminatory practice or discriminatory practices with

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malice or with reckless indifference to the [plaintiff’s] federally protected rights.” 42

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U.S.C. § 1981a(a)(1), (b)(1). To be liable for punitive damages, an employer must

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“discriminate in the face of a perceived risk that its actions will violate federal law.”

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Kolstad v. Am. Dental Ass’n, 527 U.S. 526, 536 (1999).

Discussion

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Plaintiff argues that when she filed her original Complaint she “did not have

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sufficient knowledge about Defendant’s evidence in order to assert a claim for punitive

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damages” but that she discovered facts supporting such a claim during depositions taken

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in November and December 2020. (Doc. 47 at 1-2; Doc. 49 at 1.) Plaintiff avers that she

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“could not have known until” those depositions that Defendant “had no legitimate

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reason” to terminate her. (Doc. 49 at 3.) But this entire action is premised on Plaintiff’s

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allegation that Defendant terminated her not for a legitimate reason but “because of her

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pregnancy.” (Doc. 1 at 4.) The evidence that Plaintiff purports to have discovered during

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the November and December 2020 depositions does not substantially differ from the

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factual allegations of her original Complaint.

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Plaintiff discovered her supervisor, Mayra Chimienti, learned she was pregnant in

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(Compare Doc. 49 at 3 (averring that

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January 2019 and terminated her in February 2019 due to her “negativity”), with Doc. 1

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at 3 (alleging that Chimienti noticed Plaintiff was pregnant in January 2019 and

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terminated her in February 2019 for “spreading negativity”).) Indeed, Plaintiff avers that

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her proposed amendment would not require additional discovery because her “factual

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allegations have not changed.” (Doc. 49 at 2.) If the existing factual allegations of

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Plaintiff’s Complaint support a claim for punitive damages, then there is no reason why

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Plaintiff could not have asserted such a claim when she filed that Complaint in January

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2020.

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But even accepting Plaintiff’s argument that she lacked knowledge of evidence

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supporting a claim for punitive damages until she deposed Defendant’s employees in

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November and December 2020, Plaintiff has not shown diligence for purposes of Federal

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Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4). If Plaintiff believed that she could assert a claim for

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punitive damages if she discovered evidence that Defendant did not have a legitimate

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reason to terminate her, then she could have deposed Defendant’s employees—or served

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requests for written discovery regarding Defendant’s reasons for terminating her—earlier

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in the discovery period, before the deadline for amending pleadings had expired. If she

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was unable to do so despite reasonable diligence, she could have sought an extension of

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the deadline.

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Defendant’s employees and waited until after discovery had closed to move to amend.

Instead, she waited until the end of the discovery period to depose

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Because Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend is untimely under the Court’s Scheduling

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Order and Plaintiff has not established good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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16(b)(4) to modify the Scheduling Order, the Court need not reach the Rule 15(a)

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standard for amending pleadings. See Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (if the moving party fails

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to show diligence under Rule 16(b)’s “good cause” standard, “the inquiry should end”).

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The Court notes, however, that allowing Plaintiff to amend her Complaint to assert a

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punitive damages claim at this juncture would prejudice Defendant. Defendant avers that

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Plaintiff did not indicate she was considering pursuing punitive damages until she filed

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the pending Motion to Amend, at which time Defendant “was already in the process of

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preparing its dispositive motion.” (Doc. 48 at 7, 9.) Defendant’s Motion for Summary

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Judgment is currently pending before the Court. (Doc. 51.) To ameliorate prejudice to

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Defendant, the Court would likely need to reopen discovery and allow Defendant to file a

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supplemental dispositive motion, which would unduly delay these proceedings.

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IT IS ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Strike (Doc. 48) is denied.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File Amended

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Complaint (Doc. 47) is denied.
Dated this 16th day of February, 2021.

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