Samuels v. Ahlin et al

Filing 138

ORDER GRANTING State Defendants' 127 Motion to Stay, signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 9/6/19. (Marrujo, C)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DOUGAL SAMUELS,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 1:10-cv-00585-DAD-EPG

ORDER GRANTING STATE DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO STAY

v.
PAM AHLIN, et al.,

(Doc. No. 127)

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Defendants.

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On April 17, 2019, defendants Pam Ahlin, Stephen Mayberg, Audrey King, Brandon

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Price, Ron Withrow, Kiran Hundal, Ron Howard, Cynthia Radavasky, and former Governor

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Arnold Schwarzenegger (collectively the “state defendants”) moved for a stay in this action.

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(Doc. No. 127.) Those same defendants had previously filed a motion for reconsideration (Doc.

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No. 126), requesting that the court reconsider its previous dismissal order in light of intervening

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Ninth Circuit authority. See Hines v. Youseff, 914 F.3d 1218, 1224 (9th Cir. 2019), petition for

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cert. filed sub nom. Smith v. Schwarzenegger, No. 18-1590 (U.S. June 27, 2019). Anticipating

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that their motion for reconsideration will likely be granted—the result of which would be

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dismissal of the state defendants from this case—the state defendants argue that imposition of a

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stay is appropriate to prevent them from unnecessarily continuing to litigate this case. (See Doc.

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No. 127-1 at 2–3.) Plaintiff Dougal Samuels filed an opposition to the motion on June 18, 2019.

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(Doc. No. 131.) The state defendants filed a reply on July 9, 2019. The court deems the motion

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suitable for decision without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 230(g).

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Plaintiff asserts that a stay of this action “is merely an unnecessary waste of the Court’s

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time and expense” in light of the fact that the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Hines “holds no

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relevance[]” to this case. (Doc. No. 131 at 3.) The undersigned disagrees. Without resolving the

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pending for motion for reconsideration, the court concludes that the issue decided by the Ninth

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Circuit in Hines—whether the right to be free from heightened exposure to Valley Fever spores

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was clearly established at a given point in time for purposes of a qualified immunity defense—is

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clearly relevant to this case. On that basis, the court will exercise its discretion and grant a stay as

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requested by the state defendants.

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For these reasons,

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1.

The motion to stay filed on April 17, 2019 (Doc. No. 127) is granted; and

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2.

This action is stayed as to all causes of action against defendants Pam Ahlin,

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Stephen Mayberg, Audrey King, Brandon Price, Ron Withrow, Kiran Hundal, Ron

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Howard, Cynthia Radavasky, and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

September 6, 2019
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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