Felix et al v. The State of California et al

Filing 37

STIPULATION and ORDER to CONTINUE Trial and Pretrial Dates. Non-Expert Discovery due by 2/21/2015. Expert Disclosures due by 3/25/2015. Rebuttal Expert Disclosures due by 4/9/2015. Expert Discovery Deadline: 5/18/2015. Non-Dispositive Moti on Filing Deadline: 6/17/2015. Dispositive Motion Filing Deadline: 6/17/2015. Settlement Conference set for 3/25/2015, at 01:00 PM in Courtroom 9 (SAB) before Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone. Pretrial Conference set for 11/4/2015, at 02:00 P M in Courtroom 7 (SKO) before Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto. Jury Trial set for 1/26/2016, at 08:30 AM in Courtroom 7 (SKO) before Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto. Order signed by Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto on 8/18/2014. (Timken, A)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ROBERT FELIX and JACK PHELPS,
individuals,

AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER
Plaintiffs, TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND PRETRIAL DATES; ORDER THEREON

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1:13-cv-00561- SKO

v.
Judge:
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL
SERVICES, OFFICE OF PROTECTIVE
SERVICES,

Complaint Filed:

The Honorable Sheila
K. Oberto
April 17, 2013

Defendant.

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and among ROBERT FELIX (“FELIX”) and JACK

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PHELPS (“PHELPS”) (“Plaintiffs”) and STATE OF CALIFORNIA, DEPARTMENT OF

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DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES, INC. (“Defendant” or “Defendant”) (collectively, the

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“Parties”), through their respective undersigned counsel, as follows:

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WHEREAS, this Court entered the current Scheduling Order in this matter on
September 16, 2013 (Court Docket, Document No. 24);

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WHEREAS, pursuant to consent given by all parties, on August 11, 2014, the Court entered

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an order re-assigning this matter for all purposes to the Honorable District Court Magistrate Judge

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Sheila Oberto (Court Docket, Document No. 34);

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WHEREAS, this is a multi-Plaintiff case where Plaintiffs allege harassment, discrimination,

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retaliation and disparate treatment in the terms and conditions of employment occurring over the

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course of approximately 8 years;

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WHEREAS, the United States Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC)

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received Plaintiffs’ Charges of Discrimination in February of 2008 and conducted an extensive

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investigation that took the EEOC approximately 4 years to complete;

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WHEREAS, Plaintiffs were not issued Right to Sue letters on their February 2008 Charges
of Discrimination until 2013;
WHEREAS, the Parties’ Rule 26 disclosures identify more than 30 witnesses located all
across the State of California and out-of-state;
WHEREAS, the Parties have exchanged well over 40,000 pages of documents related to
this case;
WHEREAS, Plaintiffs propounded written discovery on Defendants in or around
January 2014;
WHEREAS, Defendant provided initial responses on or about April 22, 2014, after
Plaintiffs granted requested response deadline extensions;
WHEREAS, Plaintiffs and Defendant have met and conferred in good faith regarding

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disputed issues relating to Defendant’s responses to Plaintiffs first sets of interrogatories and

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Defendant’s Rule 26 disclosures;
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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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WHEREAS, during the course of the Parties’ meet and confer efforts, Plaintiffs agreed to

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limit or to modify certain discovery requests, and Defendant agreed to provide various

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supplemental interrogatory responses and supplemental Rule 26 disclosures responsive to the

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modified or limited discovery requests;

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WHEREAS, Defendant has provided additional documents related to the Rule 26

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disclosures and document requests and some but not all of the agreed-upon supplemental

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interrogatory responses;

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WHEREAS, Defendant anticipates that based on its discovery responses, a future on-site
visit by Plaintiffs may be required in order to review documents potentially responsive to
propounded discovery;
WHEREAS, during the meet and confer process, the Parties have agreed that additional

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time will be necessary for the Parties to conduct adequate discovery so that they may evaluate and

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prepare the case for settlement and/or trial;

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WHEREAS, neither Party initially scheduled depositions due to scheduling difficulties and

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the need to complete certain written discovery and to review many thousands of pages of

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documents prior to taking depositions;

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WHEREAS, Defendant is currently taking Plaintiff Jack Phelps’ deposition and has
scheduled Plaintiff Robert Felix’ deposition for August 14 and 15;
WHEREAS, given the number of alleged discriminatory and retaliatory events over the

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course of 8 years, Defendant is unsure if it can complete Plaintiffs’ depositions within the agreed

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upon 12 hours over two days but is trying to the best of its ability to do so;

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WHEREAS, the following depositions (some of which conflict as to time and/or location)
have been noticed by the parties and scheduled as follows:

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DEPONENT

DEPOSITION DAY AND TIME

JACK PHELPS

August 7, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

JACK PHELPS

August 8, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

ROBERT FELIX

August 14, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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DEPONENT

DEPOSITION DAY AND TIME

ROBERT FELIX

August 15, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

SCOTT GARDNER

August 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

JEFF BRADLEY

August 18, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

CARLOS MARTINEZ

August 18, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

KEVIN COOK

August 19, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

LISA HUFF

August 19, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

KATHY WOODSIDE

August 19, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

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JAMES RODRIGUEZ

August 20, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

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RAMONA PHELPS

August 20, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

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JOANN FELIX

August 20, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

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DAN DILLARD

August 20, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

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JOE BOMGARDNER

August 21, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

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BOB LEWIS (Sonoma, California)

August 21, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

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GENE ALVAREZ

August 21, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

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WHEREAS, Defendant has been notified that at least three of those individuals are

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currently represented by outside counsel and believes that two other witnesses may also be

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represented by outside counsel;

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WHEREAS, Defendant has been informed by the outside counsel for three of the

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represented witnesses that he will be unable to attend the currently scheduled depositions and will

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not be able to attend any depositions prior to the current discovery cut off date;

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WHEREAS, Defendant has been informed by outside counsel for three of the witnesses he

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will not be available to attend depositions until the end of September due to his unavailability and

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a pre-scheduled vacation out of the country;

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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WHEREAS, Defendant has also been notified that one of the witnesses is no longer located

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at the last known address on file for the witness and attempts to serve the individual are

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continuing;

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WHEREAS, the Parties believe the depositions scheduled by each side will need to be

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rescheduled due to calendar conflicts and the impossibility of completing most of the depositions

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within the two to three hours for which they have been scheduled;

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WHEREAS, it would be inconvenient for the deponents and for counsel to recess their

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depositions after two to three hours and to reschedule the completion of their depositions for

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another date that was mutually agreeable to the witnesses and counsel.

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WHEREAS, the Parties have tentatively agreed to engage in private mediation in or about
December, 2014 to February, 2015, following the completion of key witness depositions;

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WHEREAS, the Parties will need to schedule dozens of additional non-expert depositions
thereafter if the Parties are unable to resolve the case;

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WHEREAS, the Parties will also need to schedule numerous expert depositions thereafter if
the Parties are unable to resolve the case;

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WHEREAS, the Parties agree the complexity of this case, along with the difficulty in

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scheduling depositions and the other factors described more fully herein constitute good cause

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pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 16(b)(4) for the Court to extend the non-expert

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discovery deadline in order to complete adequate discovery, and to extend the trial date and/or

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some or all of the remaining pre-trial dates and deadlines;

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IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by and among the Parties that all dates and

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deadlines in the current Scheduling Order shall be extended approximately six months or as close

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thereto as the Court’s calendar will permit. Should the Court agree to extend all dates, the Parties

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propose that the current deadlines and dates shall be modified as follows (or as close thereto as

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the Court’s calendar will permit):

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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EVENT/DEADLINE

CURRENT DATE

PROPOSED DATES

Non-Expert Discovery

08/21/2014

02/21/2015

Expert Disclosure

09/25/2014

03/25/2015

Settlement Conference

09/25/2014

03/25/2015

Rebuttal Expert Disclosure

10/09/2014

04/09/2015

Expert Discovery Deadline

11/18/2014

05/18/2015

Non-Disp. Motion Hearing

12/31/2014

06/17/2015

Dispositive Motion Hearing

12/31/2014

06/17/2015

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Pre-Trial Conference

05/07/2015

11/07/2015

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Trial

06/23/2015

1/25/2016

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IT IS SO STIPULATED.

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Dated: August 11, 2014

LAW OFFICE OF DEAN B. GORDON

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By: /s/ Dean B. Gordon
Dean B. Gordon
Attorneys for Plaintiffs Robert Felix
and Jack Phelps

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Dated: August 11, 2014

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

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By: /s/ Mary Horst
Mary Horst
Deputy Attorney General
Attorneys for Defendant Department
of Developmental Services

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON

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ORDER

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The parties stipulated to a modification of the schedule. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY

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ORDERED that the current Scheduling Order in this case shall be modified and all dates and

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deadlines shall be continued approximately six months. The new dates and deadlines shall be as

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follows:

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EVENT/DEADLINE

CURRENT DATE

NEW DATE

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Non-Expert Discovery

08/21/2014

02/21/2015

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Expert Disclosure

09/25/2014

03/25/2015

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Settlement Conference

09/25/2014

03/25/2015

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Rebuttal Expert Disclosure

10/09/2014

04/09/2015

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Expert Discovery Deadline

11/18/2014

05/18/2015

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Non-Disp. Motion Filing

12/31/2014

06/17/2015

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Non-Disp. Motion Hearing

02/11/2015

08/12/2015

Dispositive Motion Filing

12/31/2014

06/17/2015

Dispositive Motion Hearing

03/18/2015

09/16/2015

Pre-Trial Conference

05/07/2015

11/04/2015

Trial

06/23/2015

1/26/2016

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The March 25, 2015, settlement conference will be held before U.S. Magistrate Judge

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Stanley A. Boone in Courtroom 9 at 1:00 p.m. The Pretrial Conference is continued to November

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4, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 7. The trial is continued to January 26, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in

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Courtroom 7.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

August 18, 2014

/s/ Sheila K. Oberto
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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AMENDED STIPULATION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE
TRIAL AND PRE-TRIAL DATES (1:13-cv-00561-SKO); ORDER THEREON