Quinones v. Donahoe

Filing 45

STIPULATION to Continue Trial, Pre-Trial Dates; ORDER re 42 signed by Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean on 10/28/2015. Deadlines extended as follows: Non-Expert Discovery due by 2/1/2016; Defendant's Expert Disclosure due by 12/11/2015; R ebuttal Expert Disclosure due by 1/15/2016; Expert Discovery due by 1/29/2016; Non-Dispositive Motions filed by 2/16/2016; Dispositive Motions filed by 3/28/2016; Pretrial Conference set for 5/24/2016 at 08:15 AM in Courtroom 4 (LJO) before District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill. (Martinez, A)

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BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
United States Attorney
ALYSON A. BERG
Assistant United States Attorney
2500 Tulare Street, Suite 4401
Fresno, California 93721
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Attorneys for Defendant MEGAN BRENNAN, POSTMASTER
GENERAL, UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FELIPE S. QUINONES,

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Plaintiff,
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v.
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PATRICK R. DONAHOE, POSTMASTER
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GENERAL, UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, )
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Defendant.
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1:13-cv-01553-LJO-EPG
STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL,
PRE-TRIAL DATES;
ORDER
(ECF No. 42)

Plaintiff Felipe S. Quinones (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant Megan J. Brennan, (“Defendant”), by

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and through the undersigned counsel for the respective parties, hereby stipulate to the dates in this

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action for the good cause set forth below.
Plaintiff challenges his removal from the position of a part time flexible clerk in the Lindsay

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Post Office alleging religious discrimination. Defendant disputes Plaintiff’s claims because it would

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be an undue hardship on the operations of the Lindsay Post Office to allow Plaintiff to have every

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Saturday off as there is only one other part time clerk to perform those duties on Saturdays. The

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parties have exchanged 6,000 pages of documents and taken four depositions, with five more

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confirmed at this time.1

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The parties have taken four depositions: Glenda Bolosan, Froilan Bolosan, Linda Diniakos, and
APWU president Michael Evans. The parties have confirmed the deposition of Plaintiff Felipe

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STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL, PRE-TRIAL DATES; ORDER

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In an effort to conserve attorneys fees and costs, the parties request to extend all deadlines for

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approximately six-weeks to allow the Defendant to provide a written settlement offer with two weeks

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to consider the demand prior to returning to completing the remaining ten lay depositions, and at least

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two expert depositions. The parties have engaged in approximately three months of on-going

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settlement negotiations, including a productive settlement conference with the Honorable Judge

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Thurston on August 26, 2015.2 Although resolution was not reached in August, the negotiations led

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to a better understanding of the parties’ settlement parameters (i.e., reinstatement for Plaintiff) and a

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renewed effort by counsel to reach a mutually agreeable compromise. Meanwhile, because no

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settlement was reached, Plaintiff retained Tim Sottile as co-counsel in this matter, to serve as lead

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trial counsel, and the parties allowed a brief amount of time for co-counsel to review the file

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materials. 3
Before more fees and costs are incurred that could hinder a resolution of the lawsuit, Plaintiff

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submitted a partial settlement demand to which the Defendant will respond with a written offer and

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allow Plaintiff approximately two weeks to consider the offer of a complete resolution of the lawsuit.

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Because the parties are committed to focusing their efforts on resolution before incurring additional

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fees and costs, there is an agreement to return to Judge Thurston, if necessary, on November 10,

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2015, should negotiations amongst counsel be unsuccessful. While the parties are optimistic that

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resolution can be completed by November 10, 2015, they have agreed to resume conducting the

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remaining lay and expert depositions starting with the Plaintiff’s deposition on November 18, 2015.

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Nevertheless, a brief extension of the current deadlines to allow the parties to focus on a resolution

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before incurring additional fees and costs is warranted.

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Quinones for November 18, 2015, and Mario Rodriguez and Eva Valdez for November 19, 2015.
The depositions of Linda LaForce and David Vance are set for November 24, 2015, and the
deposition of Kerry Wolny for December 1, 2015. The parties are in the process of finalizing the
deposition dates and locations for Paul Pieroni, David Peer, Scott Warkentin, Anil Olivera, and
Richard Pender.
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This date was continued from June 25, 2015 as the parties were still working to narrow their
respective positions before using the services of Judge Thurston.
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Mr. Sottile has a trial calendared to begin the week before the present trial, and should it extend
into the following week as expected, he will have a scheduling conflict.

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STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL, PRE-TRIAL DATES; ORDER

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In addition to the parties commitment to seeking a resolution of the action by November 10,

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2015, the unexpected health concerns of Plaintiff’s counsel’s wife necessitates that the Plaintiff’s

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deposition originally scheduled for October 27, 2015 be continued to November 18, 2015.
Another unexpected circumstance providing good cause for a brief extension of the current

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deadlines is the recent recognition that Plaintiff’s retained expert economist has several records, such

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as Social Security records and employment records, that are not in the possession of Defendant’s

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retained expert economist. Rather than involve the court, the parties have agreed to extend the

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deadline for Defendant’s expert report so that all the records may be considered and discussed in

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Defendant’s report. Accordingly, good cause exists to extend the discovery deadline so that the

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reports are as comprehensive as possible, which in turn, reduces the time for the expert depositions,

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and may obviate the need for the depositions.4
Accordingly, the parties stipulate and agree to continue the following dates, and base it on the

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above-stated good cause:
Old Date

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New Date

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Close of Non Expert Discovery

December 1, 2015

February 1, 2016

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Plaintiff’s Expert Disclosure

October 8, 2015

completed

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Defendant’s Expert Disclosure

October 28, 2015

December 11, 2015

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Rebuttal Expert Disclosure

November 2, 2015

January 15, 2016

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Expert Discovery Cut-Off

December 1, 2015

January 30, 2016

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Non- Dispositive Motions

December 14, 2015

February 15, 2016

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Dispositive Motions

February 22, 2016

March 28, 2016

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Although this court has already extended the discovery cut off from July 31, 2015 to December 1,
2015, the parties request the additional six-weeks to ensure the parties devote their time and energies
to resolution on or before November 10, 2015.

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STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL, PRE-TRIAL DATES; ORDER

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Pre Trial Conference

April 19, 2016

May 16, 2016

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Trial Date:

July 19, 2016 (3-4 days)

September 19, 2016

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Respectfully submitted,

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BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

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Dated: October 26, 2015

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/s/Alyson A. Berg
ALYSON A. BERG
Attorney for Defendant Megan A. Brennan
Postmaster General, United States Postal Service

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CHURCH STATE COUNCIL

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(As authorized 10/26/15)

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Dated: October 26, 2015

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/s/Alan J. Reinach
Alan J. Reinach
Jonathon Cherne
Attorneys for Plaintiff Felipe S. Quinones
SOTTILE & BALTAXE

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(As authorized 10/26/15)

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Dated: October 26, 2015

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/s/Timothy Sottile
Timothy Sottile
Attorneys for Plaintiff Felipe S. Quinones

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STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL, PRE-TRIAL DATES; ORDER

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ORDER

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The Court, having considered the above Stipulation and finding good cause to amend its

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previous scheduling order, orders the following deadlines to be continued as follows:

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PREVIOUS DATE

NEW DATE

Non-expert discovery cutoff

December 1, 2015

February 1, 2016

Defendant’s Expert
Disclosure

October 28, 2015

December 11, 2015

Rebuttal Expert Disclosure

November 2, 2015

January 15, 2016

Expert discovery cutoff

December 1, 2015

January 29, 2016

December 14, 2015

February 16, 2016

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Non-dispositive motion filing
deadline

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Dispositive motion deadline

February 22, 2016

March 28, 2016

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Pretrial Conference

January 12, 2016

May 24, 2016

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Time: 8:15 a.m.

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Dept.: 4

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All other deadlines, including the trial date of July 19, 2016, remain as previously set by the

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Scheduling Conference Order (ECF No. 25) as amended by prior stipulations (ECF Nos. 27, 39). The

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parties are advised that the Court will disfavor any further extensions or amendments to the discovery

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schedule.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:

October 28, 2015

/s/
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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STIPULATION TO CONTINUE TRIAL, PRE-TRIAL DATES; ORDER

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