Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation et al

Filing 35

JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER CONTINUING PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES signed by Chief Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill on August 30, 2018. (Munoz, I)

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Abigail R. Leaf, #210293
Aaron J. Aguirre, #303074
STAMMER, McKNIGHT, BARNUM & BAILEY LLP
2540 West Shaw Lane, Suite 110
Fresno, California 93711-2765
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN
Kenneth Spencer, SBN: 140982
BAKER, KEENER & NAHRA, LLP
633 West 5th Street
Suite 5500
Los Angeles, California 90071
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Paul V. Kaulas, BAR ID #6184224 (Pro Hac Vice)
McVEY & PARSKY, LLC
30 N. LaSalle Street
Suite 2100
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendants
TRICAM INDUSTRIES, INC. and
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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)
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)
Plaintiff,
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v.
)
)
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION; )
TRICAM INDUSTRIES, INC.
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Defendants.
)

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///

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CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN

CASE NO.: 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG
JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER
CONTINUING PRETRIAL AND TRIAL
DEADLINES

Action Filed: June 13, 2017
Trial Date: October 30, 2018

-1Christopher Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG 56-8688
JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES

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Plaintiff Christopher Sullivan, Defendant Costco Wholesale Corporation, and

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Defendant Tricam Industries, Inc., constituting all the parties appearing in this action,

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through undersigned counsel of record hereby stipulate to continue the Final Pretrial

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Conference from September 7, 2018 to November 9, 2018, and to continue Trial

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from October 30, 2018, to January 7, 2019. The parties further stipulate to reopening

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discovery and expert discovery and to a new Discovery Deadline of October 15,

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2018, and Expert Discovery Deadline of October 30, 2018. This is the first request

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to continue in this case.

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Pursuant to Rule 16(b)(4), good cause exists for the Court to modify the

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Scheduling order entered on October 16, 2017, and continue the pretrial and trial

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deadlines. GOOD CAUSE for this continuance exists in that prior to August 9, 2018,

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Plaintiff believed his left shoulder/arm pain and neurologic symptoms were solely related

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to his left shoulder. However, on August 9, 2018, his physicians informed him that they

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suspected this pain and associated neurologic symptoms were at least partially related to

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his cervical spine injury. On August 15, 2018, Plaintiff underwent an x-ray of his cervical

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spine which showed evidence of a severe degenerative disc disease and spondylosis at C5-

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C6, and C6-C7. These findings were confirmed in a subsequent MRI taken on August 16,

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2018. On August 20, 2016, Plaintiff was told by his physicians that he required a 3-level

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cervical fusion (C3-C7), and they recommended he undergo that procedure sooner rather

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than later. Plaintiff’s cervical fusion surgery is scheduled for September 24, 2018, and

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will entail a 4 to 6 week recovery period.

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Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges the above-described cervical

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injury is related to his fall from the Tricam stepstool model RM-SLA-3 at issue in this

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case. However, as Plaintiff Sullivan’s cervical injury came to light after the close of non-

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expert and expert discovery this contention has not been investigated through formal

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discovery. The parties stipulate to reopening discovery and expert discovery in order to
-2Christopher Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG 56-8688
JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES

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depose Plaintiff’s healthcare providers and establish whether his cervical injury was

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related to or caused by his fall from the Tricam stepstool model RM-SLA-3 on January 2,

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2016.

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Further GOOD CAUSE for this continuance exists in that with Defendants’ motion

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for summary judgment now ruled on, the parties wish to mitigate costs associated with

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bringing Plaintiff’s retained expert to trial. R. Kevin Smith resides and works in Indiana.

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In order to mitigate the costs associated with his attendance at trial, the parties have

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agreed to record R. Kevin Smith’s deposition by audiovisual means for use at trial.

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Based on the forgoing, the parties respectfully request that this Court continue the
pretrial and trial deadlines in the following manner:

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Current Deadline

Proposed Date

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Discovery Cutoff

March 16, 2018

October 15, 2018

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Expert Discovery Cutoff

June 15, 2018

October 30, 2018

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Final Pretrial Conference

September 7, 2018

November 9, 2018

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Trial

October 30, 2018

January 7, 2019

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Dated: August 30, 2018

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Respectfully submitted,
STAMMER, McKNIGHT, BARNUM & BAILEY LLP

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By ___/s/ Abigail R. Leaf__________________
Abigail R. Leaf, Attorneys for Plaintiff,
CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN

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Date: August 30, 2018

MCVEY & PARSKY, LLC
By ___/s/ Paul V. Kaulas__________________
Paul V. Kaulas, Attorneys for Defendant,
TRICAM INDUSTRIES, INC.

-3Christopher Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG 56-8688
JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES

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Date: August 30, 2018

BAKER, KEENER & NAHRA LLP

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By ___/s/ Kenneth Spencer________________
Kenneth Spencer, Attorneys for
Defendants, COSTCO WHOLESALE
CORPORATION and TRICAM INDUSTRIES,
INC.

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-4Christopher Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG 56-8688
JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES

ORDER

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Based on the Joint Stipulation of the parties, and good cause appearing therefore,
IT IS ORDERED that the Final Pretrial Conference currently set for September 7,
2018 be and hereby is continued to November 9, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. IT IS
FURTHER ORDERED that Trial currently set for October 30, 2018 be and hereby is
continued to January 8, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that
nonexpert and expert discovery are reopened and that a new Discovery Deadline of
October 15, 2018, and Expert Discovery Deadline of October 30, 2018 be and
hereby are established.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

August 30, 2018

/s/ Lawrence J. O’Neill _____
UNITED STATES CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE

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-5Christopher Sullivan v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00959-LJO-EPG 56-8688
JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO CONTINUE PRETRIAL AND TRIAL DEADLINES