White v. MCI Worldcom, et al

Filing 54

FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER signed by Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 9/2/2010. Jury Trial set for 10/25/2010 at 09:00 AM in Courtroom 7 (MCE). Each party granted 5 dyas from date of this Order to Object to any part or request augumentation. (Attachments: # 1 Plaintiff's / Defendant's Witness & Exhibit Lists) (Marciel, M)

White v. MCI Worldcom, et al

Doc. 54

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Pursuant to Court Order, a Final Pretrial Conference was held on August 26, 2010. Plaintiff. Jesse Ortiz appeared as counsel for Defendants. ___________________________/ v. MCI WORLDCOM, a California corporation, et al., JO ALICE WHITE, Plaintiff, FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER TRIAL DATE: October 25, 2010 TIME: 9:00 a.m. No. 2:02-cv-00225-MCE-EFB UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Arthur Smith appeared as counsel for Defendants.

After hearing, the Court makes the following findings and orders: I. JURISDICTION/VENUE

Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(3). Jurisdiction and venue are not contested. II. JURY

Plaintiff timely demanded a jury trial pursuant to Rule 38(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. /// 1

Dockets.Justia.com

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III. 1.

UNDISPUTED FACTUAL ISSUES Dynamic Technical Services and MCI Worldcom entered

into a master services agreement for Dynamic to provide technical staffing when requested by MCI Worldcom for work at its facilities or on its projects. 2. One project MCI requested installation technicians on

was in Sacramento, California. 3. Dynamic Technical Services hired Ms. White and assigned

her to provide installation services to MCI Worldcom. 4. Ms. White began working on the project in or about

January 2000. 5. On or about January 3, 2001, Ms. White was terminated

by Dynamic Technical Services. IV. DISPUTED FACTUAL ISSUES

The remaining claims for trial are: 1. Whether during her employment with Dynamic Technical

Services Plaintiff was subjected to sexual harassment and discrimination because of her gender; 2. Whether Ms. White was terminated from her employment

with Dynamic Technical Services because she complained of sexual harassment and discrimination; 3. Whether Plaintiff ever complained of the alleged

harassment and discrimination to Dynamic Technical Services; 4. Whether DTS had any control over MCI's ability or

decision to release Plaintiff; and 5. Whether there were any positions available for DTS to

assign Plaintiff after she was released by MCI. /// 2

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All issues of fact remaining in dispute are subject to proof at the time of trial. V. WITNESSES

Plaintiff anticipates calling the witnesses listed on Attachment "A". Defendants anticipate calling the witnesses listed on Attachment "B". Each party may call a witness designated by the other. A. No other witnesses will be permitted to testify unless: (1) The party offering the witness demonstrates that

the witness is for the purpose of rebutting evidence which could not be reasonably anticipated at the Final Pretrial Conference, or (2) The witness was discovered after the Final

Pretrial Conference and the proffering party makes the showing required in "B" below. B. Upon the post-pretrial discovery of witnesses, the

attorney shall promptly inform the Court and opposing parties of the existence of the unlisted witnesses so that the Court may consider at trial whether the witnesses shall be permitted to testify. The evidence will not be permitted unless: (1) The witnesses could not reasonably have been

discovered prior to pretrial; (2) The Court and opposing counsel were promptly

notified upon discovery of the witnesses; (3) for deposition; /// 3 If time permitted, counsel proffered the witnesses

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(4)

If time did not permit, a reasonable summary of

the witnesses' testimony was provided by opposing counsel. VI. EXHIBITS - SCHEDULES AND SUMMARIES

At present, Plaintiff contemplates by way of exhibits those listed on Attachment "C". At present, Defendants contemplate by way of exhibits those listed on Attachment "D". Plaintiff's exhibits shall be listed numerically. Defendants' exhibits shall be listed alphabetically. The parties

shall use the standard exhibit stickers provided by the Court Clerk's Office: pink for Plaintiff and blue for Defendants.

After three letters, note the number of letters in parenthesis (i.e., "AAAA(4)" to reduce confusion during the trial. All

multi-page exhibits shall be stapled or otherwise fastened together and each page within the exhibit shall be numbered. photographs shall be marked individually. All

The list of exhibits

shall not include excerpts of depositions which may be used to impeach witnesses. Each party may use an exhibit designated by the other. In

the event that Plaintiff and Defendants offer the same exhibit during trial, that exhibit shall be referred to by the designation the exhibit is first identified. The Court cautions

the parties to pay attention to this detail so that all concerned, including the jury, will not be confused by one exhibit being identified with both a number and a letter. /// /// /// 4

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A. unless:

No other exhibits will be permitted to be introduced

(1)

The party proffering the exhibit demonstrates that

the exhibit is for the purpose of rebutting evidence which could not be reasonably anticipated at the Pretrial Scheduling Conference, or (2) The exhibit was discovered after the Pretrial

Scheduling Conference and the proffering party makes the showing required in paragraph "B", below. B. Upon the post-pretrial discovery of exhibits, the

attorneys shall promptly inform the Court and opposing counsel of the existence of such exhibits so that the Court may consider at trial their admissibility. The exhibits will not be received

unless the proffering party demonstrates: (1) The exhibits could not reasonably have been

discovered prior to pretrial; (2) The Court and counsel were promptly informed of

their existence; (3) Counsel forwarded a copy of the exhibit(s) (if If the exhibit(s) may

physically possible) to opposing counsel.

not be copied, the proffering counsel must show that he has made the exhibit(s) reasonably available for inspection by opposing counsel. /// /// /// /// /// 5

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C.

As to each exhibit, each party is ordered to exchange a

copy identical to the Court's copy, or other reproduction of the exhibit(s) in a three-ring binder(s) by October 12, 2010. The

attorney or representative for each party is directed to present the original and two (2) copies of the exhibit(s) and exhibit list to the Court Clerk's Office, no later than 3:00 p.m., October 12, 2010, or at such earlier time as may be ordered by the Court. D. NO EXCEPTIONS. The Court shall be presented with a copy of the

exhibit(s) in a 3-ring binder(s) with a side tab identifying each exhibit by number or letter. Each binder shall be no larger than

three inches in width and have an identification label on the front and side panel. VII. A. DISCOVERY DOCUMENTS Filing Depositions. It is the duty of counsel to

ensure that any deposition which is to be used at trial has been lodged with the Clerk of the Court. In addition, two unmarked

copies of the transcripts must be delivered to the Court Clerk's Office. Counsel are cautioned that a failure to discharge this

duty may result in the Court precluding use of the deposition or imposition of such other sanctions as the Court deems appropriate. B. Use of Depositions. The parties are ordered to file

with the Court and exchange between themselves by October 12, 2010 a statement designating portions of depositions intended to be offered or read into evidence (except for portions to be used only for impeachment or rebuttal). /// 6

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C.

Interrogatories.

The parties are ordered to file with

the Court and exchange between themselves by October 12, 2010 the portions of Answers to Interrogatories which the respective parties intend to offer or read into evidence at the trial (except portions to be used only for impeachment or rebuttal). VIII. FURTHER DISCOVERY OR MOTIONS

Pursuant to the Court's Pretrial Scheduling Order, all discovery and law and motion was to have been conducted so as to be completed as of the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. That Order is confirmed. The parties are free to engage in

informal agreements regarding discovery and law and motion matters. However, any such agreements will not be enforceable in

this Court. IX. AGREED STATEMENTS - JOINT STATEMENT OF CASE

It is mandatory the parties shall file a short, jointlyprepared statement concerning the nature of this case that will be read to the jury at the commencement of trial (NO EXCEPTIONS). The joint statement of the case shall include in plain concise language the claims of Plaintiff and claims of other parties, if any, and the corresponding defenses to the claims. The purpose

of the joint statement of the case is to inform the jury at the outset, what the case is about. the Court by October 12, 2010. /// /// /// /// /// 7 The statement must be filed with

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X. A.

PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS, VOIR DIRE, VERDICT FORM Jury Instructions

Counsel are directed to meet and confer and to attempt to agree upon a joint set of jury instructions. Counsel shall use

the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions and any revisions. Alternate instruction or authority may only be used if a Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instruction is unavailable. The joint set of

instructions must be filed by October 12, 2010 and shall be identified as the "Jury Instructions Without Objection." All instructions shall be, to the extent possible, concise, understandable, and free from argument. See Local Rule 163(c).

Parties shall also note that any modifications of instructions from statutory authority, case law or from any form of pattern instructions must specifically state the modification by underlining additions and bracketing deletions. B. Verdict Form

The parties must file a joint verdict form(s) concurrently with proposed jury instructions by October 12, 2010. If

necessary, a special verdict or interrogatories shall be included for all factual disputes submitted to the jury that must be resolved before questions of law can be decided, and for any other issue on which specific responses are desired. Rule 163(e). /// /// /// /// /// 8 See Local

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C.

Voir Dire

The parties shall submit proposed voir dire questions to the Court. The Court reserves the right to conduct all examination Notwithstanding this reservation, the

of prospective jurors.

Court will permit each side up to ten (10) minutes to conduct voir dire, if desired. The voir dire questions shall be filed

with the Court by October 12, 2010. D. Submission of Documents to the Court

At the time of filing their respective proposed jury instructions, verdict form(s), and voir dire questions, counsel shall also electronically mail to the Court in digital format and compatible with Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, the proposed jury instructions and verdict form(s). to [e-mail]. XI. AUDIO/VISUAL EQUIPMENT These documents should be sent

The parties are required to file electronically a joint request to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, Stephanie Deutsch, by October 4, 2010 if they wish to reserve and arrange for orientation with all parties on the Court's mobile audio/visual equipment for presentation of evidence. and time for such orientation. XII. DATE AND LENGTH OF TRIAL The estimated There will be one date

A trial is scheduled for October 25, 2010. length of trial is two (2) days. (7) jurors.

The trial will consist of seven

Counsel are to email Stephanie Deutsch, Courtroom

Deputy Clerk, at [e-mail], or call at [phone], by October 12, 2010 to ascertain the status of the trial date. 9

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XIII.

OBJECTIONS TO PRETRIAL ORDER

Each party is granted five (5) court days from the date of this Final Pretrial Order to object to any part of the order or to request augmentation to it. A Final Pretrial Order will be If no

modified only upon a showing of manifest injustice.

objection or modifications are made, this Order will become final without further order of the Court and shall control the subsequent course of the action, pursuant to Rule 16(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 2, 2010

_____________________________ MORRISON C. ENGLAND, JR. UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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