(Consent) Murillo v. City of Woodland et al
Filing
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ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 04/08/11 ORDERING that plf's #58 Request to Continue the Hearing on the Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED w/o prejudice; parties' #59 Stipulation and proposed order Extending Expert Discovery is NOT approved w/o prejudice; parties' #60 Stipulation and proposed order Setting a Settlement Conference is NOT approved, w/o prejudice. (Benson, 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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DESIREE MURILLO,
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Plaintiff,
No. 2:09-cv-03117 KJN
v.
CITY OF WOODLAND; RYAN
PIERCY; CASEY SULLIVAN;
and DOES 1 to 40, Inclusive,
Defendants.
ORDER
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This order addresses several documents recently filed by the parties that have
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created confusion in regards to the parties’ intentions in this case. Those documents are:
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(1) defendant City of Woodland’s (“City”) motion for summary adjudication (Dkt. No. 52),
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which noticed a hearing date of May 5, 2011; (2) plaintiff’s ex parte request for a 30-day
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continuance of the hearing and briefing schedule on the City’s motion for summary adjudication,
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which also represents that the City has agreed to an unspecified, “reasonable continuance” (Dkt.
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No. 58); (3) the parties’ stipulation and proposed order requesting until May 20, 2011, to conduct
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expert depositions (Dkt. No. 59); and (4) the parties’ stipulation and proposed order requesting
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that the court set a settlement conference in this case, but not until after the May 5, 2011 hearing
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on City’s motion for summary adjudication (Dkt. No. 60).
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The court herein denies plaintiff’s request for a continuance and does not approve
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the parties’ stipulations, but without prejudice to the refiling of a single stipulation or other
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appropriate document that seeks relief relative to plaintiff’s request for a continuance and the
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parties’ stipulations.
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First, it is entirely unclear to the court what the parties have agreed to in regards to
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the hearing date on the City’s motion for summary adjudication. On April 7, 2011, the City
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noticed its motion for a hearing to take place on May 5, 2011. On April 8, 2011, plaintiff filed an
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ex parte request asking the court to continue the hearing on the City’s motion by 30 days, and
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representing that “the defense counsel for the moving party has agreed to a reasonable
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continuance to provide plaintiff with adequate time to prepare a response to said motion.” (Req.
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for Continuance ¶¶ 3-4.) That request is not signed by counsel for the City. Also on April 8,
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2011, the parties filed a stipulation that seeks a settlement conference, but requests a date after
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the May 5, 2011 hearing on the City’s motion for summary adjudication, thereby suggesting that
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the parties intend the hearing to still occur on that date. However, plaintiff has represented that
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she and the City have agreed on an unspecified continuance of the hearing on that motion, which
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necessarily impacts when the court would conduct a settlement conference. In short, the court
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cannot sort out the parties’ agreement in relation to the date of the hearing on the City’s motion
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for summary adjudication.
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Second, one of the parties’ stipulations requests that the court extend the time for
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the parties to conduct expert depositions until May 20, 2011. However, the court’s Status
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(Pretrial Scheduling) Order provides that “[a]ll discovery shall be completed by March 17,
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2011.” (Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order at 4:2, Dkt. No. 43.) Thus, the time to conduct expert
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depositions has already passed. Although the parties were granted an extension of the deadlines
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to disclose expert witnesses and rebuttal expert witnesses to January 31, 2011, and February 14,
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2011, respectively (see Order, Jan. 11, 2011, at 2, Dkt. No. 47), the parties did not request or
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receive an extension of the March 17, 2011 discovery completion deadline, upon a showing of
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good cause. The parties had at least between February 14, 2011, and March 17, 2011, in which
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to take expert depositions. Accordingly, the court will not extend the already-expired discovery
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completion deadline without a further showing of good cause to modify the court’s scheduling
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order. The parties are reminded that an “[a]greement by the parties pursuant to stipulation does
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not constitute good cause. Nor does the unavailability of witnesses or counsel, except in
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extraordinary circumstances, constitute good cause.” (Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order at 8:12-
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14.)
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Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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1.
Plaintiff’s request for a continuance of the hearing date and briefing
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schedule on defendant City of Woodland’s motion for summary adjudication (Dkt. No. 58) is
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denied without prejudice.
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2.
The parties’ stipulation and proposed order requesting until May 20, 2011,
to conduct expert depositions (Dkt. No. 59) is not approved, but without prejudice.
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3.
The parties’ stipulation and proposed order requesting that the court set a
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settlement conference in this case after the May 5, 2011 hearing on defendant City of
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Woodland’s motion for summary adjudication (Dkt. No. 60) is not approved, but without
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prejudice.
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If the parties still desire to alter the hearing, briefing, or scheduling dates
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in this case, they shall do so in a single document that clearly represents the parties’ agreement as
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to the alteration of any such date. Insofar as any request to alter the discovery completion
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deadline in this case, the parties shall identify the good cause that supports such a request.
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In regards to the date of any requested settlement conference, the parties
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shall contact the undersigned’s Courtroom Deputy, Matt Caspar, at (916) 930-4187, to schedule a
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mutually agreeable date.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: April 8, 2011
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_____________________________________
KENDALL J. NEWMAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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