Romac v. Garfield Beach CVS, LLC, et al

Filing 13

ORDER signed by District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 11/22/2017 ORDERING that this action is STAYED except as set forth herein and all previously set deadlines and hearings are VACATED pending further order of the court. The parties are direct ed to promptly meet and confer to discuss settlement of this action. If the parties have not been able to informally reach a settlement within 45 days, the parties shall initiate participation in the court's Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program ("VDRP") by contacting the court's VDRP administrator, Sujean Park, at (916) 930-4278 or SPark@caed.uscourts.gov. (Becknal, R)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SUSAN ROMAC, 12 13 14 15 16 No. 17-CV-1464 KJM CMK Plaintiff, v. ORDER GARFIELD BEACH CVS, LLC, dba CVS PHARMACY STORE 9158, and ECC OROVILLE CA, LLC, Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff initially commenced this action under the Americans with Disabilities Act 19 (“ADA”) on July 17, 2017. (ECF No. 1.) Thereafter, on September 22, 2017 and November 8, 20 2017, defendants filed answers to the complaint. (ECF No. 9 and 11.) 21 In the interest of avoiding the accumulation of fees and costs through potentially 22 unnecessary discovery and motion practice, and to allow the parties sufficient time to pursue an 23 early informal resolution of this matter, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 24 25 26 1. This action is STAYED except as set forth herein and all previously set deadlines and hearings are VACATED pending further order of the court. 2. The parties are directed to promptly meet and confer to discuss settlement of this 27 action. Settlement discussions require focus and preparation and should involve the 28 attorneys who will try the case and the person or persons having full authority to 1 1 negotiate and settle the case on any terms. Plaintiff should initiate settlement 2 discussions by providing a written itemization of damages and a meaningful 3 settlement demand that includes an explanation of why the demand is appropriate. 4 Defendant should respond with an acceptance of the offer or with a meaningful 5 counteroffer, and which includes an explanation of why the counteroffer is reasonable. 6 The parties should continue in this way until they reach settlement or have exhausted 7 informal settlement efforts. 8 3. If the parties have not been able to informally reach a settlement within 45 days, the 9 parties shall initiate participation in the court’s Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program 10 (“VDRP”) by contacting the court’s VDRP administrator, Sujean Park, at (916) 930- 11 4278 or SPark@caed.uscourts.gov.1 12 4. The parties shall carefully review and comply with Local Rule 271, which outlines the 13 specifications and requirements of the VDRP. 14 5. No later than fourteen (14) days after completion of the VDRP session, the parties 15 shall jointly file their VDRP Completion Report, consistent with Local Rule 271(o). 16 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: November 22, 2017. 18 19 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 26 27 28 The resources of the VDRP program are limited, and the parties are expected to make good faith efforts to timely and fully exhaust informal settlement efforts prior to initiating participation in the VDRP. The court will look with disfavor upon parties stalling or failing to participate in the above-mentioned initial informal discussions, prompting potentially unnecessary participation in the VDRP and straining the program’s resources. 2

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