Ward v. Sutter Valley Hospitals et al

Filing 42

ORDER signed by Chief District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 4/26/21 DENYING 34 Motion to Continue. The last day to file a motion for class certification or for treatment as a collective action REMAINS 4/30/21. To accommodate the nine-day extension that deadline represents, the opposition deadline is also EXTENDED one week to 6/30/21. The reply deadline and hearing date are unchanged. (Kastilahn, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Jennifer Ward and Sacora Besabe,

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Plaintiffs,

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No. 2:19-cv-00581-KJM-AC
ORDER

v.
Sutter Valley Hospitals,

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Defendant.

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Plaintiffs Jennifer Ward and Sacora Besabe move to continue the deadline to file a motion

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for class certification. Because they have not shown the necessary “good cause” to grant that

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request, the motion is denied.
Plaintiff Ward originally filed this case in Sacramento County Superior Court in early

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2019. Ward alleged that Sutter Valley Hospitals, her former employer, had not paid her overtime

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and minimum wages, had not offered meal and rest breaks, had not provided itemized wage

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statements, and was liable for other violations of California and federal labor laws. See generally

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Compl., Not. Removal Ex. A, ECF No. 1. She sought to represent other Sutter employees in the

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same situation. See id. ¶¶ 31–40. Sutter removed the case to this court a few months later, ECF

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No. 1, and the court issued a Rule 16 scheduling order in September 2019, ECF No. 15. The

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court set a six-month deadline for discovery on class- or collective-action treatment, and any

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motion for class- or collective-action certification was due one month after that deadline. See id.

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at 2.

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The day after the discovery deadline passed, Ward filed an ex parte application to extend

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the discovery and motion deadlines by several months. See Mem., ECF No. 18-1. She had

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scheduled depositions after the discovery deadline, so without an extension, the timeline for filing

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a motion for class certification would be “extremely tight.” Id. at 4. Sutter initially opposed her

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request, see Resp., ECF No. 22, but then the coronavirus pandemic set in, and Sutter, like other

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hospital systems, was forced to respond to the mounting public health crisis, see Stip., ECF

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No. 23. It could no longer devote the necessary attention to this litigation, so it stipulated to a

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request to continue discovery and motion deadlines by about six months. See id. The court

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approved the stipulation. Order (Mar. 29, 2020), ECF No. 24.

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As the pandemic wore on, even the delayed deadlines did not hold. Ward had also

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discovered information that led her to believe she could assert an additional claim for

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unreimbursed business expenses. See Stip., ECF No. 26. The parties stipulated to a further three-

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month extension, which the court approved. Order (May 29, 2020), ECF No. 27. The court also

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stayed discovery and motion practice for about two weeks. See id. Ward amended her complaint,

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adding the proposed claim and joining Besabe as a plaintiff. See First Am. Compl., ECF No. 28.

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After the continued discovery deadline passed, Ward and Besabe again filed a late

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extension request. See Stip., ECF No. 32. Sutter stipulated to the request, see generally id.,

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which the court granted, Order (Dec. 29, 2020), ECF No. 33. This order set the last day to move

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for class- or collective-action certification as April 21, 2021. See id.

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On April 13, Ward and Besabe filed their current motion, requesting a fourth extension of

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time, see Mot. Continue, ECF No. 34, and they asked the court to hear their motion on an

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expedited schedule, Ex Parte App., ECF No. 35. According to counsel, the plaintiffs had again

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scheduled a deposition after the discovery deadline. See Green Decl. ¶ 13, ECF No. 34-1. They

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asked for 60 more days to file their motion. See Mem. at 2. Sutter opposed the motion, agreeing

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to file its opposition on a shortened timeline. See Resp., ECF No. 37. The court set an expedited

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briefing schedule and took the matter under submission without a hearing. ECF No. 38; see also
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Opp’n, ECF No. 39; Reply, ECF No. 41. The court also extended the motion deadline until

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April 30; that deadline would otherwise have passed while the request to continue was still

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pending. See id.

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“District courts have broad discretion to control the class certification process.” Vinole v.

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Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 571 F.3d 935, 942 (9th Cir. 2009). The Federal Rules of Civil

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Procedure also give “district courts discretion to set deadlines for when parties must move for

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class certification.” Davidson v. O’Reilly Auto Enters., LLC, 986 F.3d 955, 962 (9th Cir. 2020)

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(citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(c)(1)(A)). That discretion includes the decision to enforce deadlines

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strictly to preserve “the court’s ability to control its docket.” Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations,

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Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 610 (9th Cir. 1992). Deadlines and schedules work only if they are taken

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seriously. Wong v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 410 F.3d 1052, 1060 (9th Cir. 2005). Extensions are

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appropriate only for “good cause,” which is “primarily” a question of the moving party’s

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diligence. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609. But “a district court may abuse its discretion if it

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unreasonably applies rules in a way that deprives a party of an opportunity to present class

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allegations or a motion for class certification or denies a party a reasonable opportunity to obtain

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a ruling on the merits of a motion for class certification.” Davidson, 986 F.3d at 963 (citing ABS

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Entm't, Inc. v. CBS Corp., 908 F.3d 405, 426–27 (9th Cir. 2018), and Pitts v. Terrible Herbst,

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Inc., 653 F.3d 1081, 1092–93 (9th Cir. 2011)).

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Here, Ward and Besabe have not shown good cause. In total, the deadlines in question

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have already been extended more than a year, and this is the fourth request for an extension of

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time filed either immediately before or after the deadline. In each instance, the plaintiffs have

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relied on similar or even identical claims of scheduling difficulties. Compare, e.g., Mem. at 5,

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ECF No. 18-1 (“The parties had scheduling conflicts that prevented Plaintiff’s deposition before

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the discovery cut off . . . .”) with, e.g., Mem. at 5 (“The parties had scheduling conflicts that

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prevented the Rule 30(b)(6) depositions from moving forward with the Rule 30(b)(6) depositions

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before the class certification deadline . . . .”). Some of counsel’s explanations also strain

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credibility, if they are not simply false. See, e.g., Opp’n at 3 (“Contrary to Plaintiff’s motion, this

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one-week postponement did not occur in order to accommodate Defendant’s witnesses; rather, it
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was done solely to accommodate Plaintiff’s counsel, Mr. Quintilone, at considerable

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inconvenience to Defendant’s witnesses.”); Geidt Decl. ¶¶ 14–15, ECF No. 40; cf. Green Decl.

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¶¶ 4, 14–16, ECF No. 41-1 (no rebuttal to Mr. Geidt’s characterization of events related to recent

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resetting of depositions). Plaintiffs’ counsel’s actions do not satisfy the diligence requirement.

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The court acknowledges that Mr. Quintilone, one of the four attorneys representing Ward

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and Besabe, was unavailable for personal reasons earlier this year. See Green Decl. ¶ 12. But

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counsel has not explained why one of the other three attorneys who has appeared for his clients,

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including Mr. Green, who is handling the current briefing, did not step in. Nor have the plaintiffs

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shown their current difficulties are the result of the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

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The motion to continue is denied. The last day to file a motion for class certification or

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for treatment as a collective action remains April 30, 2021. To accommodate the nine-day

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extension that deadline represents, the opposition deadline is also extended one week to June 30,

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2021. The reply deadline and hearing date are unchanged.

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This order resolves ECF No. 34.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: April 26, 2021.

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