Kaufman v. City of San Francisco et al

Filing 57

ORDER EXCUSING OFFICERS re 56 Letter filed by City of San Francisco, McDonald, Kyle Ching, Alexander Kwan, San Francisco Police Department, Susan Lavin, Heather Fong. Signed by Judge James Larson on 6/30/09. (jlsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/30/2009)

C ~AND COUNTY SAN FRANCISCO Y OF

OFFICE THE CITY OF ATTORNEY
MEREDITH B. OSBORN Deputy City Attorney
DIRECT DIAL: [phone] E-MAIL: [e-mail]

June 30,2009

VIA HAND DELIVERY
Honorable James Larson United States District Court Northern District of California 450 Golden Gate Avenue Courtroom F, 15th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102
b

NW-HERN

CLEHK US. D l S i R l C i ~ & ~ j ' DISTRICT OF C A U F ~ < ( A

Re:

Kaufman v. CCSF et al. USDC NO. CV 08-3755 EDL

Dear Judge Larson: I write to request that the following defendants be excused from attending the further settlement conference scheduled in the above-captioned case for July 7,2009 at 10:OO a.m.: retired Chief Heather Fong, Sgt. Kyle Ching, Officer Alexander Kwan, Officer Susan Lavin, and Officer Crystal McDonald. Chief Fong, who has been sued in her official capacity, asks to be excused from the settlement conference because she was not involved in any of the events alleged.in the complaint, and the complaint does not state otherwise. Further, the Court has stayed and bifurcated plaintiffs Monell claims against Chief Fong and the City from those against the individual officer defendants. A representative from the San Francisco Police Department with full authority to recommend a settlement will attend the settlement conference. There is good cause to excuse the individually-named defendants from attendance because any contribution they could make by way of factual input would be minimal and they can contribute nothing in terms of settlement authority. Plaintiff makes a variety of claims related to tows of his vehicles occurring over a span of two years. These tows are amply documented, and the officers cannot contribute any more information than what is contained in those documents - namely, the date the vehicles were marked, when and where they were towed, and why. Officer Lavin and Officer Kwan, who have already been deposed, have confirmed that their memories of the tows are limited to what is contained in the documents. Plaintiffs poststorage hearings are similarly documented, and were conducted by a third-party City employee who will have been deposed by the further settlement conference date. Given the volume of tows and hearings conducted by the San Francisco Police Department, the officers are unable to make factual contributions with regard to any individual tow beyond what is contained in the documents referenced above. In addition, Officer Crystal McDonald is currently on family leave and it would be a hardship for her to attend the conference. Finally, plaintiff has not made any claim for punitive damages in this case. Plaintiff primarily seeks sweeping declaratory and injunctive relief against the San Francisco Police Department. Under these circumstances, there is good cause to excuse these defendants from attendance.
F o x PLAZA . 1390 MARKET FLOOR 6 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA STREET, 941 02-5408 RECEPTION: (415) 554-39 1 1 . FACSIMILE: [phone]

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- 'ci?~ COUNTY SAN FRANCISCO AND OF
Letter to Judge Larson. Page 2 June 30,2009

OFFICE THE CITY OF AITORNEY

In sum, the Chief, Sgt. Ching, and Officers Kwan, Lavin, and McDonald would have nothing to contribute to the settlement discussions, by way of factual input or settlement authority. Defendants therefore respectfully request that the Court not compel these defendants to attend a further settlement conference in a case in which they have only a peripheral interest. Couns'el for defendant Tegsco has indicated that she does not oppose this request, and plaintiffs counsel has not responded to defendants' communication regarding this request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very truly yours, DENNIS J. HERRERA

c EREDITH B. OSBORN i M
Deputy City Attorney cc: Robert Nolan (counsel for plaintiff) Lindsay Wagenman (counsel for defendant TEGSCO, LLC)

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