Titus et al v. Humboldt County Fair Association et al

Filing 116

Order by Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu regarding 110 and 112 Discovery Letter Briefs.(dmrlc3, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/13/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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STUART P. TITUS, et al.,

Case No. 14-cv-01043-SBA (DMR)

Plaintiffs,
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v.

ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY
LETTER BRIEFS

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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HUMBOLDT COUNTY FAIR
ASSOCIATION, et al.,

Re: Dkt. Nos. 110, 112

Defendants.

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The court is in receipt of the parties’ November 4, 2015 joint discovery letter [Docket No.

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110] and November 13, 2015 letter from Ms. Tyler [Docket No. 112] regarding the attendance of

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Ms. Tyler at upcoming depositions. The court finds that the matter is appropriate for resolution

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without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b).

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Depositions are scheduled to begin on November 16, 2015. [Docket No. 110]. Ms. Tyler

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is not a party; she is a claims manager for defendants’ insuring entity. Plaintiffs seek to exclude

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her from attending depositions due to allegedly disruptive conduct in past depositions. Defendants

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assert that she was not disruptive, and should be able to attend in order to observe the deponents

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and assess their effectiveness and credibility.

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The parties have represented to the court that all of the scheduled depositions, with the
exception of one, will be videotaped, and that arrangements can easily be made for a person to
observe all scheduled future depositions by Skype, Facetime, or a similar program. [Docket No.
114.] Therefore, the court rules as follows. Ms. Tyler may observe the depositions remotely
through a system such as Skype, Facetime, or similar program. The program shall be muted on
Ms. Tyler’s side during the deposition, so that she can type on her computer without causing noise
in the deposition room, while having the opportunity to observe the witness. Ms. Tyler will also

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be able to assess the witnesses by viewing their videotaped depositions.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 13, 2015
______________________________________
Donna M. Ryu
United States Magistrate Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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