Aguirre v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Filing 54

ORDER (as modified) GRANTING 53 STIPULATION to Further Modify the Case Schedule signed by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. on 1/14/2025. Discovery due by 4/22/2025 Motions due by 5/8/2025 Responses due by 8/15/2025 Replies due by 11/25/2025 Motion Hearing set for 12/18/2025 02:00 PM in Oakland, Courtroom 2, 4th Floor before Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. (ndr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/14/2025)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SHOOK, HARDY, & BACON L.L.P. Amir Nassihi, SBN 235936 anassihi@shb.com 555 Mission Street, Suite 2300 San Francisco, California 94104 Tel: 415.544.1900 | Fax: 415.391.0281 Michael L. Mallow, SBN 188745 mmallow@shb.com Frank P. Kelly III, SBN 83473 fkelly@shb.com 2049 Century Park East, #3000 Los Angeles, California 90067 Tel: 424.285.8330 | Fax: 424.204.9093 9 Attorneys for Defendant AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC. 10 [additional counsel listed in signature block] 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 OAKLAND DIVISION 14 15 16 JOSE ELIAS MORALES AGUIRRE, on behalf of himself and other similarly situated, 18 19 20 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE (as modified) Plaintiffs, 17 Case No. 4:22-cv-06909-HSG v. AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC., Defendant. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909-HSG 1 Plaintiff Jose Elias Morales Aguirre (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant American Honda Motor 2 Co., Inc. (“AHM” or “Defendant”) (collectively the “Parties”) respectfully submit this request to 3 further extend the case schedule to complete additional discovery necessary for briefing class 4 certification. Despite the Parties’ exercise of “painful diligence” since the last hearing and the 5 issuance of the operative Scheduling Order (ECF 52), discovery is not complete and has been 6 disrupted by the recent Los Angeles fires. For good cause shown, as set forth in detail below, the 7 Parties request an additional ninety (90) days to complete the deposition of CARB, obtain additional 8 CARB documents, complete the 30(b)(6) of AHM, assimilate all information for effective briefing 9 of class certification, and brief the certification motion. 10 PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 11 On July 8, 2024, the Parties submitted a proposed Joint Stipulation and Order to Modify 12 Case Schedule (ECF 48). This was the first requested extension of the dates in this putative class 13 action. The request was for a roughly six-month extension, with the fact discovery deadline 14 extended from September 14, 2024, to March 3, 2025. 15 On July 9, 2024, the Court held a Case Management Conference and ordered that the 16 scheduling issue would be revisited at a further conference to be held on August 13, 2024, after 17 additional discovery. The Court further instructed the Parties to suggest new revised dates based on 18 the exercise of “painful diligence” in determining a reasonable request for extending the discovery 19 schedule and that, if the Parties could agree, to submit a revised stipulation and proposed order to 20 modify the case schedule by August 12, 2024. ECF 50. 21 Subsequently, the Parties submitted an updated Stipulation to extend the dates by four 22 months (ECF 51), which the Court approved and entered as the current operative Scheduling Order. 23 ECF 52. The discovery accomplished to date as a result of the Parties’ “painful diligence” since 24 issuance of the current Order includes: (i) three additional document productions by AHM on 25 September 23, 2024, November 1, 2024, and as recently as December 4, 2024, derived from an 26 exhaustive list of search terms that the Parties met and conferred on for several weeks and which 27 were necessary for a complete production; (ii) the 30(b)(6) deposition of AHM, which was not 28 completed; (iii) the deposition of CARB, which was not completed; (iv) a second set of document 1 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG 1 demands, and an initial set of requests for admissions and special interrogatories propounded by 2 AHM on Plaintiff; (v) AHM’s subpoena to CARB for relevant documents and information; and, 3 (vi) scheduling Plaintiff’s deposition. In addition, as required by the current deadlines, a mediation 4 took place on January 15, 2025. However, the case did not settle, making the remaining discovery 5 even more critical for certification. 6 FACTS SUPPORTING ADDITIONAL REQUESTED TIME 7 The 30(b)(6) deposition of AHM was not completed on August 8, 2024, and was scheduled 8 to be completed on January 9, 2025. However, on January 8, 2025, AHM canceled the deposition 9 due to the emergency evacuation and the unavailability of its handling counsel impacted by the Los 10 Angeles fires, and whose home was lost in the Los Angeles “Eaton” fire hours thereafter. AHM’s 11 Los Angeles lead counsel who might otherwise have assisted in covering discovery activities this 12 month was also subject to an emergency evacuation that same day, and his home was lost to the 13 “Palisades” fire hours later. The Parties are in the process of rescheduling the deposition, but, in 14 light of the fire impacts, the Parties are unable to confirm new dates prior to the current discovery 15 cutoff. 16 The deposition of a CARB representative took place on December 5, 2024, regarding 17 CARB’s position as to whether the head gasket at issue in this case is a “warranted part” under the 18 California Emissions Warranty. The CARB deposition did not conclude that day, and Plaintiff 19 immediately sought to coordinate with CARB and all counsel to schedule the second session of the 20 deposition as soon as possible. However, due to the holidays, and despite the best efforts of CARB 21 and the State AG defending the CARB deponent, and all counsel (including consideration of 22 multiple proposed dates), the deposition is now being re-set for February 21, 2025, which is the 23 soonest date that all participants are available. 24 Plaintiff also requested that CARB supplement its production based on information adduced 25 during the first session of the CARB deposition by producing additional documents (including 26 internal analyses, memoranda, emails, and notes) related to whether the head gasket is warranted 27 under the Emissions Warranty. Based on the first deposition, in December 2024, AHM also 28 2 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG 1 subpoenaed documents from CARB following its deposition. CARB is searching for documents, 2 but they will not be produced before either the current discovery cutoff or the deadline for Plaintiff’s 3 opening class certification brief. CARB anticipates it will take at least four weeks to produce 4 additional documents. 5 In addition, Plaintiff has sold his vehicle, AHM is working with Plaintiff to track down 6 contact details of the current owner to try to secure an inspection of the vehicle, and additional time 7 is needed for this. 8 The Parties require all of the foregoing discovery, including deposition testimony and 9 documents, to adequately brief certification, which the Parties cannot do under the current schedule, 10 which requires Plaintiff’s opening brief to be filed by February 7, 2025. Moreover, the ongoing fire 11 situation has continued to impact counsel’s ability to litigate this action. The office of Plaintiff’s co- 12 lead counsel has been without power and subject to potential evacuations and have been granted 13 extensions to respond to discovery; key counsel for AHM is unavailable; it has been difficult to 14 reschedule witnesses; and the Parties and their counsel have been focusing on evacuation due to the 15 fires and pursuing recovery options for counsels in this case who have lost their homes. The Parties 16 reasonably believe that through the exercise of additional “painful diligence” they can conclude 17 discovery by April 21, 2025, and Plaintiff can file his class certification motion by May 8, 2025. 18 In addition, based on discovery to date and discussions between counsel, the Parties disagree 19 over a fundamental, threshold legal issue regarding the scope of emissions defect warranty coverage, 20 specifically, whether the California Regulations extend emissions defect warranty coverage to basic 21 mechanical components, such as the head gasket, in Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles (PZEVs). This 22 critical threshold legal issue is central to the claims in this case and will significantly impact the 23 scope and direction of the litigation moving forward. The Parties are considering whether it is 24 procedurally efficient for a form of a motion for legal determination to address this threshold legal 25 question, prior to the briefing of Plaintiff’s certification motion. The additional time requested will 26 allow the Parties to work through this issue, and if appropriate, for a summary judgment or other 27 motion seeking a legal determination to be filed. 28 3 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED that, subject to Court approval, the schedule is revised as follows: Activity Non-Expert Discovery Cut Off (including hearing of discovery motions) Deadline for motion for Class Certification, and for disclosures and reports of any experts Plaintiff intends to rely on at class certification Deadline for any opposition to a motion for class certification; for Defendant’s disclosures and reports of any experts Defendant intends to rely on at class certification; and for any motion by AHM to limit or exclude Plaintiff’s class certification expert testimony based on Daubert or any other basis Deadline for Plaintiff’s reply in support of a motion for class certification; deadline for Plaintiff to challenge AHM’s class certification expert testimony based on Daubert or any other basis Hearing on motion for class certification Current Date January 20, 2025 Proposed Date April 22, 2025 February 7, 2025 May 8, 2025 May 8, 2025 August 15, 2025 July 7, 2025 November 25, 2025 July 31, 2025 December 18, 2025 13 14 15 IT IS SO STIPULATED. A proposed Order is submitted concurrently. Dated: January 13, 2025 16 Respectfully submitted, SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P. 17 By: /s/ Amir Nassihi ________ AMIR NASSIHI 18 19 Attorneys for Defendant AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC. 20 21 Dated: January 13, 2025 Respectfully submitted, 22 POMERANTZ LLP 23 By: 24 25 26 27 /s/ Ari Y. Basser ARI Y. BASSER Jordan L. Lurie, SBN 130013 jllurie@pomlaw.com Ari Y. Basser, SBN 272618 abasser@pomlaw.com 1100 Glendon Avenue 15th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90024 Telephone: (310) 432-8492 28 4 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG Robert L. Starr, SBN 183052 robert@starrlaw.com THE LAW OFFICE OF ROBERT L. STARR 23901 Calabasas Road, Suite 2072 Calabasas, CA 91302 Tel: 818.225.9040 | Fax: 818.225.9042 1 2 3 4 Manny Starr, SBN 319778 manny@frontierlawcenter.com Adam Rose, SBN 210880 adam@frontierlawcenter.com FRONTIER LAW CENTER 23901 Calabasas Road, #2074 Calabasas, CA 91302 Tel: 818.914.3433 5 6 7 8 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 11 CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH N.D. L.R. 5-1(h)(3) 12 13 14 Pursuant to L.R. 5-1(h)(3), I attest that concurrence in the filing of this document has been obtained from the above signatories. 15 By: 16 /s/ Ari Y. Basser Ari Y. Basser 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 5 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG ORDER 1 2 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE IS ENTERED: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Activity Non-Expert Discovery Cut Off (including hearing of discovery motions) Deadline for motion for Class Certification, and for disclosures and reports of any experts Plaintiff intends to rely on at class certification Deadline for any opposition to a motion for class certification; for Defendant’s disclosures and reports of any experts Defendant intends to rely on at class certification; and for any motion by AHM to limit or exclude Plaintiff’s class certification expert testimony based on Daubert or any other basis Deadline for Plaintiff’s reply in support of a motion for class certification; deadline for Plaintiff to challenge AHM’s class certification expert testimony based on Daubert or any other basis Hearing on motion for class certification Date April 22, 2025 May 8, 2025 August 15, 2025 November 25, 2025 December 18, 2025 at 2 p.m. 14 15 16 Dated: 1/14/2025 _____________________________________ HON. HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 FURTHER JOINT STIPULATION TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE CASE NO. 4:22-cv-06909- HSG

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