Dorsey v. Paramo et al

Filing 54

ORDER RE Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Discovery and Request for an Extension of Time to Amend His Complaint [Doc. No. 47 ]. Signed by Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford on 2/12/2019. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(anh)

FILED

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CLERK us .JISrHICT couRl
SOUTHEPN 01/iTRICT OF CAUFORNIA

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BY

aA.u't:

'lEcPUfY

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MARKE. DORSEY,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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DANIEL PARAMO, et al.,

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Defendants.

Case No.: l 7cvl 123-CAB(KSC)

ORDER RE PLAINTIFF'S MOTION
TO COMPEL DISCOVERY AND
REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION OF
TIME TO AMEND HIS
COMPLAINT
[Doc. No. 47.]

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Before the Court is plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery [Doc. No. 47] and

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defendants' Opposition thereto [Doc. No. 51]. In his Motion, plaintiff seeks an order

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compelling defendants to respond to his "informal requests for discovery" dated

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September 26, 2018. [Doc. No. 47, at p. 2.] Plaintiffs Motion also includes a request to

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amend the deadline in the Scheduling Order for filing any motions to join other parties or

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amend the pleadings. [Doc. No. 47, at p. 3.] For the reasons outlined more fully below,

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the Court finds that plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery must be GRANTED,

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because defendants' responses to plaintiffs discovery requests are incomplete and must

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be supplemented. Plaintiff may renew his Motion to Compel Discovery if defendants do

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not supplement their responses as agreed. The Court also finds that plaintiffs request for
J7cvl 123-CAB(KSC)

1 an extension of the deadline for filing any motions to join other parties or amend the
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pleadings must be DENIED without prejudice.

Discussion

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I.

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Plaintiff's Discoverv Requests.
In his Motion to Compel Discovery, plaintiff represents that he served defendants

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with informal discovery requests on or about September 26, 2018 seeking the identities of

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any prison or medical officials who were involved in preparing and distributing his

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"lower bunk chrono on 10/21/16." [Doc. No. 47, at pp. 2, 5-7.] After plaintiff's Motion

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was filed, defendants objected to these discovery requests on various grounds. [Doc. No.

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51, at pp. 8-11.] While defendants did provide plaintiff with substantive responses to his

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discovery requests, they are incomplete. [Doc. No. 47, at pp. 2, 5-7; Doc. No. 51, at pp.

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3, 6-11.]

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Defendants' responses state that they have requested verification of certain

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responsive information and will supplement their responses "immediately upon receiving

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this information from the prison." [Doc. No. 51, at pp. 9, 11.] Accordingly, the Court

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finds that plaintiff's Motion to Compel Discovery must be GRANTED to the extent

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defendants have agreed to supplement their responses to provide complete information to

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plaintiff but have failed to produce such information. Plaintiff may renew his Motion to

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Compel Discovery if defendants fail to supplement their responses as agreed.

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II.

Plaintiff's Request to Extend Time.

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The operative Scheduling Order in this case includes a deadline of October 26, 2018

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for filing any motion seeking to amend the pleadings or join other parties. [Doc. No. 45,

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at p. l .] In addition, the Scheduling Order states as follows: "The dates and times set forth

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herein will not be modified except for good cause shown." [Doc. No. 45, at p. 5.] As noted

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above, plaintiff also requests an order extending the deadline for filing any motion to

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amend the pleadings or join other parties, so that he can seek leave to add new parties and

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allegations to this Complaint. More specifically, plaintiff wants to amend his Complaint

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l 7cvl 123-CAB(KSC)

1 to add the parties identified in defendants' responses to his discovery requests. [Doc. No.
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47, at p. l.]

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"Leave to amend a complaint shall be freely given when justice so requires under

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FRCP 15(a). This standard is applied liberally. Rule 15(a) does not apply, however, when

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a district court has established a deadline for amended pleadings under FRCP 16(b)." In

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re Graphics Processing Units Antitrust Litig., 540 F. Supp. 2d 1085, 1090 (N.D. Cal.

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2007), quoting Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 607-608 (9th

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Cir.1992).

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considers the diligence of the party seeking the amendment." Id. at 609. "Once the Court

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has entered a scheduling order, the liberal policy favoring amendments no longer applies.

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Subsequent amendments are not allowed without a request to first modify the scheduling

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order. At that point, any modification must be based on a showing of good cause." Jn re

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Graphics, 540 F.Supp. 2d at 1090, citing Coleman v. Quaker Oats Co., 232 F.3d 1271,

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1294 (9th Cir.2000). "Leave to amend need not be granted when an amendment would be

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futile." In re Vantive Corp. Sec. Litig., 283 F.3d 1079, 1097 (9th Cir.2002).

The "good cause" standard in a Rule l 6(b) scheduling order "primarily

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Based on the information before the Court, it does appear that plaintiff has been

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diligent in seeking the identities of the individuals who could have been involved in

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preparing and distributing his "lower bunk chrono on 10/21/16." [Doc. No. 47, at pp. 2, 5-

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7.] In this regard, plaintiff served defendants with his discovery requests on or about

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September 26, 2018, the same day the Scheduling Order was entered in this case. [Doc.

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No. 47, at p. 2; Doc. No. 45.] He then filed his Motion to Compel Discovery shortly

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thereafter on October 22, 2018. [Doc. No. 47, at p. 2.]

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On the other hand, plaintiff has not set forth any specific facts to support an

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amendment of his Complaint or the addition of new parties. Without more, it does not

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appear there is any basis for plaintiff to state a viable cause of action against the individuals

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identified in defendant's discovery responses. However, since defendants have agreed to

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supplement their discovery responses and provide additional information, it is possible that

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plaintiff could establish good cause to amend his Complaint at some later date.
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I 7cvl 123-CAB(KSC)

1 Accordingly, the Court finds that plaintiff's request to extend the deadline for filing
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motions to amend the pleadings or join other parties must be DENIED without prejudice.

3 If he can make the required showing, plaintiff may renew this request after production of
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discovery by defendants.
Conclusion

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Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's Motion to

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Compel Discovery is GRANTED to the extent defendants have agreed to supplement their

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Compel Discovery if defendants fail to supplement their responses as agreed.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff's request to extend the deadline for filing

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motions to amend the pleadings or join other parties is DENIED without prejudice.

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Plaintiff may renew this request ifthere is good cause and it would not be futile to add new

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parties and/or allegations to the Complaint after defendants supplement their responses to

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plaintiff's discovery requests.

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To the extent they have not already done so, defendants are ordered to supplement

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their responses to plaintiff's discovery requests with complete information no later than

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February 22, 2019.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February

/1-, 2019

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United States Magistrate Judge

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l7cvl 123-CAB(KSC)