Jordan v. Midland Credit Management, Inc.

Filing 32

MINUTE ORDER granting 26 Motion for Protective Order; granting 30 Plaintiffs Unopposed Motion to Extend Discovery Cutoff Date and the Dispositive Motion Deadline; Discovery due by 6/5/2014, for the limited purpose of plaintiff taking the 30(b) (6) deposition(s) of defendants designee(s); Dispositive Motions due by 7/7/2014., The Final Pretrial Conference set on May 27, 2014, at 10:30 a.m., is VACATED and RESET. Final Pretrial Conference RESET for 8/7/2014 09:30 AM before Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe.) by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe on 5/5/2014.(evana, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 13-cv-02564-WYD-MJW
SERENA JORDAN,
Plaintiff(s),
v.
MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC., a Kansas corporation,
Defendant(s).
MINUTE ORDER
Entered by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe
It is hereby ORDERED that Defendant Midland Credit Management, Inc.’s
Motion for Protective Order (Docket No. 26) is GRANTED substantially for the reasons
stated in the motion (Docket No. 26) and the reply (Docket No. 29).
Rule 26(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure defines the scope of
discovery as follows:
Unless otherwise limited by court order, the scope of discovery is as
follows: Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter
that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense–including the existence,
description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any documents or
other tangible things and the identity and location of persons who know of
any discoverable matter. For good cause, the court may order discovery
of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action.
Relevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery
appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible
evidence. All discovery is subject to the limitations imposed by Rule
26(b)(2)(C).
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). However, “a party’s right to obtain discovery of ‘any matter, not
privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of a party’ . . . may be constrained
where the court determines that the desired discovery is unreasonable or unduly
burdensome given the needs of the case, the importance of the issues at stake in the
litigation, and the importance of the proposed discovery in resolving the issues.”
Simpson v. University of Colo., 220 F.R.D. 354, 356 (D. Colo. 2004). Rule 26(c)
provides that for “good cause” shown the court may enter an order to protect a party
from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. Fed. R.

2
Civ. P. 26(c). It is the Defendant’s burden to establish sufficient “good cause.” Nestle
Foods Corp. v. Aetna Cas. & Surety Co., 129 F.R.D. 483, 484 (D.N.J. 1990); United
States v. Hooker Chems. & Plastics Corp., 90 F.R.D. 421, 425 (W.D.N.Y 1981). The
decision to issue a protective order rests within the sound discretion of the trial court.
Wang v. Hsu, 919 F.2d 130 (10th Cir. 1990).
Here, this FDCPA case is only about whether defendant called plaintiff at her
place of employment after being told not to do so. (Docket No. 1 - Complaint).
Furthermore, defendant has not pled the “bona fide error” defense in this case under 15
U.S.C. § 1692k(c). (Docket No. 8 - Answer). Therefore, upon review of the 30(b)(6)
topics at issue in the instant motion, the court finds that all of those topics at issue are
irrelevant, not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence,
and unduly burdensome.
Accordingly, plaintiff’s 30(b)(6) Notice of Deposition shall be modified to exclude
Topic Nos. 17-19, 65-66, 68-73, 75-79, 83-85, 87-89, and 90.
It is further ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion to Extend Discovery
Cutoff Date and the Dispositive Motion Deadline (Docket No. 30) is GRANTED.
Accordingly, the Scheduling Order (Docket No. 19) is amended as follows. The
discovery deadline is extended up to and including June 5, 2014, for the limited purpose
of plaintiff taking the 30(b)(6) deposition(s) of defendant’s designee(s). The dispositive
motion deadline is extended up to and including July 7, 2014. The Final Pretrial
Conference set on May 27, 2014, at 10:30 a.m., is VACATED and RESET on August 7,
2014, at 9:30 a.m.
Date: May 5, 2014