Vaughn v. Safeway, Inc.

Filing 163

ORDER That the Plaintiffs Motion In Limine To Exclude Introduction of Evidence and/or Elicitation of Testimony Regarding Safeway Employee Complaints, Safeway Employee Grievances, and/or Disciplinary Actions Against Plaintiff 113 filed May 15, 2015, is denied without prejudice; and That the Plaintiffs Motion In Limine To Exclude Introduction of Evidence and/or Elicitation of Testimony Regarding, Relating To, and/or Relying Upon Non- Disclosed 305 Reports, Non-Disclosed CB-1 Reports, and Spreadsheets Bates- Labeled Safeway001549-001614 119 filed June 2, 2015, is denied without prejudice, by Judge Robert E. Blackburn on 11/20/2015.(evana, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Robert E. Blackburn
Civil Action No. 14-cv-01066-REB-NYW
JAMES VAUGHN,
Plaintiff,
v.
SAFEWAY, INC.,
Defendant.

ORDER DENYING MOTIONS IN LIMINE WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Blackburn, J.
This matter is before me on the following: (1) Plaintiff’s Motion In Limine To
Exclude Introduction of Evidence and/or Elicitation of Testimony Regarding
Safeway Employee Complaints, Safeway Employee Grievances, and/or
Disciplinary Actions Against Plaintiff [#113]1 filed May 15, 2015; and (2) Plaintiff’s
Motion In Limine To Exclude Introduction of Evidence and/or Elicitation of
Testimony Regarding, Relating To, and/or Relying Upon Non-Disclosed 305
Reports, Non-Disclosed CB-1 Reports, and Spreadsheets Bates-Labeled
Safeway001549-001614 [#119] filed June 2, 2015. Responses [#121 & #123] and
replies [#122 & #124] were filed addressing both motions. I deny the motions without
prejudice.
In his motion [#113] concerning complaints and grievances, the plaintiff, James
Vaughn, contends any complaints and grievances filed by employees and challenging

1
“[#113]” is an example of the convention I use to identify the docket number assigned to a
specific paper by the court’s case management and electronic case filing system (CM/ECF). I use this
convention throughout this order.

the actions of Mr. Vaughn as a store manager are irrelevant to the factual and legal
questions at issue in this case. The complaints and grievances may or may not be
relevant, but that determination cannot be made properly until the evidentiary landscape
becomes clear at trial. Similarly, the bases for admission of the spreadsheets and
underlying documents also present issues which are evidence-driven and cannot be
resolved until evidence is presented at trial.2 Obviously, no trial evidence has been
presented and the manner and context in which the evidence may be brought forward
therefore remains uncertain. The issues raised in the two motions are matters that
cannot be determined until the evidentiary landscape becomes clear at trial.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. That the Plaintiff’s Motion In Limine To Exclude Introduction of Evidence
and/or Elicitation of Testimony Regarding Safeway Employee Complaints,
Safeway Employee Grievances, and/or Disciplinary Actions Against Plaintiff
[#113] filed May 15, 2015, is denied without prejudice; and
2. That the Plaintiff’s Motion In Limine To Exclude Introduction of Evidence
and/or Elicitation of Testimony Regarding, Relating To, and/or Relying Upon NonDisclosed 305 Reports, Non-Disclosed CB-1 Reports, and Spreadsheets BatesLabeled Safeway001549-001614 [#119] filed June 2, 2015, is denied without prejudice.
Dated November 20, 2015, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:

2
I specifically discourage the filing of such motions in my Practice Standards. See REB Civ.
Practice Standard IV.E.1.

2