Kennedy v. Howell

Filing 56

ORDER granting 55 Defendant's Request to Extend Mediation Deadline to July 31, 2017. The parties shall have up to and including July 31, 2017 to mediate. See Order for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 7/14/2017. (HJ)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
PATRICIA KENNEDY, individually
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:16-cv-179-FtM-CM

ERIC D. HOWELL,
Defendant.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon review of Defendant’s Request to
Extend Mediation Deadline to July 31, 2017 (Doc. 55) filed on July 14, 2017.
Defendant seeks to extend the mediation deadline of July 14, 2017 to July 31, 2017
because the parties decided to mediate on July 31, 2017, approximately two weeks
after the mediation deadline.

Doc. 55 at 1.

Plaintiff agrees to the requested relief.

Id. at 2.
On March 7, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against Defendant on the ground
that Defendant violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
Doc. 1 ¶ 4.

The parties consented to proceed before the undersigned.

Doc. 47.

Accordingly, the undersigned entered a Case Management and Scheduling Order
(“CMSO”) on May 24, 2017, setting the deadlines to disclose expert reports for
Plaintiff to June 1, 2017 and for Defendant to June 30, 2017, the mediation deadline
to July 14, 2017, the discovery deadline to August 30, 2017, the deadline for

dispositive motions to September 29, 2017, and a trial date of January 8, 2018.

Doc.

48 at 1-2.
The parties here have demonstrated their lack of diligence in complying with
the Court-ordered deadlines by filing a flurry of motions for extension or not timely
responding to the Court’s Orders.

As evidenced by the detailed discussion in the

prior Order, the parties failed to mediate within the Court-designated deadlines four
times, leading United States District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to issue an Order
to Show Cause (Doc. 30) on December 6, 2016 and the undersigned to enter three
Orders with cautions (Docs. 36, 39, 45).

Docs. 31, 33, 35, 37, 45 at 1-3.

The parties

not timely complying with the Court-ordered deadlines also resulted in three
extensions of the mediation deadline, which extended the mediation deadline for five
months.

Doc. 45 at 4.

Specifically, Defendant filed two motions for extension, which contained
certain assertions later proven to be false, such as that “Defendant will request no
further extension [of the mediation deadline,]” 1 and “Defendant knows that it can
complete mediation by June 14, 2017.”

Docs. 35 at 2; 37 at 2. Given the pattern of

the parties’ behavior, the Court duly issued an Order on May 17, 2017 before entering
the CMSO, “recommend[ing] strongly that the parties mediate at their earliest
convenience.”

Doc. 45 at 4.

Furthermore, despite Defendant’s assertion that he

could mediate by June 14, 2017, the Court allowed additional time for mediation to

After making this statement, Defendant filed another motion to extend the
mediation deadline on May 1, 2017. Doc. 37.
1

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help the parties avoid scheduling conflicts and mediate promptly by setting the
mediation deadline to July 14, 2017. Id. at 4-5.
Yet again, Defendant filed the present motion, seeking a fifth extension of the
mediation deadline. Doc. 55.

Defendant does not explain why the parties could not

have scheduled mediation within the CMSO deadline, although Defendant assured
the Court that he could mediate before June 14, 2017. Docs. 37 at 2, 55.

Based on

Defendant’s representation that the parties will mediate on July 31, 2017, the Court
will grant this FINAL extension.

Doc. 55.

Because of the parties’ repeated delay in mediating, however, the Court will
not grant additional extensions of the mediation deadline beyond that provided by
this Order absent extenuating circumstances.

Furthermore, the Court reminds the

parties that under Rule 16(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court has
discretion to sanction a party who fails to obey a scheduling order.
16(f).

Fed. R. Civ. P.

Should a party seek another extension of the mediation deadline, the moving

party must first show cause in writing why the Court should not impose sanctions for
the parties’ repeated pattern of not complying with the Court’s scheduling orders.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1.

Defendant’s Request to Extend Mediation Deadline to July 31, 2017 (Doc.

55) is GRANTED.
2.

The parties shall have up to and including July 31, 2017 to mediate.

DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 14th day of July, 2017.

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Copies:
Counsel of record

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