Prunty et al v. Desoto County School Board and District et al

Filing 42

ORDER granting 26 Defendants' Joint Motion to Stay Requirement to Conduct a Case Management Conference and File a Case Management Report. The parties shall conduct a case management conference and file a case management report within FOURTEEN (14) DAYS of judicial resolution of the pending motions to dismiss (Docs. 27, 28, 39). Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 7/18/2017. (HJ)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
ROBERT R. PRUNTY,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:17-cv-291-FtM-99CM

AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE
ADMINISTRATION, ELIZABETH
DUDEK, THE JACK NICKLAUS
MIAMI CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL,
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF
DESOTO COUNTY & BOARD OF
DIRECTORS and ALEX SOTO,
Defendants.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon review of Defendants’ Joint Motion
to Stay Requirement to Conduct a Case Management Conference and File a Case
Management Report (Doc. 26) filed on July 10, 2017.

Defendants The Jack Nicklaus

Miami Children’s Hospital, Inc., Alex Soto, the Desoto County School Board and
District, and Justin Senior (“Senior)

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in his official capacity (collectively,

“Defendants”) seek to stay the requirement to conduct a case management conference
(“CMC”) and file a case management report (“CMR”) until the Court rules on their

On May 30, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against Defendants. Doc. 1. The
Complaint named as a defendant Elizabeth Dudek in her official capacity, who is the former
Secretary of the Agency for Health Administration. Id. Senior, the new Secretary,
substituted Elizabeth Dudek as a party defendant regarding any claims Plaintiff alleged
against Dudek in her official capacity and joined the present motion. Doc. 26 at 1 n.1.
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pending motions to dismiss.

Doc. 26.

Plaintiff filed a response in opposition.

Doc.

34.
In June 2017, Defendants filed three separate motions to dismiss the
Complaint.

Docs. 11, 13, 19.

On July 7, 2017, Plaintiff filed the First Amended

Complaint as of Course (“Amended Complaint”).

Doc. 25.

As a result, Senior

United States District Judge John E. Steele denied as moot the motions to dismiss
(Docs. 11, 13, 19).

Doc. 30.

On July 13 and 14, 2017, Defendants Desoto County

School District, Jack Nicklaus Miami Children’s Hospital and Alex Soto filed two
motions to dismiss the Amended Complaint.

Docs. 27, 28.

On July 18, 2017, the

Agency for Healthcare Administration filed a motion to dismiss the Amended
Complaint.

Doc. 39.

Defendants argue that the Amended Complaint reiterates the issues raised in
three prior cases, all of which were filed by Plaintiff with this Court and dismissed
for Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Doc. 26 at 2. Defendants

allege that despite the holdings in these cases, Plaintiff has not yet exhausted
administrative remedies.

Id.

Thus, Defendants seek to dismiss the Amended

Complaint for Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies and to state a
claim. Id.

Pending judicial resolution of their motions to dismiss, Defendants seek

to stay the requirement of conducting a CMC and filing a CMR.

Id. at 5.

In

response, Plaintiff argues that he is physically and legally unable to exhaust
administrative remedies, and Defendants have not met their burden to stay this case.
Doc. 34.

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The United States Supreme Court has held that a district court has broad
discretion to stay proceedings as part of its inherent power to control its docket.

Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). Furthermore, the Eleventh Circuit has
noted that “[f]acial challenges to the legal sufficiency of a claim or defense, such as a
motion to dismiss based on failure to state a claim for relief, should . . . be resolved
before discovery begins.”

Chudasama v. Mazda Motor Corp., 123 F.3d 1353, 1367

(11th Cir. 1997) (footnote omitted).

The court explained that “[s]uch a dispute

always presents a purely legal question; there are no issues of fact because the
allegations contained in the pleading are presumed to be true.”
omitted).

Id. at 1367 (citation

A party’s litigation history also is a relevant factor when the Court

determines whether to stay proceedings pending the resolution of a motion to dismiss
based on facial challenges.

Allmond v. Duval Cty., No. 3:08-cv-486-J-34TEM, 2010

WL 520813, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 9, 2010); Moore v. Shands Jacksonville Med. Ctr.,

Inc., No. 3:09-cv-298-J-34TEM, 2009 WL 4899400, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 11, 2009).
Here, the Court finds appropriate to stay the requirement of a CMC and a CMR
based on Plaintiff’s litigation history and his prior cases’ dismissal for the same issues
raised here in the pending motions to dismiss.
520813, at *3; Moore, 2009 WL 4899400, at *2.

Doc. 26 at 2; Allmond, 2010 WL
Judicial adjudication of the pending

motions to dismiss may significantly limit the scope of this case, preserving the
parties’ time and expenses of litigating this case.

Chudasama, 123 F.3d at 1368 (“If

the district court dismisses a nonmeritorious claim before discovery has begun,
unnecessary costs to the litigants and to the court system can be avoided.”).

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ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
Defendants’ Joint Motion to Stay Requirement to Conduct a Case Management
Conference and File a Case Management Report (Doc. 26) is GRANTED.

The

parties shall conduct a case management conference and file a case management
report within FOURTEEN (14) DAYS of judicial resolution of the pending motions to
dismiss (Docs. 27, 28, 39).
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 18th day of July, 2017.

Copies:
Counsel of record
Robert R. Prunty pro se

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