Gallegos v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

Filing 13

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 12 Joint Motion Requesting Reassignment from Track 1 to Track 2 and for Telephonic Case Management Conference. The parties' request to reassign the case to Track Two is denied; the parties' request to attend the case management conference by telephone is granted. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 8/13/2018. (APH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
TANYA GALLEGOS,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:18-cv-345-FtM-38CM

THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon review of the Joint Motion
Requesting Reassignment from Track 1 to Track 2 and for Telephonic Case
Management Conference filed on August 1, 2018. Doc. 12. The parties also request
they be permitted to attend the case management conference by telephone. Id. For
the reasons stated below, the motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
Plaintiff filed this action on May 16, 2018 pursuant to the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. (“ERISA”), for recovery of
unpaid long-term disability benefits. Doc. 1. The Court entered a Related Case
Order and Track One Notice on May 17, 2018. Doc. 2. On June 27, 2018, Defendant
Prudential Insurance Company of America (“Prudential”) filed its Answer, including
a counterclaim alleging Plaintiff owes Prudential overpaid long-term disability
benefits Plaintiff was not entitled to receive. Doc. 8. In the present motion, the
parties jointly request the Court reassign the case to Track Two, asserting that
“ERISA cases are usually Track 2[.]” Doc. 12 at 2. The motion includes a Case

Management Report tailored to a Track Two case.

Doc. 12-1.

The parties also

request that “if the court moves this case to Track 2,” they be allowed to hold the
required case management conference “by telephone instead of live, since the parties
have a finalized version of the Case Management Report already prepared.” Id. at
2.
Under the Middle District of Florida Local Rules, “action[s] for review on an
administrative record[,]” including ERISA cases, are categorized as Track One cases.
M.D. Fla. R. 3.05(b)(1)(A). Accordingly, the Court’s Order on May 18, 2018 directed
this case be designated as Track One.

Doc. 2.

Neither the joint motion nor

Defendant’s counterclaim necessitates reassigning the case to Track Two.
Therefore, the Court directs the parties to hold a new case management conference,
which they may conduct by telephone, and file an amended Case Management Report
tailored to a Track One ERISA case as described below. If the parties believe limited
discovery is necessary in this case, they may propose appropriate deadlines in their
amended Case Management Report. See Doc. 12 at 2.
ACCORDINGLY, it is
ORDERED:
1.

The Joint Motion Requesting Reassignment from Track 1 to Track 2 and

for Telephonic Case Management Conference (Doc. 12) is GRANTED in part and
DENIED in part.

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2.

Within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order, the parties either

shall meet in person or by telephone for the purpose of completing an ERISA Case
Management Report under Track One.
3.

Within fourteen (14) days after the case management conference, the

parties shall jointly file an ERISA Case Management Report, which shall include the
following information:
a. The proposed deadline by which Defendant will file and serve
upon Plaintiff a copy of the Administrative Record;
b. The proposed deadline by which the parties either shall file a
stipulation as to the appropriate standard of review or a motion
to determine same;
c. Whether discovery is necessary and, if so, the proposed discovery
deadline;
d. The proposed deadline for filing the motion(s) for judgment on the
record;
e. The proposed deadline for filing the response(s) to the motion(s)
for judgment on the record;
f. The deadline for completing mediation and the name of the
jointly-selected mediator, if applicable; and
g. Any other issues that the parties believe will need resolution,
including any requested accommodations or plans regarding
disposition of Defendant’s counterclaim and proposed dates for
any anticipated discovery.

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DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 13th day of August, 2018.

Copies:
Counsel of record

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