Graddy v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Filing 46

ORDER granting 43 Plaintiff's unopposed motion to stay.The Court will defer ruling on the issue of taxation of costs until resolution of the appeal. It shall be the obligation of both parties, within ten days of the resolution of the appeal, to file an appropriate motion, if necessary, to dissolve the stay and reopen the motion for costs. The CLERK is directed to TERMINATE the motion for costs 41 . Signed by Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lammens on 3/17/2017. (CAB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
OCALA DIVISION
EVELYN GRADDY,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 5:16-cv-9-Oc-28PRL

WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP
Defendant.

ORDER
Earlier this year the Court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to
Plaintiff’s sole claim for violation of Florida’s whistleblower act and judgment was entered
accordingly. (Docs. 39, 40). Defendant, as the purported prevailing party, then moved for
taxation of costs against Plaintiff under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. (Doc. 41). That motion has been
referred to me.
But instead of responding in opposition to the motion for costs, Plaintiff has now moved
to stay Defendant’s motion. (Doc. 43). This motion for a stay is also referred to me and is based
on Plaintiff’s appeal of the judgment against her (Doc. 42), and the notion that a stay will be
efficient here because “[t]o the extent that Plaintiff succeeds on her appeal at the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals, any ruling on Defendant’s Motion to Tax Costs, would become null, resulting
in a waste of the parties’ and this Court’s resources in addressing same at this time.” (Doc. 43 at
p.2). Most notably, Plaintiff represents that Defendant consents to the stay.
Generally speaking, the Court’s regular practice “is not to stay matters collateral to a final
judgment, principally involving fees or costs issues, to avoid piecemeal appeals to the Eleventh

Circuit.”

King Cole Condo. Ass’n, Inc. v. QBE Ins. Corp., No. 08-23350-CIV, 2010 WL

3212091, at *1 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 12, 2010). That said, “[t]he exception to this practice occurs when
both parties are in agreement to stay the issue pending appeal, which often (though not always)
results in a stay being entered at the parties’ request.” Id. at *1, n.2.
Given the parties’ agreement to stay the issue of the taxation of costs, Plaintiff’s unopposed
motion (Doc. 43) is GRANTED. The Court will defer ruling on the issue of taxation of costs
until resolution of the appeal. It shall be the obligation of both parties, within ten days of the
resolution of the appeal, to file an appropriate motion, if necessary, to dissolve the stay and reopen
the motion for costs.1 The CLERK is directed to TERMINATE the motion for costs (Doc. 41).
DONE and ORDERED in Ocala, Florida on March 17, 2017.

Copies furnished to:
Counsel of Record
Unrepresented Parties

1

The parties should note that the filing of a motion, as opposed to a notice or other document, is
required in order to trigger the Court’s attention to the matter on the docket. The Court will not dissolve
the stay on the motion for costs and initiate any further action on it in the absence of a new motion by the
parties to do so.
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