Rodriguez v. River Strand Golf & Country Club, Inc.

Filing 44

ORDER: The parties' Joint Motion for Extension of Time to Mediate and for Defendant River Strand Golf & Country Club, Inc. to Appear Telephonically at Mediation (Doc. # 40 ) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Court will not authoriz e any party to participate in the mediation telephonically. However, the Court will extend the mediation deadline to October 12, 2018, with the Notice of Mediation due on August 24, 2018. Signed by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on 8/20/2018. (KAK)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
FREDDY RODRIGUEZ,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No.

8:18-cv-1130-T-33AEP

RIVER STRAND GOLF & COUNTRY
CLUB, INC.,
Defendant.
___________________________/
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court pursuant to the
parties’ Joint Motion for Extension of Time to Mediate and for
Defendant River Strand Golf & Country Club, Inc. to Appear
Telephonically at Mediation (Doc. # 40), which was filed on
August 13, 2018.

The Court held a hearing on the Motion on

August 17, 2018.

As stated at the hearing, although the

Motion is unopposed, the Court denies the Motion to the extent
it seeks any form of telephonic participation in mediation.
The Motion is granted in part to the extent that the Court
will extend the mediation deadline.
Discussion
Plaintiff Freddy Rodriguez sues three Defendants in this
FLSA case: River Strand Golf & Country Club, Inc., Icon
Management Services, Inc., and Heritage Harbour Management,
Inc.

(Doc. # 30).

The Court placed the case on a “fast

track” and required the parties to mediate with Mark Hanley,
Esq. by September 14, 2018, and to file a Notice of Mediation
by August 14, 2018. (Doc. # 39).

On August 13, 2018, the

parties filed a Motion (Doc. # 40) jointly requesting that
River Strand be permitted to participate in the mediation by
telephone.

They

also

requested

that

the

Court

move

the

mediation deadline to November 16, 2018.
Local Rule 9.05(c), M.D. Fla., states, “Unless otherwise
excused by the presiding judge in writing, all parties,
corporate representatives, and any other required claims
professionals (insurance adjusters, etc.), shall be present at
the Mediation Conference with full authority to negotiate a
settlement.”

Here, the parties state: “Defendant ICON has

accepted responsibility for the Plaintiff employee at issue;
was in fact the employer of Plaintiff; and is the party with
knowledge

of

Plaintiff’s

employment

and

which

maintains

payroll, time, and other employment records of the Plaintiff.”
(Id. at 3).

The Court held a hearing and inquired whether it

was appropriate to include River Strand and Heritage as
Defendants if Icon has “accepted responsibility.” Plaintiff
did not agree to dismiss any party or count. Therefore, River
Strand remains a party and is required to participate in the
mediation in person.
2

Parties
conferences

have
in

been

person

required

under

to

harsher

attend

mediation

circumstances.

See

Pecoraro v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co., Civil Action No.
1:07cv777-LTS-RHW, 2008 WL 3842912, *1 (S.D. Miss. Aug. 13,
2008)

(“This

Court

has

denied

other

requests

based

on

hardship, including one in which the Plaintiff lived in
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, had limited financial means to travel
to Mississippi for the mediation, was disabled to the point of
being legally blind, did not have a driver’s license, and her
means of travel were limited.”).

Further, at least one court

has imposed sanctions for a party’s failure to procure the
personal attendance of a person with full settlement authority
at a mediation conference. See Falcon Farms v. R.D.P. Floral,
Inc., Civil Action No. 07-23077-CIV-Ungaro/Simonton, 2008 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 62119, at *6 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 14, 2008).
Court-ordered

mediation

is

a

valuable

tool

parties to utilize in settling their dispute.

for

the

This Court

requires personal attendance at mediation conferences because
this Court strongly believes that mediation conferences are
most

effective

telephonically.

when

attended

personally,

rather

than

However, the Court will accommodate the

parties by extending the mediation deadline from September 14,
2018, to October 12, 2018.

The Notice of Mediation is due on
3