Bruce Farms Partnership et al v. Monsanto Company et al
Filing
89
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff Chris Oakes's motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice (#360) is HELD IN ABEYANCE. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, by October 3, 2019, plaintiff Chris Oakes shall file a memorandum with the Court certifying that he has updated his PFS responses as required by the Special Master and that he has sat for or set a date for his deposition; failure to file such a memorandum will result in dismissal with prejudice. Response to Court due by 10/3/2019. Signed by District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr on 09/23/19. Associated Cases: 1:18-md-02820-SNLJ, 1:18-cv-00026-SNLJ(CMH)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION
IN RE: DICAMBA HERBICIDES
LITIGATION
This document relates to:
Bruce Farms Partnership, et al.
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MDL No. 2820
Case No. 1:18cv26
MEMORANDUM and ORDER
On April 5, 2019, plaintiff Chris Oakes filed a memorandum motion for voluntary
dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2) (#360). The
motion was styled as a “notice” on the docket sheet, among numerous notices of
deposition,1 instead of as a “motion,” so the matter was not flagged for this Court until
September 20. Defendants oppose the motion because, unlike the other plaintiffs in this
matter which have been permitted to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice, plaintiff Chris
Oaks filed his motion after the defendants answered the complaint. Defendants object to
the dismissal of Oakes’s case without prejudice unless Oakes both produces a complete
plaintiff fact sheet (“PFS”), along with required documents, and sits for a deposition.
Oakes was named as a plaintiff in the Crop Damage Master Complaint. He
submitted a PFS on August 1, 2018, but he has failed to produce the Supplement 12 form
and supplemental PFS responses to questions 13 and 14. Oakes’s counsel assured defense
counsel he was working on obtaining the supplemental responses, but no supplement has
been filed. Plaintiff Oakes’s counsel explains that those responses were not required by
the original PFS, but rather they were later required of plaintiffs after consultation with
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The Court typically does not permit discovery-related documents to be filed on the docket
sheet. However, at the request of the parties in this multi-district litigation, the parties are
permitted to file notices of deposition to allow for convenient service of notice on the myriad
attorneys involved in the MDL.
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the Special Master, and that they should not be a basis for denying dismissal without
prejudice. Oakes’s counsel also explains that they have been unable to reach Chris
Oakes, as Oakes has been “unresponsive since substantially completing his original
PFS.” As a result, counsel states that they intend to file a motion to withdraw.
Nonetheless, counsel argues that other plaintiffs have been allowed to voluntarily dismiss
without prejudice without sitting for depositions, so Oakes should be allowed to do so
without sitting for a deposition.
However, counsel fails to acknowledge that Chris Oakes, unlike the other
plaintiffs permitted to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice, filed his motion to dismiss
after defendants answered the complaint and after defendants noticed a deposition for
Oakes. The Court will allow plaintiff Chris Oakes 10 days to update his PFS responses
as required by the Special Master and to set a date for his deposition. If, by the expiration
of that 10-day period, plaintiff has not done so, then his dismissal will be entered with
prejudice.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff Chris Oakes’s motion for voluntary
dismissal without prejudice (#360) is HELD IN ABEYANCE.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, by October 3, 2019, plaintiff Chris Oakes shall
file a memorandum with the Court certifying that he has updated his PFS responses as
required by the Special Master and that he has sat for or set a date for his deposition;
failure to file such a memorandum will result in dismissal with prejudice.
Dated this 23rdst day of September, 2019.
STEPHEN N. LIMBAUGH, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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