Cleary v. Retirement Plan for Employees of Northern Montana Hospital et al

Filing 141

ORDER: The deadline for submission of the Settlement Agreement and Proposed Order is July 30, 2018, and the deadline for the payment to Plaintiff is August 8, 2018. Signed by Judge Brian Morris on 7/19/2018. (MMS)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA
GREAT FALLS DIVISION
JOEL CLEARY, M.D., individually and
on behalf of all others similarly situated,

Case No. 4:16-cv-00061-BMM

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

RETIREMENT PLAN FOR
EMPLOYEES OF NORTHERN
MONTANA HOSPITAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF
THE RETIREMENT PLAN FOR
EMPLOYEES OF NORTHERN
MONTANA HOSPITAL, DAVID
HENRY, KIM LUCKE, BONNIE
O’NEILL, and NORTHERN
MONTANA HOSPITAL,
Defendants.

In the parties’ Joint Status Report and [Proposed] Order filed June 5, 2018
(ECF No. 133), the parties’ informed the Court that they had reached agreement on
a settlement in conjunction with a May 24, 2018, mediation with Magistrate Judge
Lynch who had then ordered that the parties submit to this Court a settlement
agreement and proposed order preliminarily approving that agreement by June 15,
2018, and that Plaintiff be paid the agreed amount of his pension benefits by June

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25, 2018. See ECF No. 131. The Joint Status Report and [Proposed] Order
included a request that those dates be extended to July 16, 2018, and July 25, 2018,
respectively. The Court granted the extension via Order dated June 7, 2018. (ECF
No. 134).
Subsequently, the exchange of initial drafts of a Settlement Stipulation by
the parties revealed a disagreement as to the exact parameters of what had been
agreed to at the mediation. This was followed by an exchange of emails, then
letters to Magistrate Judge Lynch and then a telephone conference with Magistrate
Judge Lynch. This resolved the disagreement for the most part but significant
tinkering with the document by the parties ensued.
In addition to the Settlement Stipulation itself, the language of which has
been agreed to for the most part except, perhaps for some more tinkering around
the edges, various exhibits to that document have been drafted and remain to be
finalized – these include the Notice that is to be sent to all of the people who will
receive money and the [Proposed] Final Order and Judgment approving the
settlement. We can inform the Court that the parties have reached agreement on the
amount of money that is to be paid to the named Plaintiff as well as to each of the
other 188 people included in the settlement.
The parties are confident that all of the necessary documents will be
completed by July 30, 2018, and therefore respectfully request that the Court

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hereby extend the deadline for submission of the Settlement Agreement and
[Proposed] Order to July 30, 2018, and the deadline for the payment to Plaintiff to
August 8, 2018.
Dated:

July 12, 2018
KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P.
By: /s/ Gary A. Gotto
Gary A. Gotto
3255 Bending Tree Ln.
Missoula, MT 59808
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
David S. Preminger (admitted pro hac vice)
KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P.
1140 Avenue of the Americas
Ninth Floor
New York, NY 10036
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Dated:

July 12, 2018
CROWLEY FLECK PLLP
By: /s/ Steven R. Milch
Steven R. Milch

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490 N. 31st Street, Suite 500
Billings, Montana, 59103-2529
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Defendants
DATED this 19th day of July, 2018.

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