Martinez v. Cargill Meat Solutions

Filing 77

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER - In accordance with discussion following a telephonic conference today to discuss the current status and future progression of this case: By agreement of the defendant, conditional class certification is granted in Haferland, et . al. v. Cargill, 8:09CV00247. Plaintiff Martinez' motion to restrict, (4:09CV3079, filing no. 63 ), and his unopposed motion for approval of notice and opt-in consent form, (4:09CV3079, filing no. 69 ), are granted. Plaintiff Martinez' motion for hearing, (4:09CV3079, filing no. 65 ), is denied. On or before March 17, 2010, the parties shall confer to develop a joint stipulation for setting progression deadlines in this case. Member Cases: 4:09-cv-03079-RGK-CRZ, 8:09-cv-00247-RGK-CRZOrdered by Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart. (JAB)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT F O R THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA J U A N MARTINEZ, on behalf of th e m se lv e s and all others similarly s itu a te d , Plaintiff, V. C A R G IL L MEAT SOLUTIONS, C o rp o ra tio n , Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

4 :0 9 C V 3 0 7 9

M E M O R A N D U M AND ORDER

D A L E HAFERLAND, on behalf of ) th e m se lv e s and all other similarly ) s itu a te d individuals, JUAN MUNOZ, on ) b e h a lf of themselves and all other ) s im ila rly situated individuals, KARLA ) V E L A S Q U E Z , on behalf of themselves ) a n d all other similarly situated ) in d iv id u a ls , and MANUE CORONA, on ) b eh alf of themselves and all other ) s im ila rly situated individuals, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) V. ) ) C A R G IL L MEAT SOLUTIONS, Corp., ) ) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ D e f en d a n t. ____ ) __________________________________ )

8:09CV00247

ORDER

A telephonic conference was held today to discuss the current status and future p ro g re ss io n of this case. In accordance with the parties' discussion:

1)

B y agreement of the defendant, conditional class certification is granted in H a f erla n d , et. al. v. Cargill, 8:09CV00247, with the conditional class defined to include: A ll current and former non-exempt hourly employees who have b e e n employed at any time by Defendant at its Schuyler, NE f a cility during the time period from April 20, 2006 to the p rese n t, who were compensated on a gang time system and wore o r used personal protective equipment.

2)

P lain tiff Martinez' motion to restrict, (4:09CV3079, filing no. 63), and his u n o p p o s e d motion for approval of notice and opt-in consent form, (4 :0 9 C V 3 0 7 9 , filing no. 69), are granted. Plaintiff Martinez' motion for h e a rin g , (4:09CV3079, filing no. 65), is denied. P l a in tif f Martinez' counsel shall mail an English and Spanish version of the c o u rt-a p p ro v e d opt-in consent form to putative plaintiffs who have not p re v io u s ly completed an opt-in form to join this case. As to those plaintiffs w h o have already signed forms to opt into either the Martinez or Haferland c a se , notices need not be re-sent and opting in again using the court-approved c o n s e n t form is unnecessary. T h e deadline for opting into this case is April 22, 2010. Putative plaintiffs w h o have not consented to opt-in by April 22, 2010 will not be included in the c o n d i tio n a l class. T h e deadline for responding to written discovery served on the defendant by H a f e rla n d is extended by thirty days. O n or before March 12, 2010, counsel for Martinez and Haferland shall confer to discuss how discovery and case progression can be coordinated among the p la in tif f s in this case, the goal being to develop cooperative discovery methods w h ic h avoid duplicating discovery requests, depositions, and effort, including p o ss ib ly withdrawing the written discovery already served on the defendant in f a v o r of sending a single non-repetitive set.

3)

4)

5)

6)

2

7)

O n or before March 17, 2010, the parties shall confer to develop a joint s tip u la tio n for setting progression deadlines in this case. The joint stipulation s h a ll address, at a minimum: a. b. T h e deadline for Haferland's service of mandatory disclosures; T h e deadline for disclosure of experts and expert reports. By agreement o f the parties, expert disclosure deadlines may be staggered. T h e discovery and deposition deadline. The deadline for filing motions to certify the conditional classes and to c r e a te , if appropriate, subclasses. T h e deadline for filing any Rule 23 class certification motion. T h e deadline for filing motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment or motions to exclude expert testimony on Daubert and related grounds. A proposed pretrial conference deadline (by week and month); and A proposed trial deadline (by month), along with a statement indicating th e anticipated length of the trial.

c. d.

e. f.

g. h.

8)

T h e parties' proposed progression schedule shall be emailed to the u n d e rsig n e d at [e-mail]. If any case progression issues cannot b e jointly resolved by the parties, the proposed progression schedule shall id e n tif y those issues and set forth the parties respective positions.

D A T E D this 4th day of March, 2010. B Y THE COURT: S / Cheryl R. Zwart United States Magistrate Judge

3