Armento v. Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry, Inc.

Filing 40

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 37 Motion to Compel. Plaintiff shall have 20 requests for admission. Defendant shall have through June 8, 2018, to respond to Plaintiffs discovery requests. Court will reset the following deadlines: Discovery: June 8, 2018; Mediation: June 22, 2018; Motions: July 1, 2018. See order for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell on 05/25/2018. (ni)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
1:17 cv 150
GREGORY G. ARMENTO,

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Plaintiff
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v.
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ASHEVILLE BUNCOMBE COMMUNITY )
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, INC.,
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Defendants.
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______________________________________ )

ORDER

Before the Court is pro se Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel [# 37].
The Court’s Error. On September 21, 2017, the Court issued a Pretrial Order and
Case Management Plan. [# 29]. In the Order, the Court made a scrivener’s error. The Order
should have read “20 requests for admissions” and not “2 requests for admissions.”
The Motion to Compel. On March 30, 2018, pro se Plaintiff—concerned about
making a record—submitted discovery requests to Defendant via USPS certified mail.
Defendant, relying on the mail service rule Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d), calculated that its deadline
to respond to Plaintiff’s request would be May 2, 2018—one day after discovery was
closed. Thus, Plaintiff’s requests were submitted out of time. Defendant did not respond to
the discovery requests. On May 9, 2018, Plaintiff filed his Motion to Compel.
Seeing as Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, and in the interest of justice, the Court has
decided on a compromise. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the Motion in part and
DENIES the Motion in part [# 37].

Plaintiff shall have 20 requests for admission. Defendant, however, only needs to
respond to Plaintiff’s first 20 requests and disregard the remainder of requests. Defendant
shall have through June 8, 2018, to respond to Plaintiff’s discovery requests.
Because the Court has determined to reopen discovery for this limited purpose, the
Court will reset the following deadlines; the Court has consulted with the District Court in
making these determinations.
Discovery:

June 8, 2018

Mediation:

June 22, 2018

Motions:

July 1, 2018

Finally, the Court understands Plaintiff’s unfamiliarity with civil procedure,
however, this issue was covered in the pretrial order and case management plan [# 29]. The
Court DIRECTS pro se Plaintiff to consult the pretrial order [# 29] frequently. While the
Court gives pro se plaintiffs some latitude, the Court may not be able to find in Plaintiff’s
favor with any future issues.

Signed: May 25, 2018