Hall v. Pruitt et al

Filing 51

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 50 Motion to Excuse Attendance of Named Defendants from Settlement Conference. See order for further details. Signed by Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on 9/21/2020. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.)(reh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
1:18 CV 44 MR
ADAM WADE HALL,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
TERESA PUETT, Sgt. of DPS at Marion Corr. )
Inst., in her individual capacity,
)
ROBERT L. KALINOWSKI, Officer of DPS at )
Marion Corr. Inst., in his individual capacity, )
GEORGE R. BRIGHT, Officer of DPS at
)
Marion Corr. Inst., in his individual capacity )
)
Defendants.
)
__________________________________
)

ORDER

This matter is before the undersigned on Defendants’ Motion to Excuse
their Attendance at the Court-Hosted Settlement Conference (the “Motion,”
Doc. 50).
A telephonic settlement conference is set for September 22, 2020
beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Court’s Order of September 3, 2020 provided
instructions regarding the parties’ participation in that conference.
By their Motion, Defendants George R. Bright, Robert L. Kalinowski,
Teresa Puett (“Defendants”) request that they and any insurance carrier (not
including a representative of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety
(“NCDPS”)) be excused from personally attending the conference. Doc. 50.

Defendants contend that this request is justified because NCDPS, as
Defendants’ employer, is responsible for the first $150,000.00 of liability and
because a representative of NCDPS, along with counsel for Defendants, “will
have the ability to negotiate and enter into any binding settlement agreement
on behalf of Defendants.” Id. at pp. 1-2. Defendants further state that Plaintiff
consents to the Motion. Id. at p. 2.
The undersigned’s September 3, 3030 Order required that any motion
seeking to excuse Defendants’ attendance be filed no later than ten (10) days
prior to the September 22, 2020 settlement conference. Doc. 45. The instant
Motion was filed on September 17, 2020. Doc. 50. Despite the untimeliness of
the instant Motion, the undersigned has considered Defendants’ requests.
In view of Defendants’ representation that NCDPS is responsible for the
first $150,000.00 of Defendants’ liability, the undersigned will excuse a
representative from any involved insurance carrier (i.e., a representative other
than the NCDPS representative) from participating in the conference.
With respect to Defendants’ participation, while defense counsel and the
NCDPS representative may have authority to negotiate and enter a binding
settlement on behalf of Defendants, as parties to the case Defendants
themselves have a vested interest in the matter and the undersigned otherwise
believes Defendants’ personal participation in the conference would be
beneficial. However, in order to ensure that such participation is not unduly
2

burdensome, the undersigned will grant Defendants, their counsel, and the
NCDPS representative leave to participate in the settlement conference from
different physical locations if they so choose, as long as they are on one
conference line during the conference.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Excuse their
Attendance at the Court-Hosted Settlement Conference (Doc. 50) is GRANTED
IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows:
(1) Defendants’ request that a representative from any involved insurance
carrier (i.e., a representative other than the NCDPS representative) be
excused from personally appearing is GRANTED; and
(2) Defendants’ request that Defendants George R. Bright, Robert L.
Kalinowski, Teresa Puett be excused from personally participating in the
September 22, 2020 settlement conference is DENIED. However,
Defendants, their counsel, and a representative of the NCDPS are
GRANTED LEAVE to participate by telephone from different physical
locations, provided that defense counsel ensures that all Defendants,
their counsel, and the NCDPS representative are on one conference line.
Signed: September 21, 2020

3