McNeill v. Jhonson et al

Filing 93

ORDER granting in part and denying in part Defendant's 92 Motion to be Excused from Attendance at the Judicial Settlement Conference. The request that a representative from any involved insurance carrier be excused fro m participating is GRANTED; and the request that Defendants Cedric Graham, Kariem Lane, and Susan Morrison be excused from personally participating in the March 17, 2021 settlement conference is DENIED. Signed by Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on 3/9/2021. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.)(kby)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
3:18-cv-00188-MR
JAMES C. MCNEILL,
Plaintiff,
v.
CEDRIC GRAHAM, Correctional Officer,
KARIEM LANE, Correctional Officer,
SUSAN MORRISON, Correctional Officer
Defendants.
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ORDER
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This matter is before the undersigned on Defendants’ Motion to be
Excused from Attendance at the Judicial Settlement Conference (the “Motion,”
Doc. 92).
A telephonic settlement conference is set for Wednesday, March 17, 2021
beginning at 1:00 p.m.

The Court’s Order of February 25, 2021 provided

instructions regarding the parties’ participation in that conference. Doc. 91.
By their Motion, Defendants Cedric Graham, Kariem Lane, and Susan
Morrison (“Defendants”) request that they be excused from personally
attending the March 17, 2021 conference.

Doc. 92 at 1.

Additionally,

Defendants request that “a representative of the insurance carrier for any
party” also be excused. Id. Defendants contend that this request is justified
because the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (“NCDPS”), as

Case 3:18-cv-00188-MR Document 93 Filed 03/09/21 Page 1 of 3

Defendants’ employer, is responsible “for payment of a final judgment or the
amount due under settlement of the action” and because representatives of
NCDPS “will attend the scheduled settlement conference and will have the
ability to negotiate and enter into any binding settlement agreement on behalf
of Defendants.” Id. at 1-2. See N.C.G.S. §143-300.6(a) (“The unit of State
government that employed the employee shall pay the first one hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($150,000) of liability”).
In view of Defendants’ representation that NCDPS is responsible for
Defendants’ liability, the undersigned will excuse a representative from any
involved insurance carrier (i.e., a representative other than the NCDPS
representatives) from participating in the conference.
With respect to Defendants’ participation, while defense counsel and the
NCDPS representatives 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 may be
beneficial.

In order to ensure that such participation is not unduly

burdensome, the undersigned has previously advised that Defendants and
their counsel may 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. See Doc. 91 at 1-2.
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Case 3:18-cv-00188-MR Document 93 Filed 03/09/21 Page 2 of 3

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to be Excused
from Attendance at the Judicial Settlement Conference (Doc. 92) is GRANTED
IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as follows:
(1) The request that a representative from any involved insurance carrier
(i.e., a representative other than the NCDPS representatives) be excused
from participating is GRANTED; and
(2) The request that Defendants Cedric Graham, Kariem Lane, and Susan
Morrison be excused from personally participating in the March 17, 2021
settlement conference is DENIED.

Signed: March 9, 2021

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Case 3:18-cv-00188-MR Document 93 Filed 03/09/21 Page 3 of 3