Rhyne et al v. United States Steel Corporation et al

Filing 267

ORDER denying 252 Motion for Reconsideration of the Court's Decision to Hold the Trial in the Statesville Courthouse. Signed by District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr on 8/18/2020. (brl)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
3:18-cv-00197-RJC-DSC
BRUCE RHYNE and JANICE RHYNE,
Plaintiffs,
v.
UNITED STATES STEEL
CORPORATION, SAFETY-KLEEN
SYSTEMS, INC., and THE SAVOGRAN
COMPANY,
Defendants.
THIS

MATTER

comes

before

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
the

ORDER

Court

on

Plaintiffs’

motion

for

reconsideration. (Doc. No. 252.)
On July 24, 2020, the Court held a status conference to discuss setting the trial
of this matter. Plaintiffs sought the earliest possible trial date, and Defendants
sought to continue the trial until at least early 2021 due to the COVID-19 global
pandemic. The Court ultimately agreed with Plaintiffs that given the age of this case
and Plaintiff Bruce Rhyne’s current status in remission, the trial would proceed in
September. The Court raised the possibility of holding the trial in the Statesville
courthouse to accommodate and mitigate the various complications and additional
procedures inherent in holding a multi-defendant jury trial during the pandemic. The
Court noted its preference for the Statesville courthouse due to the size and
configuration of the Statesville courtroom which offered better options to make those
various accommodations. The Court instructed the parties to consider whether they

Case 3:18-cv-00197-RJC-DSC Document 267 Filed 08/18/20 Page 1 of 3

preferred the Charlotte or Statesville courthouse.
The Court held another status conferences on August 7, 2020. During that
conference, Plaintiffs expressed their preference for the Charlotte courthouse based
on access to the airport, city amenities, and prior communications with hotels.
Defendants expressed their preferences for the Statesville courthouse. After hearing
from the parties, the Court selected the Statesville courthouse for the trial based on
a number of reasons, including better COVID-19 statistics in the county in which the
Statesville courthouse is located and the ability of the larger courtroom to
accommodate the jury, multiple parties and attorneys, and courtroom personnel
while maintaining social distancing.
On August 10, 2020, Plaintiffs’ counsel met with courtroom personnel at the
Statesville courthouse for technology training. That same day, Plaintiffs filed the
instant motion seeking reconsideration of the Court’s decision to hold the trial in the
Statesville courthouse. The sole basis for Plaintiffs’ motion is that there is no working
elevator to the second floor courtroom in the courthouse. Plaintiffs argue that the
Court should reconsider its decision and instead hold the trial in Charlotte because
the courtroom is on the second floor and Mr. Rhyne has trouble walking up and down
stairs.
While the Court is sympathetic to Mr. Rhyne’s difficulty with stairs, for all the
reasons articulated during the prior status conferences, and because one flight of
stairs though inconvenient is not prohibitive, the Court believes that the Statesville
courthouse is the safer and more feasible venue for conducting this trial during the

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COVID-19 pandemic.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration,
(Doc. No. 252), is DENIED.

Signed: August 18, 2020

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