Wilson v. Simmons et al

Filing 63

ORDER: Defendants' 62 Motion to Excuse Attendance of Individual Defendants is DENIED. Signed by Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on 2/12/2021. (Pro se litigant served by US Mail.) (maf)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
3:18-cv-00198-MR
JAMES A. WILSON,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
BRETT SIMMONS
)
Sergeant at Lanesboro Correctional
)
FNU HONBARRIER
)
Correctional Officer at Lanesboro Correctional )
FNU HINSON
)
Correctional Officer at Lanesboro Correctional )
FNU DMANTO
)
Correctional Officer at Lanesboro Correctional )
)
Defendants.
)
__________________________________
)

ORDER

This matter is before the undersigned on Defendants’ Motion to Excuse
Their Attendance at the Court-Hosted Settlement Conference (the “Motion,”
Doc. 62).
A telephonic settlement conference is set for February 18, 2021
beginning at 1:00 p.m.

The Court’s Order of February 8, 2021 provided

instructions regarding the parties’ participation in that conference. Doc. 57.
By their Motion, Defendants Brett Simmons, Justin Honbarrier, Kearry
Hinson, and Phillip DiManto (“Defendants”) request that they be excused from
personally attending the February 18, 2021 conference.

Doc. 62 at 1.

Defendants contend that this request is justified because the North Carolina
Department of Public Safety (“NCDPS”), as Defendants’ employer, is
responsible for the first $150,000.00 of liability 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.
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. 57 at 2.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Excuse
Attendance of Individual Defendants (Doc. 62) is DENIED.

Signed: February 12, 2021

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