Johnson v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company

Filing 25

ORDER denying 10 Motion to Stay - IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT Plaintiffs Motion to Lift Stay (Doc.# 10 ) is DENIED as moot. The case remains pending on this Courts, and the remaining dates set by the Preliminary Pretrial Conference Order (Doc. # 16 ) are CONFIRMED. Signed by Magistrate Judge Sharon L Ovington on 04/05/12. (pb1)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION AT DAYTON
CAROL JOHNSON, Administratrix
of the Estate of Matthew Johnson,

:
:

Plaintiff,

Case No. 3:12cv0012
:

vs.
:
NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILWAY
COMPANY, et al.,
Defendants.

District Judge Walter Herbert Rice
Magistrate Judge Sharon L. Ovington

:
:

ORDER

Defendant Norfolk Southern Railway Company (Defendant) removed this case
from state court on January 11, 2012. Attached to the Notice of Removal are copies of
documents indicating that in 2011, while Plaintiff’s case was pending in state court, the
state court stayed the case due to one party’s bankruptcy proceedings. Later, in midSeptember 2011, the state court granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Lift Stay and reinstated the
case on its active docket. (Doc. #1, PageID at 68; Doc. #11).
The instant case is presently pending upon a copy of the Motion to Lift Stay filed
originally by Plaintiff in state court in September 2011. (Doc. #10). It appears that
Defendant Norfolk’s counsel filed and docketed the copy of Plaintiff’s prior Motion in
the present federal case. This was a procedurally unusual step because the Motion had

been previously granted by the state court in mid-September 2011 and because the
present federal case has never been under a stay. For these reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion to
Lift Stay is moot in the present case.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT Plaintiff’s Motion to Lift Stay (Doc.
#10) is DENIED as moot. The case remains pending on this Court’s, and the remaining
dates set by the Preliminary Pretrial Conference Order (Doc. #16) are CONFIRMED.

April 5, 2012
s/Sharon L. Ovington
Sharon L. Ovington
United States Magistrate Judge

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