Fennell v. Pacific Maritime Association et al

Filing 52

ORDER granting Plaintiff's 42 Motion to Extend Deadline for Joining Parties; Joinder of Parties deadline EXTENDED to 6/5/2017, by Judge Robert S. Lasnik. (SWT)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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SHIQUAN FENNELL,
No. C16-5933RSL
Plaintiff,

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ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
EXTEND DEADLINE FOR JOINING
PARTIES

vs.
PACIFIC MARITIME
ASSOCIATION, et al.,

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Defendants.

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This matter comes before the court on plaintiff’s “Motion to Extend Deadline for
Joining Additional Parties.” Dkt. # 42. 1 Defendant Pacific Maritime Association
(“PMA”) has denied that it is plaintiff’s employer, asserting that it is “a multi-employer
collective-bargaining agent for its member companies, who employ ILWU-represented
longshore workers” such as plaintiff. Dkt. # 47 at 2. PMA declined to identify plaintiff’s
employer, however, so he has initiated discovery to seek that information in order to
pursue his Uniform Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”)
and Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”) claims. Plaintiff seeks an
extension until June 5, 2017, to receive responses from PMA and to identify his
employer.

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Plaintiff’s request for alternative relief – that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union be added as a
defendant – has been granted.

ORDER - 1

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PMA asserts that plaintiff has long been aware of the dispute regarding the

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identity of his employer, that he has records in his possession sufficient to identify the

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employer(s), and/or that plaintiff does not intend to add additional defendants even if the

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employers were identified. The first argument is uncontested: the parties recognized that

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there was a dispute and agreed in their Joint Status Report that June 5, 2017, was a

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reasonable deadline for joining additional parties. Dkt. # 29 at 1. The second and third

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arguments are unsupported.

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In light of PMA’s refusal to identify plaintiff’s employers and the relevance of that

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information to his USERRA and WLAD claims, an extension of time in which to conduct

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discovery is appropriate. Plaintiff’s motion is GRANTED. The deadline for joining

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parties is hereby extended to June 5, 2017.

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Dated this 3rd day of April, 2017.

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A
Robert S. Lasnik

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United States District Judge

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ORDER - 2