Cook v. Land O'Lakes, Inc. ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 JOHN COOK, Case No. 1: 20-cv-00553-NONE-SAB 10 Plaintiff, SCHEDULING ORDER (Fed. R. Civ. P 16) 11 Class Certification Deadline: Motion Filing: November 8, 2021 12 v. Discovery Deadlines: 13 Non-Expert Discovery: September 27, 2021 LAND O’LAKES, INC., 14 Defendant. 15 16 17 I. Date of Scheduling Conference 18 The Scheduling Conference in this matter was held on June 19, 2020. 19 II. Appearances of Counsel 20 Jonathan Lebe and Zachary Gershman telephonically appeared on behalf of Plaintiff John 21 Cook. 22 Joan Fife telephonically appeared on behalf of Defendant Land O’Lakes, Inc. 23 III. Consent to Magistrate Judge 24 All parties have not consented to the jurisdiction of the magistrate judge. As the parties 25 were advised in the Standing Order in Light of Ongoing Judicial Emergency in the Eastern 26 District of California (ECF No. 2-2), in the Fresno Division of the Eastern District, Judge Dale A. 27 Drozd is the district judge handling all cases assigned to himself and to those cases that are 28 1 currently unassigned to a district judge. Due to the enormous case load, it is unavoidable that 2 there are significant delays in deciding matters filed before the district judge. Pursuant to 28 3 U.S.C. § 636(c), to the parties who have not consented to conduct all further proceedings in this 4 case, including trial, before United States Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone, you should be 5 informed that because of the pressing workload of United States district judges and the priority of 6 criminal cases under the United States Constitution, you are encouraged to consider consenting to 7 magistrate judge jurisdiction in an effort to have your case adjudicated in a timely and cost 8 effective manner. 9 IV. Initial Disclosure under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) 10 The parties exchanged the initial disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) prior to 11 the scheduling conference. 12 V. Amendments to Pleading 13 Plaintiff may seek to amend the pleadings to add additional class representatives. The 14 parties are advised that filing motions and/or stipulations requesting leave to amend the pleadings 15 does not reflect on the propriety of the amendment or imply good cause to modify the existing 16 schedule, if necessary. All proposed amendments must (A) be supported by good cause pursuant 17 to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) if the amendment requires any modification to the existing schedule, see 18 Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992), and (B) establish, 19 under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), that such an amendment is not (1) prejudicial to the opposing party, 20 (2) the product of undue delay, (3) proposed in bad faith, or (4) futile, see Foman v. Davis, 371 21 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 22 VI. Class Certification 23 Scheduling in this matter will be a phased with this first phase addressing class 24 certification. Any motions for class certification shall be filed on or before November 8, 2021. 25 VII. Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Dates 26 The parties are ordered to complete all non-expert discovery on or before September 27, 27 2021. 28 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e) regarding a party’s duty to timely supplement 1 disclosures and responses to discovery requests will be strictly enforced. 2 The parties are cautioned that the discovery/expert cut-off deadlines are the dates by 3 which all discovery must be completed. Absent good cause, discovery motions will not be heard 4 after the discovery deadlines. Moreover, absent good cause, the Court will only grant relief on a 5 discovery motion if the relief requested requires the parties to act before the expiration of the 6 relevant discovery deadline. In other words, discovery requests and deposition notices must be 7 served sufficiently in advance of the discovery deadlines to permit time for a response, time to 8 meet and confer, time to prepare, file and hear a motion to compel and time to obtain relief on a 9 motion to compel. Counsel are expected to take these contingencies into account when proposing 10 discovery deadlines. Compliance with these discovery cutoffs requires motions to compel be 11 filed and heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff so that the Court may grant 12 effective relief within the allotted discovery time. A party’s failure to have a discovery dispute 13 heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff may result in denial of the motion as 14 untimely. 15 VIII. Pre-Trial Motion Schedule 16 Unless prior leave of Court is obtained at least seven (7) days before the filing date, all 17 moving and opposition briefs or legal memorandum in civil cases shall not exceed twenty-five 18 (25) pages. Reply briefs filed by moving parties shall not exceed ten (10) pages. Before 19 scheduling any motion, the parties must comply with all requirements set forth in Local Rule 230 20 and 251. 21 A. Non-Dispositive Pre-Trial Motions 22 As noted, all non-expert discovery, including motions to compel, shall be completed no 23 later than September 27, 2021. Compliance with these discovery cutoffs requires motions to 24 compel be filed and heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff so that the Court may 25 grant effective relief within the allotted discovery time. A party’s failure to have a discovery 26 dispute heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff may result in denial of the motion as 27 untimely. Non-dispositive motions are heard on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m., before United States 28 Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone in Courtroom 9. 1 In scheduling any non-dispositive motion, the Magistrate Judge may grant Applications 2 for an Order Shortening Time pursuant to Local Rule 144(e). However, if counsel does not 3 obtain an Order Shortening Time, the Notice of Motion must comply with Local Rule 251. 4 Counsel may appear and argue non-dispositive motions by telephone, providing a written 5 request to so appear is made to the Magistrate Judge’s Courtroom Clerk no later than three (3) 6 court days before the noticed hearing date. In the event that more than one attorney requests to 7 appear by telephone, then it shall be the obligation of the moving party(ies) to arrange and 8 originate a conference call to the court. 9 Discovery Disputes: If a motion is brought under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, the parties must 10 prepare and file a Joint Statement re Discovery Disagreement (“Joint Statement”) as required by 11 Local Rule 251. The Joint Statement must be filed seven (7) calendar days before the scheduled 12 hearing date. Courtesy copies of all motion-related documents, declarations, and exhibits must be 13 delivered to the Clerk’s Office by 10:00 a.m. on the fourth court day prior to the scheduled 14 hearing date. Motions will be removed from the court’s hearing calendar if the Joint Statement is 15 not timely filed or if courtesy copies are not timely delivered. In order to satisfy the meet and 16 confer requirement set forth in Local Rule 251(b), the parties must confer and talk to each other 17 in person, over the telephone or via video conferencing before the hearing about the discovery 18 dispute. The Court may issue sanctions against the moving party or the opposing party if either 19 party fails to meet and confer in good faith. 20 B. Dispositive Pre-Trial Motions 21 Motions for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication: Prior to filing a motion for 22 summary judgment or motion for summary adjudication, the parties are ORDERED to meet, in 23 person or by telephone, and confer to discuss the issues to be raised in the motion. 24 The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment 25 where a question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has 26 merit in whole or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of 27 briefing; 4) narrow the issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement 28 before the parties incur the expense of briefing a summary judgment motion; and 6) to arrive at a 1 Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts. 2 The moving party shall initiate the meeting and provide a draft of the Joint Statement of 3 Undisputed Facts. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 260, the moving party shall 4 file a Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts. 5 In the Notice of Motion, the moving party shall certify that the parties have met and 6 conferred as ordered above or set forth a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and 7 confer. 8 IX. Related Matters Pending 9 There is currently a case entitled Alejandro Inacio, et al. v. Land O’Lakes, Inc., et al., no. 10 19-cv-04520 proceeding in the Superior Court of California, County of Merced. 11 X. Compliance with Federal Procedure 12 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil 13 Procedure and the Local Rules of the Eastern District of California, and to keep abreast of any 14 amendments thereto. The Court must insist upon compliance with these Rules if it is to 15 efficiently handle its increasing case load and sanctions will be imposed for failure to follow the 16 Rules as provided in both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules for the 17 Eastern District of California. 18 Additional requirements and more detailed procedures for courtroom practice before 19 United States Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone can be found at the United States District Court 20 for the Eastern District of California’s website (www.caed.uscourts.gov) under Judges; United 21 States Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone (SAB). In the area entitled “Case Management 22 Procedures,” there is a link to “Standard Information.” All parties and counsel shall comply with 23 the guidelines set forth therein. 24 XI. Effect of this Order 25 The foregoing order represents the best estimate of the court and counsel as to the agenda 26 most suitable to dispose of this case. The trial date reserved is specifically reserved for this case. 27 If the parties determine at any time that the schedule outlined in this order cannot be met, counsel 28 are ordered to notify the court immediately of that fact so that adjustments may be made, either WAS LOU □□ □□□ a 1 | by stipulation or by subsequent status conference. 2 Stipulations extending the deadlines contained herein will not be considered unless 3 | they are accompanied by affidavits or declarations, and where appropriate attached 4 | exhibits, which establish good cause for granting the relief requested. The parties are 5 | advised that due to the impacted nature of civil cases on the district judges in the Eastern 6 | District of California, Fresno Division, that stipulations to continue set dates are disfavored 7 | and will not be granted absent good cause. 8 Lastly, should counsel or a party appearing pro se fail to comply with the directions 9 | as set forth above, an ex parte hearing may be held and contempt sanctions, including 10 | monetary sanctions, dismissal, default, or other appropriate judgment, may be imposed 11 | and/or ordered. 12 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. FA. ee 14 | Dated: _ June 19, 2020 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28