(PC) Washington v. Young ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CHRISTOPHER NATHANIEL No. 2:16-cv-1341 JAM DB P WASHINGTON, 12 Plaintiff, 13 ORDER v. 14 YOUNG, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with an action 19 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff alleges defendants violated his rights under the Eighth 20 Amendment. The court has determined that this case will benefit from a settlement conference. 21 Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney to conduct a 22 settlement conference at the U. S. District Court, 501 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814 in 23 Courtroom #24 on October 31, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. A separate order and writ of habeas corpus ad 24 testificandum will issue concurrently with this order. 25 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 26 1. The parties’ joint request for settlement conference and discovery stay (ECF No. 103) 27 is granted; 28 //// 1 2. Discovery is stayed pending the outcome of the settlement conference scheduled for 2 October 31, 2019. In the event that the case is not resolved at the settlement 3 conference, the parties may move to amend the deadlines set forth in the discovery and 4 scheduling order (ECF No. 100). 5 3. This case is set for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. 6 Delaney on October 31, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. at the U. S. District Court, 501 I Street, 7 Sacramento, California 95814 in Courtroom #24. 8 4. Parties are instructed to have a principal with full settlement authority present at the 9 Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. The 10 individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and 11 authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. The purpose 12 behind requiring the attendance of a person with full settlement authority is that the 13 parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. An 14 authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to 15 comply with the requirement of full authority to settle1. 16 5. Parties are directed to submit confidential settlement statements no later than October 17 24, 2019 to ckdorders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential 18 19 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory 20 settlement conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012)(“the district court has broad 21 authority to compel participation in mandatory settlement conference[s].”). The term “full authority to settle” means that the individuals attending the mediation conference must be 22 authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms 23 acceptable to the parties. G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989), cited with approval in Official Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th 24 Cir. 1993). The individual with full authority to settle must also have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of the party, if appropriate. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., 25 Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003), amended on recon. in part, Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 2003 WL 23353478 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose behind requiring the attendance of a 26 person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the 27 face to face conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. at 486. An authorization to settle for a limited dollar amount or sum certain can be found not to comply with the requirement of full authority to settle. 28 Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001). 1 settlement statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney, USDC CAED, 501 I 2 Street, Suite 4-200, Sacramento, California 95814 so it arrives no later than October 3 24, 2019. The envelope shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT 4 STATEMENT.” Parties are also directed to file a “Notice of Submission of 5 Confidential Settlement Statement” (See L.R. 270(d)). 6 7 Settlement statements should not be filed with the Clerk of the Court nor served on 8 any other party. Settlement statements shall be clearly marked “confidential” with 9 the date and time of the settlement conference indicated prominently thereon. 10 11 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 12 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 13 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 14 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, i.e., statutory 15 or other grounds upon which the claims are founded; a 16 forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing 17 on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major 18 issues in dispute. 19 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 20 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further 21 discovery, pretrial, and trial. 22 e. The relief sought. 23 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present 24 demands and offers and a history of past settlement 25 discussions, offers, and demands. 26 g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for 27 the settlement conference, including how much a party is 28 willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 1 h. Ifthe parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any 2 other actions or claims not in this suit, give a brief 3 description of each action or claim as set forth above, 4 including case number(s) if applicable. 5 6. Judge Delaney or another representative from the court will be contacting the parties 6 either by telephone or in person, approximately two weeks prior to the settlement 7 conference, to ascertain each party’s expectations of the settlement conference. 8 | Dated: August 21, 2019 9 10 ll .B ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 DLB:12 18 | □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ rights/wash1341.set.conf 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28