(PC) Washington v. Gamboa ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 JESSE WASHINGTON, Case No. 1:17-cv-00302-LJO-EPG (PC) 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER SETTING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 13 H. GAMBOA and R. ROQUE, 14 Defendants. 15 16 Jesse Washington (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis 17 with this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court has determined that this 18 case will benefit from a settlement conference. Therefore, this case will be referred to Magistrate 19 Judge Edmund F. Brennan to conduct a settlement conference at the U. S. District Court, 501 I 20 Street, Sacramento, California 95814 in Courtroom #8 on October 17, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. The 21 court will issue the necessary transportation order in due course. 22 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 23 1. A settlement conference has been set for October 17, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 24 #8 before Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan at the U. S. District Court, 501 I 25 Street, Sacramento, California 95814. 26 2. A representative with full and unlimited authority to negotiate and enter into a binding 27 1 settlement shall attend in person.1 2 3. Those in attendance must be prepared to discuss the claims, defenses and damages. 3 The failure of any counsel, party or authorized person subject to this order to appear in 4 person may result in the imposition of sanctions. In addition, the conference will not 5 proceed and will be reset to another date. 6 4. Each party shall provide a confidential settlement statement to chambers seven (7) 7 days prior to the settlement conference. Statements may be e-mailed to 8 efborders@caed.uscourts.gov. Plaintiff shall mail his confidential settlement 9 statement Attn: Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan, USDC CAED, 501 I Street, 10 Suite 4-200, Sacramento, California 95814 so it arrives no later than seven (7) days 11 prior to the settlement conference. The envelope shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL 12 SETTLEMENT STATEMENT.” Such statements are neither to be filed with the 13 Clerk nor served on opposing counsel. However, each party shall file a one page 14 document entitled Notice of Submission of Confidential Settlement Conference 15 Statement (See Local Rule 270(d)). Settlement statements shall be clearly marked 16 “confidential” with the date and time of the settlement conference indicated 17 prominently thereon. The parties may agree, or not, to serve each other with the 18 settlement statements. Each party is reminded of the requirement that it be 19 represented in person at the settlement conference by a person able to dispose of the 20 case or fully authorized to settle the matter at the settlement conference on any terms. 21 1 While the exercise of its authority is subject to abuse of discretion review, “the district court has the authority to 22 order parties, including the federal government, to participate in mandatory settlement conferences… .” United States v. United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1053, 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 23 2012)(“the district court has broad 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 authorized to 24 fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement terms 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 25 Airline Guides, Inc. v. Goss, 6 F.3d 1385, 1396 (9th 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. 26 Brinker Int’l., 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 person with full settlement authority is that the parties’ view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Pitman, 216 F.R.D. 27 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. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596-97 (8th Cir. 2001). 1 See L.R. 270. 2 3 The confidential settlement statement shall be no longer than five pages in length, 4 typed or neatly printed, and include the following: 5 6 a. A brief statement of the facts of the case. 7 b. A brief statement of the claims and defenses, 1.e., statutory or other grounds upon 8 which the claims are founded; a forthright evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of 9 prevailing on the claims and defenses; and a description of the major issues in 10 dispute. 11 c. A summary of the proceedings to date. 12 d. An estimate of the cost and time to be expended for further discovery, pretrial, and 13 trial. 14 e. The relief sought. 15 f. The party’s position on settlement, including present demands and offers and a 16 history of past settlement discussions, offers, and demands. 17 g. A brief statement of each party’s expectations and goals for the settlement 18 conference, including how much a party is willing to accept and/or willing to pay. 19 h. Ifthe parties intend to discuss the joint settlement of any other actions or claims 20 not in this suit, give a brief description of each action or claim as set forth above, 21 including case number(s) if applicable. 22 53 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24] Dated: _ August 23, 2019 [Je heey □□ 25 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 26 27 28