Stevens v. ExamWorks, LLC ( 2021 )

1 SJoEhYnF YAsRlaTs H(S SBHNA 1W87 L32L4P) 2 E-mail: jyslas@seyfarth.com 601 South Figueroa Street, Suite 3300 3 Los Angeles, California 90017-5793 Telephone: (213) 270-9600 4 Facsimile: (213) 270-9601 5 SEYFARTH SHAW LLP Francesca L. Hunter (SBN 327571) 6 fhunter@seyfarth.com 2029 Century Park East, Suite 3500 7 Los Angeles, California 90067 Telephone: (310) 277-7200 8 Facsimile: (310) 201-5219 9 Attorneys for Defendants ExamWorks, LLC, ExamWorks Review Services, 10 LLC, and IME Resources, LLC 11 12 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 14 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 15 16 JONI STEVENS, an individual, Case No. 2:21-cv-01252-TLN-DMC 17 Plaintiff, (Shasta County Superior Court Case No.197549) 18 v. JOINT STIPULATION TO STAY 19 EXAMWORKS, LLC, a Delaware limited ACTION PENDING liability company; EXAMWORKS ARBITRATION; ORDER 20 REVIEW SERVICES, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; IME Date Action Filed: June 14, 2021 21 RESOURCES, LLC, a Delaware limited liability compare; and Does 1-10, 22 Defendants. 23 24 25 TO THE COURT, ALL PARTIES, AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD: 26 This Stipulation is made by and between Plaintiff JONI STEVENS (“Plaintiff”) 27 and Defendants EXAMWORKS, LLC, EXAMWORKS REVIEW SERVICES, LLC, and 28 IME RESOURCES, LLC (“Defendants”) (collectively, the “Parties”), by and through 1 their respective counsel of record. The Stipulation is made with reference to the 2 following facts: 3 1. WHEREAS, on or about April 23, 2019, Plaintiff executed an Arbitration 4 Agreement with Defendants (the “Agreement”) (Exhibit A). 5 2. WHEREAS, on June 14, 2021, Plaintiff filed a complaint in Shasta County 6 Superior Court alleging nine claims for relief; (1) Gender Discrimination in Violation of 7 FEHA; (2) Age Discrimination in Violation of FEHA; (3) Retaliation in Violation of 8 FEHA; (4) Failure to Prevent Discrimination and Harassment; (5) Violation of the 9 California Equal Pay Act; (6) Retaliation in Violation of the California Equal Pay Act; 10 (7) Retaliation in Violation of Labor Code § 1102.5; (8) Wrongful Termination in 11 Violation of Public Policy; and (9) Unfair Business Practices ( the “Complaint”); 12 3. WHEREAS, on July 16, 2021, Defendants filed their Notice of Removal in 13 the Eastern District Court of California; 14 4. WHEREAS, from July 19, 2021 to August 23, 2021, the Parties met and 15 conferred regarding the Parties’ Arbitration Agreement and Defendants’ intent to file a 16 Motion to Compel Arbitration; 17 5. WHEREAS, Plaintiff has agreed to voluntarily submit her claims to binding 18 arbitration pursuant to the terms of the Arbitration Agreement and the Parties’ agreement 19 herein (which addresses the parameters of discovery); 20 6. WHEREAS, the Parties have agreed for Plaintiff to submit her claims to 21 final and binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”); 22 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY AGREED by the Parties as follows: 23 1. Plaintiff will submit her individual claims set forth in the Complaint to final 24 and binding arbitration with AAA, pursuant to the Arbitration Agreement; 25 2. In arbitration before AAA, each Party will be entitled to five (5) initial 26 depositions; twenty-five (25) Interrogatories; twenty-five (25) Requests for Admission; 27 and twenty-five (25) Requests for Production; 28 1 3. Should the Parties wish to seek additional discovery beyond the initial 2 discovery permitted by this stipulation (as set forth in paragraph 2 above), the party 3 requesting additional discovery shall apply to the arbitrator and must make a showing 4 that there is a need for “adequate discovery” (consistent with striking an appropriate 5 balance between the desired efficiency of limited discovery in arbitration) pursuant to 6 Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. 24 Cal. 4th 83 (2000), and 7 agree to be bound by the arbitrator’s decision whether the party is entitled to such 8 additional discovery; 9 4. Defendant shall pay the initial arbitration filing fee and Plaintiff shall file 10 documents initiating arbitration with AAA. Defendants will pay all other costs that are 11 unique to arbitration, including the arbitrator’s fees and any other arbitration filing and 12 administrative fees. Plaintiff remains responsible, however, for all attorneys’ fees and 13 costs that are not payable to the AAA or arbitrator; 14 5. The arbitration of Plaintiff’s claims will take place in Los Angeles, 15 California; 16 6. California law will apply to Plaintiff’s claims in the arbitration; and 17 7. The action will be stayed pending completion of the arbitration. The Court 18 will retain jurisdiction for the limited purpose of entertaining statutory proceedings, 19 including a petition to confirm, vacate, or correct any arbitration award. 20 IT IS SO STIPULATED. 21 DATED: September 1, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 22 SEYFARTH SHAW LLP 23 24 By: /s/ John Yslas John Yslas 25 Francesca Hunter Attorneys for Defendant 26 ExamWorks, LLC, ExamWorks Review Services, LLC, and IME 27 Resources, LLC 28 ADDITIONAL SIGNATURES ON NEXT PAGE 1 DATED: September 2, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 2 KING & SIEGEL LLP 3 4 By: /s/ Robert King Robert King 5 Julian King Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 JONI STEVENS 7 8 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION 9 I hereby attest that the other signatory listed, on whose behalf the filing is 10 submitted, concurs in the filing’s content and has authorized the filing. 11 12 DATED: September 1, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 13 SEYFARTH SHAW LLP 14 15 By: /s/ John Yslas John Yslas 16 Francesca Hunter Attorneys for Defendant 17 ExamWorks, LLC, ExamWorks Review Services, LLC, and IME 18 Resources, LLC 19 20 ORDER ON NEXT PAGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 ITIS SO ORDERED. □□ /) ° “ \/ lhe 4 || DATED: September 7, 2021 —aAK ZN 5 Troy L. Nunley United States District Judge 6 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28