Mills v. Wal-Mart Associates,Inc. ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 11 ROBERT J. MILLS, Case No. 1:23-cv-01273-NODJ-CDB 12 Plaintiff, SCHEDULING ORDER (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16) 13 v. Discovery Deadlines: - Rule 26 Disclosures: January 22, 2024 14 WAL-MART, ASSOCIATES, INC. - Amended Pleadings: February 15, 2024 - Expert Disclosures: November 1, 2024 15 Defendant. - Rebuttal Disclosures: December 2, 2024 - Fact Discovery Cut-Off: October 18, 2024 16 - Expert Discovery Cut-Off: January 17, 2025 - Mid-Discovery Status Conference: July 26, 17 2024, at 9:30 a.m., in Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, CA 18 93301 19 Non-Dispositive Motion Deadlines: - Filing: January 24, 2025 20 - Hearing: On February 28, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 21 Dispositive Motion Deadlines: 22 - Filing: March 14, 2025 - Hearing: On/before April 29, 2025, 23 1:30 p.m, in Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse, Fresno, Courtroom 1, 8th Floor 24 Pre-Trial Conference: September 22, 2025, at 1:30 25 p.m., in Fresno Federal Courthouse 26 Trial: November 18, 2025, at 8:30 a.m., in Fresno Federal Courthouse 27 28 1 This case was removed from state court on August 23, 2023. (Doc. 1). Plaintiff Robert J. 2 Mills (“Plaintiff”) asserts employment claims against Defendant Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. 3 (“Defendant”). (Doc. 15). The parties convened via Zoom videoconference for a scheduling 4 conference before Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker on December 15, 2023. Karl Gerber 5 appeared on behalf of Plaintiff and Alexandra M. Asterlin appeared on behalf of Defendant. 6 I. Magistrate Judge Consent: 7 Currently there is no joint consent to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction. 8 Notice of Congested Docket and Court Policy of Trailing 9 Due to the District Judges’ heavy caseload, the adopted policy of the Fresno Division of the 10 Eastern District is to trail all civil cases. The parties are hereby notified that for a trial date set before a 11 District Judge, the parties will trail indefinitely behind any higher priority criminal or older civil case 12 set on the same date until a courtroom becomes available. The trial date will not be reset. 13 Further, as of the date of entry of this scheduling order, this matter is assigned to “No District 14 Court Judge (NODJ)” until a new district judge is appointed.1 15 The Magistrate Judges’ availability is far more realistic and accommodating to parties than that 16 of the District Judges who carry the heaviest caseloads in the nation and who must prioritize criminal 17 and older civil cases over more recently filed civil cases. A Magistrate Judge may conduct trials, 18 including entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, 19 and Local Rule 305. Any appeal from a judgment entered by a Magistrate Judge is taken directly to the 20 United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. 21 Therefore, the parties are directed to consider consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction to 22 conduct all further proceedings, including trial, and to file a consent/decline form (provided by the 23 Court at the inception of this case) indicating whether they will consent to the jurisdiction of the 24 Magistrate Judge. 25 26 27 1 Contact information for the NODJ chambers and courtroom deputy can be found at 28 https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/index.cfm/judges/all-judges/united-states-district-judge- nodj/. Proposed orders for a District Judge in this case should be sent to 1 II. Pleading Amendment 2 Any motions to amend the pleadings or substitute “Doe” defendants must be filed by February 3 15, 2024. Filing a motion and/or stipulation requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not reflect 4 on the propriety of the amendment or imply good cause to modify the existing schedule, if necessary. 5 All proposed amendments must (A) be supported by good cause pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) if the 6 amendment requires any modification to the existing schedule, see Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 7 Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992), and (B) establish, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), that such an 8 amendment is not (1) prejudicial to the opposing party, (2) the product of undue delay, (3) proposed in 9 bad faith, or (4) futile, see Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 10 III. Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Date 11 The parties shall exchange the initial disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) by no later 12 than January 22, 2024. 13 The parties are ordered to complete all discovery pertaining to non-experts on or before 14 October 18, 2024, and all discovery pertaining to experts on or before January 17, 2025. 15 The parties are directed to disclose all expert witnesses2, in writing, on or before November 1, 16 2024, and to disclose all rebuttal experts on or before December 2, 2024. The written designation of 17 retained and non-retained experts shall be made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 26(a)(2), (A), (B), and 18 (C) and shall include all information required thereunder. Failure to designate experts in compliance 19 with this order may result in the Court excluding the testimony or other evidence offered through such 20 experts that are not disclosed pursuant to this order. 21 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4) and (5) shall apply to all discovery relating to experts 22 and their opinions. Experts must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions 23 included in the designation. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of sanctions, which may 24 include striking the expert designation and preclusion of expert testimony. 25 26 27 28 2 In the event an expert will offer opinions related to an independent medical or mental health evaluation, the examination SHALL occur sufficiently in advance of the disclosure deadline so the 1 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e) regarding a party’s duty to timely supplement 2 disclosures and responses to discovery requests will be strictly enforced. 3 A mid-discovery status conference is scheduled for July 26, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge 4 Baker. Counsel SHALL file a joint mid-discovery status conference report no later than one week 5 before the conference. Counsel also SHALL lodge the joint status report via e-mail to 6 CDBorders@caed.uscourts.gov. The joint status report SHALL outline the discovery counsel have 7 completed and that which needs to be completed as well as any impediments to completing the 8 discovery within the deadlines set forth in this order. Counsel SHALL discuss settlement and certify in 9 the joint status report (1) that they have met/conferred regarding settlement, and (2) proposed dates for 10 convening a settlement conference before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. 11 IV. Pre-Trial Motion Schedule 12 All non-dispositive pre-trial motions, including any discovery motions, shall be filed no later 13 than January 24, 20253 and heard on or before February 28, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. Discovery motions 14 shall be set before Judge Baker. For these hearings and at the direction of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, 15 the Court may direct counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom). For hearings noticed to occur in-person, 16 the Court may permit counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom) provided the Courtroom Deputy Clerk 17 receives a written notice of the request to appear remotely no later than five court days before the 18 noticed hearing date. 19 No motion to amend or stipulation to amend the case schedule will be entertained unless it is 20 filed at least one week before the first deadline the parties wish to extend. Likewise, no written 21 discovery motions shall be filed without the prior approval Judge Baker. A party with a discovery 22 dispute must first confer with the opposing party in a good faith effort to resolve by agreement the 23 issues in dispute. If that good faith effort is unsuccessful, the moving party promptly shall seek a 24 hearing with all involved parties and Judge Baker. To schedule this hearing, the parties are ordered to 25 contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, Susan Hall, at (661) 326-6620 or via email at 26 27 28 3 Non-dispositive motions related to non-expert discovery SHALL be filed within a reasonable time of discovery of the dispute, but in no event later than 30 days after the expiration of the non- 1 SHall@caed.uscourts.gov. At least three days before the conference, counsel SHALL file informal 2 letter briefs detailing their positions. The briefs may not exceed 7 pages, excluding exhibits. Counsel 3 must comply with Local Rule 251 with respect to discovery disputes or the motion will be denied 4 without prejudice and dropped from the Court’s calendar. 5 All dispositive pre-trial motions shall be filed no later than March 14, 2025, and heard no later 6 than April 29, 2025, before the assigned United States District Judge at 1:30 p.m. In scheduling such 7 motions, counsel shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and Local Rules 230 and 260. 8 V. Motions for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication 9 At least 21 days before filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for summary 10 adjudication, the parties are ORDERED to meet, in person or by telephone, to confer about the issues to 11 be raised in the motion. 12 The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment where a 13 question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has merit in whole 14 or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of briefing; 4) narrow the 15 issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement before the parties incur the 16 expense of briefing a motion; and 6) to develop a joint statement of undisputed facts. 17 The moving party SHALL initiate the meeting and SHALL provide a complete, proposed 18 statement of undisputed facts at least five days before the conference. The finalized joint statement of 19 undisputed facts SHALL include all facts that the parties agree, for purposes of the motion, may be 20 deemed true. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 260, the moving party shall file the joint 21 statement of undisputed facts. 22 In the notice of motion, the moving party SHALL certify that the parties have met and 23 conferred as ordered above or set forth a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and confer. 24 Failure to comply may result in the motion being stricken. 25 VI. Pre-Trial Conference Date 26 September 22, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. before the assigned United States District Judge. The parties 27 are ordered to file a Joint Pretrial Statement pursuant to Local Rule 281(a)(2). The parties are further 28 directed to submit a digital copy of their pretrial statement in Word format, to the assigned United 1 States District Judge. 2 Counsels’ attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local Rules of Practice for the 3 Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the pre-trial conference. 4 The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. In addition to the matters set forth in the 5 Local Rules the Joint Pretrial Statement shall include a Joint Statement of the case to be used by the 6 Court to explain the nature of the case to the jury during voir dire. 7 VII. Trial Date 8 November 18, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 before the assigned United States District 9 Judge. 10 A. This is a jury trial. 11 B. Counsels' Estimate of Trial Time: 5-10 days 12 C. Counsels' attention is directed to Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of 13 California, Rule 285. 14 VIII. Request for Bifurcation, Appointment of Special Master, or other 15 Techniques to Shorten Trial 16 Not applicable at this time. 17 IX. Related Matters Pending 18 There are no pending related matters. 19 X. Compliance with Federal Procedure 20 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 21 and the Local Rules of Practice of the Eastern District of California, and to keep abreast of any 22 amendments thereto. The Court must insist upon compliance with these Rules if it is to efficiently 23 handle its increasing case load and sanctions will be imposed for failure to follow both the Federal 24 Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of California. 25 XI. Effect of this Order 26 The foregoing order represents the best estimate of the court and counsel as to the agenda most 27 suitable to dispose of this case. The trial date reserved is specifically reserved for this case. If the 28 parties determine at any time that the schedule outlined in this order cannot be met, counsel are ordered 1 || to notify the court immediately of that fact so that adjustments may be made, either by stipulation or | 2 || subsequent status conference. 3 The dates set in this Order are considered to be firm and will not be modified absent a 4 || showing of good cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations 5 || extending the deadlines contained herein will not be considered unless they are accompanied by 6 || affidavits or declarations, and where appropriate attached exhibits, which establish good cause 7 for granting the relief requested. 8 Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions. 9 || IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _ December 15, 2023 | wv Vv ED 11 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28