Guevara v. HD Supply Management, LLC ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SERGIO GUEVARA, Case No. 1:23-cv-00299-ADA-CDB 12 Plaintiff, SCHEDULING ORDER (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16) 13 v. Discovery Deadlines: 14 H.D. SUPPLY MANAGEMENT, LLC. - Rule 26 Disclosures: June 23, 2023 - Expert Disclosures: December 15, 2023 15 Defendant. - Rebuttal Disclosures: January 12, 2024 - Fact Discovery Cut-Off: December 1, 2023 16 - Expert Discovery Cut-Off: February 12, 2024 - Mid-Discovery Status Conference: October 2, 17 2023, at 9:30 a.m., in Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301 18 Non-Dispositive Motion Deadlines: 19 - Filing: February 26, 2024 - Hearing: On or before April 1, 2024, at 10:30 20 a.m., in Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 21 Dispositive Motion Deadlines: - Filing: April 22, 2024 22 - Hearing: On or before June 3, 2024, at 1:30 p.m, in Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse, Fresno, 23 Courtroom 1, 8th Floor 24 Pre-Trial Conference: November 18, 2024, at 1:30 p.m., in Fresno Federal Courthouse 25 Trial: January 14, 2025, at 8:30 a.m, in Fresno 26 Federal Courthouse 27 / / / 28 1 Plaintiff Sergio Guevara initiated this action on January 17, 2023, in the Superior Court of 2 California, County of Kern. The case was removed to this Court on February 28, 2023. Plaintiff 3 raises claims against his former employer for (1) Disability Discrimination (Government code § 4 12940a)); (2) Failure to Accommodate Disability (Government Code § 12940(m); (3) Failure to 5 Engage in the Interactive Process (Government Code § 12940 (n)); (4) Failure to Prevent Harassment 6 and Discrimination (Government Code § 12940(k)); (5) Retaliation (Government Code § 12940(g)); 7 and (6) Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy. 8 I. Date of Scheduling Conference 9 May 24, 2023, before Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker. 10 II. Appearances of Counsel 11 Marissa Simmons appeared on behalf of Plaintiff. 12 Danielle Zobel appeared on behalf of Defendants. 13 III. Magistrate Judge Consent: 14 Currently there is no joint consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction. 15 Notice of Congested Docket and Court Policy of Trailing 16 Due to the District Judges’ heavy caseload, the adopted policy of the Fresno Division of the 17 Eastern District is to trail all civil cases. The parties are hereby notified that for a trial date set before a 18 District Judge, the parties will trail indefinitely behind any higher priority criminal or older civil case 19 set on the same date until a courtroom becomes available. The trial date will not be reset. 20 The Magistrate Judges’ availability is far more realistic and accommodating to parties than that 21 of the District Judges who carry the heaviest caseloads in the nation and who must prioritize criminal 22 and older civil cases over more recently filed civil cases. A Magistrate Judge may conduct trials, 23 including entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, 24 and Local Rule 305. Any appeal from a judgment entered by a Magistrate Judge is taken directly to the 25 United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. 26 Therefore, the parties are directed to consider consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction to 27 conduct all further proceedings, including trial, and to file a consent/decline form (provided by the 28 Court at the inception of this case) indicating whether they will consent to the jurisdiction of the 1 Magistrate Judge. 2 IV. Pleading Amendment 3 Any motions to amend the pleadings must be filed by July 24, 2023. The parties are advised 4 that filing a motion and/or stipulation requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not reflect on the 5 propriety of the amendment or imply good cause to modify the existing schedule, if necessary. All 6 proposed amendments must (A) be supported by good cause pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) if the 7 amendment requires any modification to the existing schedule, see Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 8 Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992), and (B) establish, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), that such an 9 amendment is not (1) prejudicial to the opposing party, (2) the product of undue delay, (3) proposed in 10 bad faith, or (4) futile, see Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 11 V. Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Date 12 The parties shall exchange the initial disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) by no later 13 than June 23, 2023. 14 The parties are ordered to complete all discovery pertaining to non-experts on or before 15 December 1, 2023, and all discovery pertaining to experts on or before February 12, 2024. 16 The parties are directed to disclose all expert witnesses1, in writing, on or before December 15, 17 2023, and to disclose all rebuttal experts on or before January 12, 2024. The written designation of 18 retained and non-retained experts shall be made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 26(a)(2), (A), (B), and 19 (C) and shall include all information required thereunder. Failure to designate experts in compliance 20 with this order may result in the Court excluding the testimony or other evidence offered through such 21 experts that are not disclosed pursuant to this order. 22 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4) and (5) shall apply to all discovery relating to experts 23 and their opinions. Experts must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions 24 included in the designation. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of sanctions, which may 25 include striking the expert designation and preclusion of expert testimony. 26 27 28 1 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 October 2, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. before 4 Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker. Counsel SHALL file a joint mid-discovery status conference 5 report no later than one week before the conference. Counsel also SHALL lodge the joint status report 6 via e-mail to CDBorders@caed.uscourts.gov. The joint status report SHALL outline the discovery 7 counsel have completed and that which needs to be completed as well as any impediments to 8 completing the discovery within the deadlines set forth in this order. Counsel SHALL discuss 9 settlement and certify in the joint status report (1) that they have met/conferred regarding settlement, 10 and (2) proposed dates for convening a settlement conference before a U.S. magistrate judge. 11 VI. Pre-Trial Motion Schedule 12 All non-dispositive pre-trial motions, including any discovery motions, shall be filed no later 13 than February 26, 20242 and heard on or before April 1, 2024. Discovery motions shall be set before 14 Magistrate Judge Baker. For these hearings and at the direction of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, the 15 Court may direct counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom). For hearings noticed to occur in-person, the 16 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. All other non-dispositive hearings SHALL be set before Judge de Alba. 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 Magistrate Judge Baker. A party with a 22 discovery dispute must first confer with the opposing party in a good faith effort to resolve by 23 agreement the issues in dispute. If that good faith effort is unsuccessful, the moving party promptly 24 shall seek a hearing with all involved parties and Magistrate Judge Baker. To schedule this hearing, the 25 parties are ordered to contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, Susan Hall, at (661) 326-6620 or via email 26 27 28 2 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 at 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 April 22, 2024, and heard no later 6 than June 3, 2024, in Courtroom 1 at 1:30 p.m. before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United States 7 District Judge. In scheduling such motions, counsel shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and Local 8 Rules 230 and 260. 9 VII. Motions for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication 10 At least 21 days before filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for summary 11 adjudication, the parties are ORDERED to meet, in person or by telephone, to confer about the issues to 12 be raised in the motion. 13 The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment where a 14 question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has merit in whole 15 or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of briefing; 4) narrow the 16 issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement before the parties incur the 17 expense of briefing a motion; and 6) to develop a joint statement of undisputed facts. 18 The moving party SHALL initiate the meeting and SHALL provide a complete, proposed 19 statement of undisputed facts at least five days before the conference. The finalized joint statement of 20 undisputed facts SHALL include all facts that the parties agree, for purposes of the motion, may be 21 deemed true. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 260, the moving party shall file the joint 22 statement of undisputed facts. 23 In the notice of motion, the moving party SHALL certify that the parties have met and 24 conferred as ordered above or set forth a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and confer. 25 Failure to comply may result in the motion being stricken. 26 VIII. Pre-Trial Conference Date 27 November 18, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1 before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United 28 States District Judge. 1 The parties are ordered to file a Joint Pretrial Statement pursuant to Local Rule 281(a)(2). The 2 parties are further directed to submit a digital copy of their pretrial statement in Word format, directly 3 to Judge de Alba's chambers, by email at ADAorders@caed.uscourts.gov. 4 Counsels' attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local Rules of Practice for the 5 Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the pre-trial conference. 6 The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. In addition to the matters set forth in the 7 Local Rules the Joint Pretrial Statement shall include a Joint Statement of the case to be used by the 8 Court to explain the nature of the case to the jury during voir dire. 9 IX. Trial Date 10 January 14, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United 11 States District Judge. 12 A. This is a jury trial. 13 B. Counsels' Estimate of Trial Time: 7-10 days 14 C. Counsels' attention is directed to Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of 15 California, Rule 285. 16 X. Settlement Conference 17 The parties are advised that Judge de Alba requires that a mandatory settlement conference be 18 conducted prior to trial by a federal judge. Where the parties filed a summary judgment/adjudication 19 motion, a settlement conference shall be scheduled 30 days after the motion is fully briefed. In cases 20 where the parties do not file a summary judgment/adjudication motions, a settlement conference shall 21 be scheduled 30 days after the last day for the filing of dispositive motions. Unless otherwise requested 22 by the parties, the Settlement Conference will be set before Magistrate Judge Baker. 23 XI. Request for Bifurcation, Appointment of Special Master, or other 24 Techniques to Shorten Trial 25 Not applicable at this time. 26 XII. Related Matters Pending 27 There are no pending related matters. 28 1 || XIII. Compliance with Federal Procedure 2 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 3 || and the Local Rules of Practice of the Eastern District of California, and to keep abreast of any 4 || amendments thereto. The Court must insist upon compliance with these Rules if it is to efficiently 5 || handle its increasing case load and sanctions will be imposed for failure to follow both the Federal 6 || Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of California. 7 || XIV. Effect of this Order 8 The foregoing order represents the best estimate of the court and counsel as to the agenda mo: 9 || suitable to dispose of this case. The trial date reserved is specifically reserved for this case. If the 10 || parties determine at any time that the schedule outlined in this order cannot be met, counsel are order 11 || to notify the court immediately of that fact so that adjustments may be made, either by stipulation or | 12 || subsequent status conference. 13 The dates set in this Order are considered to be firm and will not be modified absent a showin 14 || of good cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations extending the deadlit 15 || contained herein will not be considered unless they are accompanied by affidavits or declarations, an 16 || where appropriate attached exhibits, which establish good cause for granting the relief requested. 17 Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions. 18 || IT IS SO ORDERED. ll Dated: May 24, 2023 | hr 20 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28