Osuji v. Bread Financial Payments, Inc. ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ----oo0oo---- 11 12 NELLY C. OSUJI, NO. 2:22-cv-01121 WBS KJN 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 BREAD FINANCIAL PAYMENTS, INC., 16 Defendant. 17 18 ----oo0oo---- 19 STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 20 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the 21 court hereby vacates the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Conference 22 scheduled for January 30, 2023, and makes the following findings 23 and orders without needing to consult with the parties any 24 further. 25 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 26 All defendants have been served, and no further service 27 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown 28 1 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). 2 II. JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENTS 3 On January 6, 2023, this court denied plaintiff’s 4 motion to strike defendant’s affirmative defenses. (Docket No. 5 19.) No further joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings 6 will be permitted except with leave of court, good cause having 7 been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). See 8 Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 (9th Cir. 9 1992). 10 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 11 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 42 U.S.C. § 1331, 12 because plaintiff asserts a claim under the Fair Credit Reporting 13 Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367, the 14 court has supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff’s state law 15 claims, which arise from the same course of conduct as 16 plaintiff’s federal claim. Venue is undisputed and hereby found 17 to be proper. 18 IV. DISCOVERY 19 The parties agree to serve the initial disclosures 20 required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) on or before 21 March 1, 2023. 22 The parties shall disclose experts and produce reports 23 in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no 24 later than August 18, 2023. With regard to expert testimony 25 intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed 26 and reports produced in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 27 Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before September 20, 2023. 28 All discovery, including depositions for preservation 1 of testimony, is left open, save and except that it shall be so 2 conducted as to be completed by October 20, 2023. The word 3 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 4 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relevant to 5 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 6 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 7 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 8 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 9 rules of this court and so that such motions may be heard (and 10 any resulting orders obeyed) not later than October 20, 2023. 11 Any request to take discovery outside the United States shall be 12 taken up with the assigned magistrate judge. 13 V. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 14 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary 15 restraining orders, or other emergency applications, shall be 16 filed on or before December 4, 2023. All motions shall be 17 noticed for the next available hearing date. Counsel are 18 cautioned to refer to the local rules regarding the requirements 19 for noticing and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly 20 scheduled law and motion calendar. 21 VI. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 22 The Final Pretrial Conference is set for February 12, 23 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom No. 5. The conference shall be 24 attended by at least one of the attorneys who will conduct the 25 trial for each of the parties and by any unrepresented parties. 26 Counsel for all parties are to be fully prepared for 27 trial at the time of the Pretrial Conference, with no matters 28 remaining to be accomplished except production of witnesses for 1 oral testimony. Counsel shall file separate pretrial statements, 2 and are referred to Local Rules 281 and 282 relating to the 3 contents of and time for filing those statements. In addition to 4 those subjects listed in Local Rule 281(b), the parties are to 5 provide the court with: (1) a plain, concise statement which 6 identifies every non-discovery motion which has been made to the 7 court, and its resolution; (2) a list of the remaining claims as 8 against each defendant; and (3) the estimated number of trial 9 days. 10 In providing the plain, concise statements of 11 undisputed facts and disputed factual issues contemplated by 12 Local Rule 281(b)(3)-(4), the parties shall emphasize the claims 13 that remain at issue, and any remaining affirmatively pled 14 defenses thereto. If the case is to be tried to a jury, the 15 parties shall also prepare a succinct statement of the case, 16 which is appropriate for the court to read to the jury. 17 VII. TRIAL SETTING 18 The jury trial is set for April 16, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. 19 The parties estimate that the trial will last 1 to 2 days. 20 VIII. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 21 The parties have agreed to mediate and have chosen a 22 mediator. They indicated that the mediation would take place in 23 February 2023. If a settlement agreement has not been reached by 24 the time of the Pretrial Conference, a Settlement Conference will 25 be set at that time. All parties should be prepared to advise 26 the court whether they will stipulate to the trial judge acting 27 as settlement judge and waive disqualification by virtue thereof. 28 Counsel are instructed to have a principal with full nnn nen meen eee nnn nnn nn anne nen nnn nn no nnn I OE OD OE 1 settlement authority present at the Settlement Conference or to 2 be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. At least 3 seven calendar days before the Settlement Conference counsel for 4 each party shall submit a confidential Settlement Conference 5 Statement for review by the settlement judge. If the settlement 6 judge is not the trial judge, the Settlement Conference 7 Statements shall not be filed and will not otherwise be disclosed 8 to the trial judge. 9 IX. MODIFICATIONS TO SCHEDULING ORDER 10 Any requests to modify the dates or terms of this 11 Scheduling Order, except requests to change the date of the 12 trial, may be heard and decided by the assigned Magistrate Judge. 13 All requests to change the trial date shall be heard and decided 14 only by the undersigned judge. 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 | Dated: January 25, 2023 tleom ah. A. be—~ 17 WILLIAM B. SHUBB UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28