Johnson v. Sharkninja Operating, LLC ( 2024 )

1 Ross Bozarth, SBN 179171 GUENARD & BOZARTH, LLP 2 8830 Elk Grove Blvd. 3 Elk Grove, CA 95624 Telephone: (916) 714-7672 4 Facsimile: (916) 714-9031 5 Roger S. Davidheiser, WESBA #18638 PHV 6 FRIEDMAN RUBIN PLLP 1109 First Ave., Ste. 501 7 Seattle, WA 98101 Telephone: (206) 501-4446 8 Facsimile: (206) 623-0794 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 JASON JOHNSON, 13 No. 2:22-cv-01452-MCE-DB Plaintiff, 14 v. STIPULATION AND 15 SHARKNINJA OPERATING, INC., ORDER TO AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER 16 Defendant. 17 18 Plaintiff Jason Johnson (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant SharkNinja Operating LLC 19 (“SharkNinja” or “Defendant”) (jointly “parties”) hereby file their Stipulation to continue 20 the discovery deadlines in the Scheduling Order. 21 A. The Nature of the Case and the Claims. 22 On September 12, 2020, Plaintiff was using a SharkNinja pressure cooker. 23 24 Plaintiff alleges that the pressure cooker's lid unexpectedly and suddenly blew off the 25 pot in an explosive manner. Plaintiff further alleges that the contents of the pressure 26 cooker were forcefully ejected out of the pot and onto Plaintiff, causing severe, 27 disfiguring burns to his arms, chest, and stomach. 28 1 Plaintiff asserts claims for Strict Products Liability and Negligence. Plaintiff is 2 seeking damages for: (1) past medical expenses; (2) past and future physical pain and 3 suffering; (3) past and future mental pain and suffering; (4) lost wages; (5) loss of full 4 enjoyment permanent injuries; (6) physical impairment; (7) loss of enjoyment of life; and 5 6 (8) punitive damages. 7 B. Requested Changes to the Amended Scheduling Order 8 The Parties request the following changes to the Amended Scheduling Order. 9 Event Current Date Requested Date 10 Discovery Cutoff January 31, 2024 April 1, 2024 11 Designation of Expert Witnesses March 1, 2024 May 15, 2024 12 Supplemental Designation of April 1, 2024 June 15, 2024 Expert Witnesses 13 Dispositive Motion Deadline May 26, 2024 August 30, 2024 14 15 C. Good Cause for the Requested Changes 16 The Parties jointly bring this Stipulation for their second request for continuance 17 of the scheduling order. [Declaration of Roger S. Davidheiser, ¶2.] On October 20, 2023, 18 the parties sought, and on October 24, 2023, the Court granted, an Amended 19 Scheduling Order. [Declaration of Roger S. Davidheiser, ¶2.] 20 21 Under Fed. R. Civ. P 16(b)(4), “[a] schedule may be modified only for good cause 22 and with the judge’s consent.” “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been 23 construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon 24 Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses 25 on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for 26 27 seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th 28 Cir. 1992). “[T]he court may modify the schedule on a showing of good cause if it cannot 1 reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.” Fed. R. Civ. 2 P. 16, advisory committee’s notes to 1983 amendment. Therefore, “a party 3 demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by 4 the court.” Merck v. Swift Transportation Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 5 6 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 19, 2018). 7 The Parties have been diligent in conducting discovery. To date, the parties have 8 exchanged and completed written discovery. [Declaration of Roger S. Davidheiser, ¶3.] 9 SharkNinja has taken Plaintiff’s deposition. The Parties have scheduled a joint 10 inspection of the pressure cooker at issue for January 24, 2024. [Id.] The Parties are in 11 12 the active process of scheduling a 30(b)(6) deposition. However, due to scheduling 13 issues, the parties will not be able to complete the 30(b)(6) deposition prior to the 14 discovery cut-off. [Id.] The parties are working to schedule the deposition in February or 15 March of 2024 on a mutually convenient date. [Id.] Additionally, the parties have met 16 and conferred and need additional time to finalize expert reports. 17 18 Good cause exists for the requested continuance of the Amended Scheduling 19 Order. The original Scheduling Order was entered on November 9, 2022. The Amended 20 Scheduling Order was entered on October 24, 2023. The Parties have completed initial 21 disclosures and written discovery. The parties met and conferred to discuss the need 22 for the continuance, and all agreed it is necessary. [Declaration of Roger S. Davidheiser, 23 24 ¶4.] 25 Respectfully Submitted: 26 DATED 01/30/2024 GUENARD & BOZARTH, LLP 27 By: /s/Ross Bozarth 28 Ross Bozarth Attorneys for Plaintiff Jason Johnson 1 DATED: 01/30/2024 FRIEDMAN | RUBIN ® 2 3 By: /s/Roger S. Davidheiser Roger S. Davidheiser 4 Attorneys for Plaintiff Jason Johnson 5 6 DATED: 01/30/2024 SHOOK, HARDY & BACON L.L.P. 7 By: /s/Ryan J. Williams 8 Scott D. Kaiser 9 Ryan J. Williams Attorneys for Defendant SharkNinja Operating 10 LLC 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 DECLARATION OF ROGER S. DAVIDHEISER 2 I, Roger S. Davidheiser, hereby declare: 3 1. The following statements are within my personal knowledge and, if sworn 4 as a witness, I would and could testify competently thereto. I am an attorney at law duly 5 admitted to practice pro hac vice before this court. I am an attorney with the law firm of 6 Friedman Rubin PLLP, attorneys of record for Plaintiff in the above-entitled action. 7 2. The Parties have agreed to jointly bring this Stipulation to Amend 8 Scheduling Order. The Parties previously requested to amend the Scheduling Order in 9 October 2023. The Parties are requesting this continuance to finalize fact discovery prior 10 to the expert report deadline. 11 12 3. The Parties have been diligent in completing discovery. To date, the 13 parties have exchanged and completed written discovery. SharkNinja has taken 14 Plaintiff’s deposition. The Parties have scheduled a joint inspection of the pressure 15 cooker at issue for January 24, 2024. The Parties are in the active process of scheduling 16 a 30(b)(6) deposition. However, due to scheduling issues, the parties will not be able to 17 complete the 30(b)(6) deposition prior to the discovery cut-off. The parties are working 18 to reschedule the deposition in February or March 2024 on a mutually convenient date. 19 Additionally, the parties have met and conferred and need additional time to finalize 20 expert reports. 21 4. Good cause exists for the requested continuance of the Amended 22 Scheduling Order. The Amended Scheduling Order was entered on October 24, 2023. 23 The Parties have completed initial disclosures and written discovery. The parties met 24 and conferred to discuss the need for the requested continuance, and all agreed it is 25 necessary. 26 27 28 | declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 30th day of January, 2024, at Seattle, Washington. 4 /s/ Roger S. Davidheiser 5 6 7 g Based upon a review of the foregoing Stipulation and Declaration, 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 |! Dated: January 30, 2024 EO Mater . LEK. 12 MORRISON C. ENGLAND, 3 SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 STIP-ORDER TO AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER - 6 FRIEDMAN | RUBIN® No. 2:22-CV-01452 1109 FIRST AVENUE, SUITE 501 SEATTLE, WA 98101-3614