Doris Anderson v. County of Fresno ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DORIS ANDERSON, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01134-KES-SAB 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER STAYING PROCEEDINGS IN THIS MATTER AGAINST DEFENDANT 13 v. CALIFORNIA FORENSIC MEDICAL GROUP AKA WELLPATH, LLC 14 COUNTY OF FRESNO, et al., PURSUANT TO 11 U.S.C. § 362 15 Defendants. ORDER REQUIRING PLAINTIFFS TO FILE STATUS REPORT 16 (ECF No. 111) 17 FIFTEEN DAY DEADLINE 18 19 Plaintiffs filed this action on July 23, 2021. (ECF No. 1) The operative third amended 20 complaint asserts claims against Defendants: (1) County of Fresno; (2) Margaret Mims; (3) 21 California Forensic Medical Group, also known as Wellpath, LLC (“Wellpath”); (4) Jami Carter; 22 (5) Chris Garcia; (6) Frank Ponce; (7) Moises Franco; (8) Meng Cha; (9) Linda Thao; (10) Ka 23 Her; (11) Jose Alanis; (12) Anthony Sanchez; (13) Rachel LeBoeuf; (14) David Ventura; (15) 24 Dillon Owens; (16) Jonathan Sanchez; (17) Genevieve Garcia; and (18) Maria Guerrero. (ECF 25 No. 97.) A scheduling conference was held on December 11, 2023. (ECF No. 104.) Neither the 26 pretrial conference nor trial have been set in this matter. 27 On November 15, 2024, Defendant Wellpath filed a suggestion of bankruptcy and notice of stay indicating that on November 11, 2024, Wellpath filed for bankruptcy in the United States 1 Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) for relief under chapter 2 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). (ECF No. 46.) The 3 bankruptcy case is pending under case number 24-90563-(ARP). 4 Pursuant to Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code, all actions against a defendant who has 5 filed a bankruptcy petition are automatically stayed once the petition is filed. 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) 6 (staying “the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, 7 of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could 8 have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a 9 claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title.”); see 10 also Sternberg v. Johnston, 595 F.3d 937, 943 (9th Cir. 2010). Accordingly, all proceedings in 11 this matter against Defendant Wellpath shall be stayed pursuant to Section 362(a) of Title 11, 12 United States Code. 13 As noted above, no pretrial conference or trial has been set in this action. The Court 14 tentatively orders a stay of this action against Wellpath only and that the action proceed against 15 the other seventeen defendants. The Court shall order the parties not subject to the automatic stay 16 to file a status report within fifteen (15) days indicating whether this action should proceed in 17 some manner against any of the named Defendants or if this matter should be stayed in its 18 entirety. See Parker v. Bain, 68 F.3d 1131, 1137 (9th Cir. 1995) (“All proceedings in a single 19 case are not lumped together for purposes of automatic stay analysis. Even if the first claim filed 20 in a case was originally brought against the debtor, section 362 does not necessarily stay all other 21 claims in the case. Within a single case, some actions may be stayed, others not. Multiple claim 22 and multiple party litigation must be disaggregated so that particular claims, counterclaims, cross 23 claims and third-party claims are treated independently when determining which of their 24 respective proceedings are subject to the bankruptcy stay.” (quoting Maritime Elec. Co. v. 25 United Jersey Bank, 959 F.2d 1194, 1204–06 (3d Cir. 1992))). Alternatively, the Court is 26 available to conduct a status conference with the parties not subject to the automatic stay. 27 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1 Group, also known as Wellpath, LLC are STAYED pursuant to Section 362(a) of 2 Title 11, United States Code; 3 2. Plaintiffs shall provide notice to the Court within thirty (30) days of the 4 conclusion of the bankruptcy action; and 5 3. Within fifteen (15) days of service of this order, the parties shall request a status 6 conference or file a status report indicating whether this matter should be stayed 7 in its entirety and all matters vacated or whether a settlement conference should 8 be set. 9 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le 11 | Dated: _November 18, 2024 __ Of STANLEY A. BOONE 12 United States Magistrate Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28