Griego v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 JESENIA ZAMORA, individually and on Case No.: 3:20-cv-401-BAS-AHG behalf of all others similarly situated, and 13 ORDER: BRANDAN GRIEGO, 14 Plaintiffs, (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 15 CONTINUE CASE MANAGEMENT v. DATES, and 16 WAL-MART STORES, INC.; 17 WALMART, INC.; WAL-MART (2) ISSUING FIRST AMENDED ASSOCIATES, INC.; SAM’S WEST, SCHEDULING ORDER 18 INC., and DOES 1–100, 19 [ECF No. 37] Defendants. 20 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to continue case management dates. 21 ECF No. 37. The parties seek to continue the case management schedule by 60 days. Id. 22 Parties seeking to continue deadlines must demonstrate good cause. Chmb.R. at 2 23 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the 24 request”); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good 25 cause and with the judge’s consent”); FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be 26 done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time”). “Good 27 cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and 28 1 statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). 2 The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the 3 scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 4 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 5 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 6 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). 7 The parties have represented to the Court that they have been diligently working 8 toward the Court’s January 5, 2021 class discovery cutoff—they have exchanged nearly 9 1,500 pages of documents, and more than 60 written discovery requests have been 10 answered. ECF No. 37 at 4; ECF No. 37-1 at 3. The parties also represent that there are 11 new issues raised in Plaintiffs’ November 3 Amended Complaint, and thus additional 12 discovery to propound. Id. Further, Defendant has its five busiest retail weeks ahead, 13 which, in addition to the COVID-19 public emergency, may create delays in completing 14 discovery by the deadline. ECF No. 37 at 4–5; ECF No. 37-1 at 3. Thus, the parties have 15 requested that the Court extend its case management schedule by 60 days. ECF No. 37 at 5. 16 The Court appreciates the parties’ thorough motion and attention to the Court’s 17 chambers rules, and finds good cause to continue the case management deadlines. As such, 18 the parties’ joint motion is GRANTED, and the Court issues the following Amended 19 Scheduling Order: 20 1. Counsel shall refer to the Standing Order for Civil Cases for the Honorable 21 Cynthia Bashant, which is accessible via the Court’s website at www.casd.uscourts.gov. 22 2. Fact and class discovery are not bifurcated, but class discovery must be 23 completed by March 8, 2021. “Completed” means that all discovery requests governed by 24 Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 25 45, must be propounded sufficiently in advance of the discovery cut-off date so that they 26 may be completed by that date, taking into account the time permitted in the Rules for 27 service, notice, and responses. If any discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and 28 confer promptly and in good faith in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to 1 ||comply in this regard will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an 2 ||order of the court, no stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be 3 ||recognized by the Court. The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all 4 ||disputes without court intervention through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties 5 ||{reach an impasse on any discovery issue, the movant must email chambers at 6 || efile _goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no later than 45 days after the date of service of the 7 || written discovery response that is in dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the 8 Court to discuss the discovery dispute. The email must include: (1) at least three proposed 9 ||times mutually agreed upon by the parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral 10 ||statement of the dispute; and (3) one sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ 11 || position. The movant must copy opposing counsel on the email. No discovery motion may 12 ||be filed until the Court has conducted its pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the 13 || movant has obtained leave of Court. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply 14 || with the Chambers Rules of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found 15 |/on the district court website and at: 16 || https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard% 20Civil% 20Pretrial% 20Pr 17 || ocedures.pdf. 18 3. Plaintiffs must file a motion for class certification by April 8, 2021. 19 4. Within three (3) days of a ruling on the motion for class certification, the 20 || parties must jointly contact the Court via email (at efile_goddard @casd.uscourts.gov) to 21 || arrange a further case management conference. 22 5. The dates set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 Dated: November 30, 2020 05 _ Siar. Xivelar Honorable Allison H. Goddard 26 United States Magistrate Judge 27 28