1 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 4 5 EDNA GARIBAY ET AL., CASE NO. 1:24-cv-00308-KES-EPG

6 SCHEDULING CONFERENCE ORDER

7 Initial Disclosures: 6/21/2024 Plaintiff(s), 8 Nonexpert Discovery Cutoff: 6/30/2025 9 v. Expert 10 Disclosure: 7/30/2025

11 Rebuttal Expert CITY OF MERCED, Disclosure: 9/1/2025 12 Expert 13 Discovery Cutoff: 10/1/2025 14 Defendant(s). Dispositive Motion Filing Deadline: 11/17/2025 15 Settlement Conf.: Date: Not Set 16 17 Mid-Discovery Conf: Date: 1/13/2025 Time: 11:00 a.m. 18 Dept:10

19 Pretrial Conf.: Date: 4/13/2026 Time:1:30 p.m. 20 Dept: 6 21 Jury Trial: Date: 6/16/2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. 22 Dept. 6

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24 25 This Court conducted a scheduling conference on July 2, 2024. Counsel Matthew 26 Falkenstein appeared telephonically on behalf of Plaintiff(s). Counsel Nicole Cahill appeared 27 telephonically on behalf of Defendant(s). Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b), this Court sets a 28 1 schedule for this action. 2 I. Amendment To The Parties’ Pleadings 3 The parties are advised that the filing of motions and/or stipulations requesting leave to 4 amend the pleadings does not imply good cause to modify the existing schedule. Fed. R. Civ. P. 5 16(b)(4); see also Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992). 6 Moreover, any request for amendment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) must not be: (1) prejudicial to 7 the opposing party; (2) the product of undue delay; (3) proposed in bad faith; or (4) futile. See 8 Foman v. Davis,

(1962). 9 II. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) 10 Initial disclosures are due June 21, 2024. 11 III. Discovery Cutoffs And Limits 12 All non-expert discovery shall be completed no later than June 30, 2025. Initial expert 13 witness disclosures shall be served no later than July 30, 2025. Such disclosures must be made 14 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(A), (B) and (C), and shall include all information required 15 thereunder. Rebuttal expert witness disclosures shall be served no later than September 1, 2025. 16 Such disclosures must be made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(A), (B) and (C), and shall 17 include all information required thereunder. In addition, Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4) and Fed. R. 18 Civ. P. 26(e) specifically apply to discovery relating to expert witnesses and their opinions. Each 19 expert witness must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions included in the 20 disclosures. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the imposition of appropriate 21 sanctions, including the preclusion of the expert’s testimony, or of other evidence offered through 22 the expert. 23 An expert discovery shall be completed no later than October 1, 2025. The parties are 24 advised that motions to compel must be filed in advance of the discovery deadlines so that the Court 25 may grant effective relief within the allotted discovery time. A party’s failure to have a discovery 26 dispute heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff may result in denial of the motion as 27 untimely. 28 A Mid-Discovery Status Conference is set for January 13, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., in 1 Courtroom 10, before Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean. At least seven (7) days before the 2 conference, the parties are directed to file a joint report, of up to five (5) pages, outlining the 3 status of the case, any additional discovery still planned, potential for settlement, and any other 4 issues pending that would benefit from the Court’s assistance/direction. The parties are permitted 5 to appear telephonically and may do so by dialing 1-888-251-2909 and entering access code 6 1024453. Alternatively, parties and counsel may appear in person. If one or more parties wish to 7 appear in person, they shall email Courtroom Deputy Felicia Navarro at 8 [email protected] at least 24 hours before the conference so that a notation can be 9 placed on the Court’s calendar. 10 IV. Pretrial Motion Schedule 11 A. General Information Regarding Filing Motions 12 The parties are advised that unless prior leave of the Court is obtained before the filing 13 deadline,1 all moving and opposition briefs or legal memoranda, including joint statements of 14 discovery disputes, filed in civil cases before Magistrate Judge Grosjean, shall not exceed twenty- 15 five (25) pages. Reply briefs by the moving party shall not exceed ten (10) pages. These page 16 limits do not include exhibits. Courtesy copies for any filing in excess of twenty-five pages (25) 17 (including exhibits) shall also be delivered to chambers via US mail, or hand delivery, at the time 18 the filing is electronically filed. The party submitting the courtesy copy shall ensure that the docket 19 identification number is listed on the copy. When scheduling motions (other than discovery 20 motions) the parties shall comply with Local Rule 230. 21 Counsel or pro se parties may appear and argue motions by telephone, provided a request 22 to so do is made to Courtroom Deputy Felicia Navarro (unless prior permission has been given by 23 the judge), no later than five (5) court days before the noticed hearing date. Requests can be made 24 by emailing Courtroom Deputy Felicia Navarro at [email protected]. If the parties are 25 appearing telephonically, each party shall dial 1-888- 251-2909 and enter access code 1024453. 26 1. Informal Discovery Conference 27 In order to file a motion involving a discovery dispute, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 through 37

28 1 Parties may seek leave through a telephonic conference among all parties and the Court, or by short motion. 1 and 45,2 a party must receive permission from the Court following an informal telephonic 2 discovery dispute conference. However, non-parties challenging a subpoena under Fed. R. Civ.

are not required to request an informal conference before filing a motion. A party wishing 4 to schedule such a conference should contact chambers to receive available dates. The Court will 5 schedule the conference as soon as possible, taking into consideration the urgency of the issue. 6 Prior to the conference, the parties shall simultaneously file an Informal Discovery 7 Dispute Letter Brief, outlining their positions regarding the dispute. Such briefs shall be no 8 longer than three pages single-spaced, and may include up to five pages of exhibits. The Court 9 will provide the date and time the Letter Briefs are due at the time the conference is scheduled. 10 At the time of conference, the parties shall dial 1-888-251-2909 and enter access code 11 1024453. The Court will not issue a formal ruling at that time. Nevertheless, the Court will attempt 12 to provide guidance to the parties to narrow or dispose of the dispute. If no resolution can be 13 reached without formal motion practice, the Court will authorize the filing of a formal discovery 14 motion. 15 2. Filing a Discovery Motion 16 If a discovery motion, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 through 37 and 45, is brought after receiving 17 permission from the Court, the parties must prepare and file a Joint Statement re: Discovery 18 Disagreement (“Joint Statement”) as required by Local Rule 251.3 In scheduling such motions, 19 Magistrate Judge Grosjean may grant applications for an order shortening time pursuant to Local 20 Rule 144(e). If a party does not obtain an order shortening time, the notice of motion must 21 comply with Local Rule 251. 22 A Joint Statement not to exceed twenty-five (25) pages must be filed at least fourteen (14) 23 days before the scheduled hearing date. Prior to the filing of the Joint Statement, the parties must 24 meet and confer as set forth in Local Rule 251(b). Motions may be removed from the Court’s 25 calendar if the Joint Statement is not timely filed, or if courtesy copies are not timely delivered. 26 B. Dispositive Motions

27 2 The Court construes “discovery dispute” broadly, which includes, but is not limited to, disputes regarding written discovery, oral depositions, physical and mental examinations, and protective orders. 28 3 Certain limited exceptions from filing the required Joint Statement are outlined in Local Rule 251(e). 1 All Dispositive Pre-Trial Motions shall be served and filed no later than November 17, 2 2025, and will be heard before the Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge. 3 In scheduling such motions, the parties shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and Local Rules 230 4 and 260. 5 Motions before the Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge 6 Prior to filing a motion before Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge, 7 in a case in which the parties are represented by counsel, counsel shall engage in a prefiling meet 8 and confer to discuss thoroughly the substance of the contemplated motion and any potential 9 resolution. Counsel should resolve minor procedural or other nonsubstantive matters during the 10 meet and confer process so that briefing on motions that proceed to hearing is directed only to those 11 substantive issues requiring resolution by the Court. A notice of motion shall contain a 12 certification by counsel that meet and confer efforts have been exhausted, with a brief 13 summary of meet and confer efforts. 14 V. Settlement Conference 15 Although one has not been set at this time, the parties may file a joint written request for a 16 settlement conference if they believe that such a conference would be fruitful. 17 VI. Pretrial Conference 18 The pretrial conference is set for April 13, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 6 before the 19 Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge. The parties are directed to file a 20 Joint Pretrial Statement that complies with the requirements of this Court’s Local Rule 21 281(a)(2), except that the parties’ Joint Pretrial Statement must be filed fourteen (14) days before 22 the date set for the Final Pretrial Conference and must also be emailed as a Word document to 23 [email protected]. Separate pretrial statements are not permitted unless a party 24 is not represented by counsel. 25 Counsels’ attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local Rules of Practice for the 26 Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the pre-trial 27 conference. The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. The parties are further 28 directed to the standing order of the Honorable Kirk E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge, 1 which contains requirements regarding Joint Pretrial Statements. 2 VII. Trial Date 3 The trial is set for June 16, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 6 before the Honorable Kirk 4 E. Sherriff, United State District Court Judge. 5 A. This is a JURY trial. 6 B. Counsels’ Estimate of Trial Time: 5-7 days. 7 C. Counsels’ attention is directed to Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of 8 California, Rule 285. 9 VIII. Request for Bifurcation, Appointment of Special Master, or other Techniques to 10 Shorten Trial 11 Not requested. 12 IX. Related Matters Pending 13 There is no related litigation. 14 X. Compliance with Federal Procedures 15 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16 and the Local Rules of the Eastern District of California and to keep abreast of any amendments 17 thereto. The Court requires strict compliance with these rules. Sanctions will be imposed for failure 18 to follow the rules as provided in both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of 19 the Eastern District of California. 20 XI. Effect Of This Order 21 This order represents the Court and the parties’ best estimated schedule to complete this 22 case. Any party unable to comply with the dates outlined in this order shall immediately file an 23 appropriate motion or stipulation identifying the requested modification(s). 24 The dates set in this order are firm and will not be modified absent a showing of good 25 cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations extending the deadlines 26 contained herein will not be considered unless they are accompanied by affidavits or declarations, 27 and where appropriate attached exhibits, which establish good cause for granting the relief 28 requested. Due to the impacted nature of the civil case docket, this Court disfavors requests to 1 | modify established dates. 2 Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 Dated: _ July 2, 2024 [Jee ey — 5 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 6 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28