1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KIMBERLY R. OLSON, No. 2:16-CV-0956-DC-DMC 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. SCHEDULING ORDER 14 PARTICIA SLOTE, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se, brings this civil action. This court conducted a 18 scheduling conference on November 5, 2025, before the undersigned. Plaintiff failed to appear. 19 Attorney Michael Maloney, Esq., appeared on behalf of all answering Defendants. Pursuant to 20 Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court issues this scheduling order. 21 I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY 22 In an effort to clarify the status of service of the named defendants and their 23 representation, the Court provides the following procedural history. This action currently 24 proceeds on the second amended complaint. See ECF Nos. 18, 22, and 27. The following are 25 named as defendants: (1) Patricia Slote; (2) Melissa Peterson (formerly Tulledo)1; (3) Roger 26 Puckett; (4) Julie Bowles; (5) Clint Dingman; (6) Ernest Goff; (7) Steven Crittenden; (8) Peter 27 1 The Clerk of the Court will be directed to update the docket to reflect that 28 Defendant Melissa Peterson is formerly known as Melissa Tulledo. 1 Kampa; (9) Hornbrook Community Services District (HCSD); and (10) Hornbrook Community 2 Bible Church (HCBC). See id. Summons was issued for all named defendants on March 27, 3 2025. See ECF No. 24. Service of process has been returned executed as to the following: (1) 4 Slote; (2) Peterson (formerly Tulledo); (3) Puckett; (4) Bowles; (5) Goff; (6) Crittenden; (7) 5 HCSD; and (8) HCBC. See ECF Nos. 28 and 33. Service of process has been returned 6 unexecuted as to Dingman and Kampa. See ECF Nos. 32 and 34. Duplicative answers to the 7 second amended complaint have been filed by all named defendants except Crittenden and 8 HCBC, notwithstanding the lack of service of process on Dingman and Kampa.2 See ECF Nos. 9 29 and 30. Finally, the Court notes that, while the answers indicate that they are filed on behalf 10 of Michele Hanson, no such individual is named as a defendant in this action. 11 II. JOINDER OF ADDITIONAL PARTIES / AMENDMENT OF PLEADINGS 12 No further joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is permitted without leave of 13 court, good cause having been shown. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b); Johnson v. Mammoth 14 Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992). The parties are advised that the filing of 15 motions and/or stipulations requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not imply good cause to 16 modify the existing schedule. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 (b)(4); see also Johnson,

. 17 Moreover, any amendment requested under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) must not be: 18 (1) prejudicial to the opposing party; (2) the product of undue delay; (3) proposed in bad faith; or 19 (4) futile. See Foman v. Davis,

(1962). 20 / / / 21 2 The Clerk of the Court will be directed to strike the duplicative answer at ECF No. 22 30. The Clerk of the Court will be further directed to update the docket to reflect counsel Michael 23 Maloney’s appearance on behalf of all answering defendants. Defendants should be aware that, absent an appropriate motion made in a timely 24 manner, the filing of an answer on behalf of defendants who have not been properly served may result in a waiver of any challenge to the Court’s jurisdiction over such parties. 25 Defense counsel should also be aware that the Court’s docket does not reflect an appearance by any attorney on behalf of the answering defendants other than attorney Michael 26 Maloney. Specifically, Keaton Mendoza, Esq., who appeared at the scheduling conference on 27 behalf of Defendants in this case, is not listed on the Court’s docket as counsel of record. To the extent other counsel also represent the answering defendants, such counsel should file an 28 appropriate notice of appearance and/or substitution. 1 III. DISCOVERY PROCEDURES 2 Discovery matters that do not implicate the schedule of the case are referred to the 3 assigned magistrate judge, who will hear all discovery disputes subject to his or her procedures. 4 (The assigned magistrate judge’s initials follow the district judge’s initials next to the case 5 number.) All discovery related filings must include the words “DISCOVERY MATTER” in the 6 caption to ensure proper routing. Do not direct delivery of courtesy copies of these documents to 7 the district judge. Counsel are directed to contact the magistrate judge’s courtroom deputy clerk 8 to schedule discovery matters for hearing. 9 All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on the assigned magistrate judge’s 10 calendar in accordance with the local rules of this court and the magistrate judge’s own 11 procedures. The written ruling of the assigned magistrate judge shall be final, subject to 12 modification by the district court only where it has been shown that the magistrate judge’s order 13 is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. See

(b)(1)(A). Pursuant to Local Rule 303, 14 any party may file and serve a “Request for Reconsideration by the District Court of Magistrate 15 Judge’s Ruling.” See L.R. 303(c). The requesting party must file and serve any such request 16 within fourteen (14) days of service of a written ruling. L.R. 303(b). The request must specify 17 which portions of the ruling are clearly erroneous or contrary to law and the basis for that 18 contention with supporting points and authorities. L.R. 303(c). 19 In addition, the assigned magistrate judge reviews proposed discovery phase protective 20 orders sought by the parties pursuant to Local Rule 141.1. However, any requests to seal or redact 21 in connection with trial or motions to be resolved by Judge Coggins must be directed to Judge 22 Coggins and comply with her Standing Order and Local Rules 140 and 141. 23 IV. DISCOVERY DEADLINES 24 A. Rule 26(a) Initial Disclosures 25 The parties shall serve their initial disclosures pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 Rule 26(a)(1) no later than November 21, 2025. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(C). 27 Any parties served or joined after the issuance of this scheduling order shall “make the 28 initial disclosures within 30 days after being served or joined,” as provided by Rule 26(a)(1)(D). 1 B. Fact Discovery 2 All fact discovery shall be completed3 no later than October 30, 2026. 3 C. Expert Discovery 4 Disclosures of expert witnesses, if any, must be made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 5 Procedure 26(a)(2)(A), (B) and (C), and shall include all information required thereunder. Each 6 expert witness must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions included in the 7 disclosures. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the imposition of appropriate 8 sanctions, including the preclusion of the expert’s testimony, or of other evidence offered through 9 the expert. 10 The parties shall disclose initial experts and produce reports in accordance with Federal 11 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no later than November 18, 2026. With regard to expert 12 testimony intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed and reports produced in 13 accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before December 4, 2026. 14 All expert discovery shall be completed no later than January 29, 2027. 15 V. MOTIONS 16 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary restraining orders, or other 17 emergency applications, shall be filed on or before March 2, 2027 and shall be noticed for 18 hearing before Judge Coggins on a date not more than 60 days from the date the motion is filed 19 and on a date that is listed on Judge Coggins’s website as an available civil law and motion 20 hearing date. Counsel are directed to refer to the local rules regarding the requirements for 21 noticing and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly scheduled law and motion calendar. 22 Prior to filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for partial summary judgment 23 (summary adjudication), the parties are ordered to meet and confer, in person or by telephone, to 24 discuss the issues to be raised in the motion. In addition to complying with the requirements of 25

3 As used herein, the word “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so that all depositions 26 have been taken and any disputes relevant to discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has been obeyed. The parties are advised that motions to compel 27 must be filed in advance of the discovery completion deadlines so that the court may grant effective relief within the allotted discovery time. A party’s failure to have a discovery dispute heard sufficiently in advance of the discovery 28 cutoff may result in denial of the motion as untimely. 1 Local Rule 260, the parties must prepare a Joint Statement of Undisputed Facts, which identifies 2 all relevant facts subject to agreement by all parties. The moving party is responsible for filing the 3 joint statement concurrently with the motion. In the notice of motion, the moving party shall 4 certify that the parties have met and conferred as ordered above or provide a statement of good 5 cause for the failure to do so. 6 The parties shall refer to Judge Coggins’s Standing Order for her procedures with regard 7 to the filing of cross-motions for summary judgment and related briefing. 8 VI. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 9 The undersigned requires parties to participate in a court-supervised settlement conference 10 with a settlement judge before the action may proceed to trial. A settlement conference has not 11 been set at this time. At any time before the final pretrial conference, the parties may file a joint 12 request that this action be referred to a settlement judge for the setting of a settlement conference. 13 If the parties have not participated in a court-supervised settlement conference by the time of the 14 final pretrial conference, the court will refer the action at that time to the assigned magistrate 15 judge for the setting of a settlement conference. The parties shall contact the designated 16 settlement conference judge’s chambers to ascertain that judge’s settlement conference 17 procedures, including the procedure for submitting confidential settlement statements, which shall 18 not be filed and will not otherwise be disclosed to the trial judge. 19 Unless otherwise permitted in advance by the court, the attorneys who will try the case 20 shall appear at the settlement conference. Pertinent evidence to be offered at trial, documents or 21 otherwise, should be brought to the settlement conference for presentation to the settlement judge. 22 Neither the settlement conference statements nor communications during the settlement 23 conference with the settlement judge can be used by either party in the trial of this case. 24 Absent permission from the court, in addition to counsel who will try the case being 25 present, the individual parties shall also be present, and in the case of corporate parties, 26 associations or other entities, and insurance carriers, a representative executive with unrestricted 27 authority to discuss, consider, propose and agree, or disagree, to any settlement proposal or offer 28 shall also be present. If for any reason the representative with unlimited authority cannot attend, 1 such a person must be available by phone or video throughout the conference. In other words, 2 having settlement authority “up to a certain amount” is not acceptable. 3 VII. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 4 The court will not set a final pretrial conference date in this scheduling order. Instead, 5 upon resolution of any motions filed by the deadline set forth in Section V of this order, or upon 6 the expiration of that deadline if no such motions were filed, the court will set a date for a final 7 pretrial conference, which will be conducted in person in Courtroom 8. The court will not 8 entertain requests to conduct the final pretrial conference by Zoom. 9 The parties are directed to file a joint pretrial statement, carefully prepared and executed 10 by all counsel, that complies with the requirements of this Local Rule 281 and Judge Coggins’s 11 Standing Order. Counsel shall also email a copy of the joint pretrial statement in Word format to 12 Judge Coggins’s chambers at [email protected]. The parties’ attention is directed to 13 Local Rules 281 and 282. This court will insist upon strict compliance with these rules. 14 At the final pretrial conference, the court will set a trial date and deadlines to file trial 15 documents, including motions in limine, trial briefs, and proposed jury voir dire, instructions, and 16 verdict forms (where applicable). In addition, at the final pretrial conference, the parties shall 17 have a joint list of proposed trial dates that are within 60 to 120 days from the date of the final 18 pretrial conference, and the parties shall be prepared to confirm a trial date. 19 VIII. REQUEST FOR BIFURCATION, APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER, OR 20 OTHER TECHNIQUES TO SHORTEN TRIAL 21 The parties have not made any such requests at this time and do not anticipate any such 22 requests. 23 IX. RELATED MATTERS PENDING 24 On April 7, 2023, this case was related to case nos. 2:15-cv-00646-DC-DMC and 2:19-cv- 25 02127-DC-DMC. See ECF No. 19. 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 X. OBJECTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE SCHEDULING ORDER 2 This case schedule will become final without further order of the court unless 3 objections are filed within fourteen (14) days of the entry of this order. The schedule, once 4 final, shall not be modified except by leave of court upon showing of good cause. The assigned 5 magistrate judge is authorized to modify the discovery dates set forth in Section IV of this order, 6 but only to the extent that any such modification does not impact the motions filing deadline set 7 forth in Section V of this order. A stipulation or request by the parties to modify only the 8 discovery deadlines shall therefore be directed to the assigned magistrate judge. 9 The parties are reminded that pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil 10 Procedure, no stipulations extending scheduling requirements or modifying applicable rules are 11 effective until and unless the court approves them. Agreement of the parties by stipulation alone 12 does not constitute good cause. Any request or stipulation to modify this scheduling order must 13 set forth: 14 (1) the existing due date or hearing date as well as the discovery cutoff date, and the 15 last date for filing motions; 16 (2) whether there have been prior requests for extensions, and whether these were 17 granted or denied by the court; and 18 (3) specific, concrete reasons supporting good cause for granting of the extension. For 19 example, if the reason for the requested extension is that it “will promote 20 settlement,” the requesting party or parties must indicate the status of ongoing 21 negotiations, i.e., have written proposals been exchanged; is counsel in the process 22 of reviewing a draft settlement agreement; has a mediator been selected. 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 | XI ADDITIONAL MATTERS 2 In addition to the schedule set herein, the undersigned HEREBY ORDERS as follows: 3 1. The Clerk of the Court is directed to update the docket to reflect that Defendant 4 || Melissa Peterson is formerly known as Melissa Tulledo. 5 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to strike the filing at ECF No. 30 as duplicative 6 || of the filing at ECF No. 29. 7 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to update the docket to reflect attorney Michael 8 | Maloney’s appearance on behalf of Defendants Slote, Peterson (Tulledo), Puckett, Bowles, 9 | Dingman, Goff, and Kampa. 10 11 | Dated: November 6, 2025 Ss..c0_, DENNIS M. COTA 13 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28