District Court, W.D. Washington, 2021

Dawson v. Naphcare Inc

Dawson v. Naphcare Inc
District Court, W.D. Washington · Decided September 22, 2021
Dawson v. Naphcare Inc

Trial Court Opinion

11 The Honorable Ricardo Martinez 66 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 77 AT SEATTLE RUSSEL H. DAWSON, Personal Representative of the Estate of Damaris No. 2:19-cv-01987-RSM Rodriguez; REYNALDO GIL; JOSE MARTE, A.G.; I.G., S.G. and D.G., 1100 Plaintiffs, STIPULATION AND ORDER 1111 RESETTING TRIAL AND v. ASSOCIATED FILING DATES 1122 SOUTH CORRECTIONAL ENTITY NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: 1133 (“SCORE”), a Governmental Administrative September 22, 2021 Agency; PENNY BARLEY; JIM KELLY; 1144 TODD BARKER; BRITTNEY PALMORE; BRANDON HEATH; PEDRO SANTOS; 1155 MANDI JARAMILLO; WILLIAM WOO; BENDA SCOTT a/k/a BRENDA SCOTT; 1166 ETHAN GLOVER; CHRISTOPHER FOY; JANE DORE; COLMINTON ALLEN; 1177 AARON SEIPP; SCORE JOHN DOES 1-10; NAPHCARE, INC., an Alabama Corporation; 1188 REBECCA VILLACORTA; HENRY TAMBE; NANCY WHITNEY; BILLIE STOCKTON; 1199 BRITTANY MARTIN; JESSICA LOTHROP; BROOKE WALLACE; SALLY MUKWANA; 2200 JOAN KOSANKE; RITA WHITMAN; VIRGINIA RICHARDSON; NAPHCARE 2211 JOHN DOES 1-10; KING COUNTY, a political subdivision of the State of Washington; RAUL 2222 ADAMS; LELAND ADAMS; ALAN TAG, 2233 Defendants.

2244 STIPULATION 2255 COME NOW the parties, by and through their respective counsel of record, who have conferred and hereby stipulate to an extension of the current trial date and the filing deadlines Williams Kastner for all trial-related pleadings as set by the Court’s Order Setting Trial Date and Related Dates (Dkt. No. 40), and recently amended by the Stipulation and Order Extending Case Schedule (Dkt. No. 194), as follows: 44 Current Deadline StipulatedDeadline Motions in Limine October 11, 2021 January 4, 2022 Agreed PreTrial Order October 18, 2021 January 11, 2022 Pretrial Conference To Be Scheduled To Be Scheduled Deadline for Filing Trial Briefs, Proposed November 5, 2021 January 28, 2022 Voir Dire, Jury Instructions, Neutral Statement of the Case, Trial Exhibits Jury Trial November 29, 2021 February 22, 2022 1100 1111 A. Local Rule 16(b)(5) Allows Modification of a Scheduling Order on Good Cause 1122 The federal and local rules allow for modification of the dates in a scheduling order for 1133 good cause and with the judge’s consent. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4), Local Rules W.D. Wash 1144 LCR 16(b)(6) (see also Dkt. #40 - Sched. Order at 2) ("These are firm dates that can be 1155 changed only by order of the Court, not by agreement of counsel or the parties. The Court will 1166 alter these dates only upon good cause shown; failure to complete discovery within the time 1177 allowed is not recognized as good cause.").

1188 “Rule 16(b) ‘primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the extension.’" 1199 Roosma v. Pierce Cty., No. 3:16-cv-05499-RJB, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189893, at *7-8 (W.D.

2200 Wash. Nov. 16, 2017) (citing Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th 2211 Cir. 1992)). “Although ‘prejudice to the party opposing the modification [of a scheduling 2222 order] might supply additional reasons to deny a motion, the focus . . . is upon the moving 2233 party's reasons for seeking modification.," Id. 2244 B. The parties’ diligence and the impact of ruling on pending motions for trial preparation are good cause for a continuance of this case.

2255 The parties have shown diligence in litigating this case. They have conducted extensive discovery, including multiple depositions per-day. They have also entered into stipulations and Williams Kastner agreements as much as possible given their respective positions. Finally, the parties have sought to streamline trial by seeking pretrial rulings on issues of law.

33 However, this remains a fact intensive case, and the following motions remain currently pending before the Court: 55 a. Plaintiffs’ Partial Motion for Summary Judgment on Vicarious Liability 66 and Comparative Fault (Dkt. No. 106); 77 b. Plaintiffs’ Partial Motion for Summary Judgment on NaphCare’s Tort 88 Liability (Dkt. No. 153); 99 c. The NaphCare Defendants’ Motion to Strike (in re Carl Wigren, M.D.)

1100 (Dkt. No. 151); 1111 d. Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike (in re NaphCare experts) (Dkt. 181); and, 1122 e. The SCORE Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 1133 145). The SCORE defendants’ motion, which was noted on the Court’s 1144 Motion Calendar for August 13, 2020, has since been postponed by 1155 stipulation of the parties (Dkt. No. 164) pending the Court’s 1166 determination on the sufficiency of the partial compromise reached 1177 between plaintiffs and SCORE. Although the Court issued its order 1188 approving Plaintiffs’ Petition to Approve Partial Compromise with 1199 SCORE (Dkt. 199) on September 20, 2021, SCORE has not yet renoted 2200 its Motion.

2211 The Court’s rulings on each of the pending motions will directly impact the parties’ 2222 trial preparation and presentation because the rulings and findings will determine what parties, 2233 claims, and witnesses will be presented to the jury. Each of these rulings requires a different 2244 analysis and corresponding litigation strategy for each of the parties. Put another way, without 2255 rulings by the Court, the parties will need to prepare for trial with a multitude of possible permutations and file motions in limine that account for all possible scenarios. Extending the Williams Kastner deadlines in this case will conserve resources for the parties while the motions are pending.

22 Extending the deadlines will also conserve judicial resources, as the parties will not be forced to present pretrial motions that are contingent on the outcome of the motions.

44 The parties have diligently litigated this case and agree that resetting the trial is necessary to ensure sufficient time to adequately prepare once the Court rules on the pending motions.

77 / / / / / / / / / 1100 / / / 1111 / / / 1122 / / / 1133 / / / 1144 / / / 1155 / / / 1166 / / / 1177 / / / 1188 / / / 1199 / / / 2200 / / / 2211 / / / 2222 / / / 2233 / / / 2244 / / / 2255 / / / / / / Williams Kastner 11 IT IS HERBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by the parties that the trial date and filing deadlines for trial pleadings, be extended as set forth above.

33 RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED the 22nd day of September, 2021.

44 LAW, LYMAN, DANIEL, KAMERRER & KRUTCH LINDELL BINGHAM JONES, PS BOGDANOVICH, P.S.

55 By:_/s/ Nathan J. Bingham Nathan J. Bingham, WSBA #46325 By:_/s/ John E. Justice _ Email: [email protected] John E. Justice, WSBA # 23042 James T. Anderson, WSBA #40494 77 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] P.O. Box 11880 Jeffrey C. Jones, WSBA #7670 88 Olympia, WA 98508-1880 Email: [email protected] Telephone: (360) 754-3480 Matt Clarke, pro hac vice 99 Email: [email protected] KEATING, BUCKLIN & MCCORMACK, 600 University Street, Suite 1701 1100 INC., P.S. Seattle, WA 98101 Telephone: (206) 682-1505 1111 By: /s/ Stewart A. Estes Stewart A. Estes, WSBA #15535 1122 Email: [email protected] WILLIAMS KASTNER Second Avenue, Suite 1210 1133 Seattle, WA 98104 By: /s/ Heidi L. Mandt Telephone: (206) 623-8861 Heidi L. Mandt, WSBA # 26880 1144 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for the SCORE Defendants 1515 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 600 1155 Portland, OR 97201-5449 Telephone: (503) 228-7967 1166 Attorneys for the NaphCare Defendants 1177 1188 1199 ORDER 2200 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that, based on the stipulation of the parties, that Court’s 2211 Order Setting Trial Date and Related Dates (ECF No. 40) is amended as set forth above.

2222 DATED this 22nd day of September, 2021.

2233 2244 A 2255 26 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Williams Kastner 11 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 22 I hereby certify that on the below date, I caused to be electronically filed the foregoing document with the Clerk of the Court using the eFiling system, which will send notification of such filing to the following: Attorneys for Plaintiff: Attorneys for Defendant South Correctional 66 Entity: Nathan J. Bingham [email protected] John E Justice [email protected]; Jeff Jones [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 1100 Stewart A. Estes Jimmy Anderson [email protected] 1111 [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected] 1122 Matthew K. Clarke [email protected] 1133 [email protected] 1144 Toby James Marshall [email protected] 1155 [email protected]; [email protected]; 1166 [email protected]; 1177 1188 Signed at Portland, Oregon this 22nd day of September, 2021.

1199 /s/ Heidi L. Mandt Heidi L. Mandt, WSBA # 26880 2200 Attorneys for Defendants NaphCare, Inc., Rebecca Villacorta, Henry Tambe, Nancy 2211 Whitney, Billie Stockton, Brittany Martin, Brooke Wallace, Sally Mukwana, Joan Kosanke, 2222 and Rita Whitman 2233 2244 2255

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.