Brackman v. T-Mobile USA Inc

1 THE HONORABLE BARBARA J. ROTHSTEIN 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON No. 2:21-cv-01277-BJR MATTHEW BRACKMAN, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER Plaintiff, TO STAY PROCEEDINGS PENDING 10 JPML’S RULING ON TRANSFER v. T-MOBILE USA, INC., Defendant.

STIPULATED MOTION TO Perkins Coie LLP 1 Under Western District of Washington Local Rules 7(d)(1) and 10(g), Plaintiff Matthew Brackman and Defendant T-Mobile USA, Inc. (together “the Parties”), move the Court to stay all proceedings and deadlines in this action pending a ruling by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) on the pending motion to transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1407. See In re: T- Mobile Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., MDL No. 3019 (ECF No. 1). In support of this motion, the Parties state: 7 Plaintiff filed this case on September 21, 2021 and served T-Mobile on September 28, 2021. See ECF No. 1. Plaintiff alleges T-Mobile failed to adequately safeguard the personal information of its customers from a criminal third-party actor. Id. The plaintiffs in over 30 putative class actions have made similar allegations against T-Mobile based on the data-security incident. See In re T-Mobile, MDL No. 3019 (ECF Nos. 1-1, 2, 8-1, 11, 20, 48, 62, 65). These cases are pending in over eight federal judicial districts. See id. 13 Good cause exists for a stay because—given the number of similar, overlapping cases—it is likely the JPML will grant the pending motion to transfer and coordinate or consolidate the related cases for pretrial proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1407. See id. (ECF No. 1). This case was noticed to the JPML because of its related nature. See id. (ECF No. 65). In order to conserve judicial resources and the resources of the Parties in addressing multiple, related putative class actions, the Parties agree to this stay. Under these circumstances, “[c]ourts frequently grant stays pending a decision by the MDL Panel regarding whether to transfer a case.” Good v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 5 F.Supp.2d 804, 809 (N.D. Cal. 1998); see Short v. Hyundai Motor Am. Inc., No. C19-0318JLR,, 2019 WL 3067251 (W.D. Wash. July 12, 2019) (granting stay pending JPML’s ruling on Section 1407 motion); Gonzalez v. Merck & Co., No. 07-cv-3034, 2007 WL 2220286, at *2 (E.D. Wash. Aug. 2, 2007) (granting defendant’s motion to stay pending transfer decision STIPULATED MOTION TO Perkins Coie LLP and noting that “well settled case law . . . dictates a stay should be granted to promote judicial economy”); Rivers v. Walt Disney Co., 980 F. Supp. 1358, 1362 (C.D. Cal. 1997) (granting stay pending JPML’s ruling because “a majority of courts have concluded that it is often appropriate to stay preliminary pretrial proceedings while a motion to transfer and consolidate is pending with the MDL Panel”); Bonefant v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 07-cv-60301, 2007 WL 2409980, at *1 (S.D. Fla. July 31, 2007) (“[I]t is common practice for courts to stay an action pending a transfer decision by the JPML.”).

8 And like most courts, this Court recently stayed six cases pending the JPML’s ruling on a motion to transfer. See Donovan v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-01138-BJR (W.D. Wash. filed Sept. 15, 2021) (ECF No. 12); Akins v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-01179-BJR (W.D.

11 Wash. filed Sept. 15, 2021) (ECF No. 8); Hughes v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-01139-BJR (W.D. Wash. filed Sept. 17, 2021) (ECF No. 14); Villalon v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv- 1148-BJR (W.D. Wash. filed Sept. 17, 2021) (ECF No. 11); Espanoza v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-1119-BJR (W.D. Wash. filed Sept. 17, 2021) (ECF No. 29); Huerta v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-01183-BJR (W.D. Wash. filed Aug. 31, 2021) (ECF No. 10). The Court should do so again and grant the Parties a short stay of proceedings until the JPML rules on the pending motion to transfer under Section 1407.

19 Dated: October 5, 2021 By: /s/ Steve Y. Koh Steve Y. Koh, WSBA No. 23284 Kathleen M. O’Sullivan, WSBA No. 27850 Lauren J. Tsuji, WSBA No. 55839 PERKINS COIE LLP 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 Telephone: 206.359.8000 STIPULATED MOTION TO Perkins Coie LLP Facsimile: 206.359.9000 E-mail: [email protected] 2 [email protected] [email protected] Kristine McAlister Brown (pro hac vice) ALSTON & BIRD LLP 1201 West Peachtree Street Atlanta, GA 30309 Telephone: (404) 881-7000 Facsimile: (404) 881-7777 E-Mail: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant T-Mobile USA, Inc. By: /s/ Matthew J. Ide Matthew J. Ide, WSBA No. 26002 IDE LAW OFFICE 7900 SE 28th Street, Suite 500 Mercer Island, WA 98040 Telephone: (206) 625-1326 Facsimile: (206) 622-0909 Email: [email protected] Charles Schaffer, Esq. (pro hac vice to be filed) Nicholas J. Elia, Esq.

14 LEVIN SEDRAN & BERMAN LLP Walnut Street, Suite 500 Philadelphia, PA 19106 [email protected] [email protected] Jeffrey S. Goldenberg, Esq. (pro hac vice to be filed) GOLDENBERG SCHNEIDER, LPA 4445 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 490 Cincinnati, OH 45242 [email protected] Joseph Lyon, Esq. (pro hac vice to be filed) THE LYON FIRM, LLC 2754 Erie Ave Cincinnati, OH 45208 [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff STIPULATED MOTION TO Perkins Coie LLP 1 ORDER IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated this 6th day of October 2021.

s/Barbara J. Rothstein 5 Barbara J. Rothstein U.S. District Court Judge Presented by: By: /s/ Steve Y. Koh Steve Y. Koh, WSBA No. 23284 Kathleen M. O’Sullivan, WSBA No. 27850 Lauren J. Tsuji, WSBA No. 55839 PERKINS COIE LLP 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 Telephone: 206.359.8000 Facsimile: 206.359.9000 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] 14 [email protected] Kristine McAlister Brown (pro hac vice) ALSTON & BIRD LLP 1201 West Peachtree Street Atlanta, GA 30309 Telephone: (404) 881-7000 Facsimile: (404) 881-7777 E-Mail: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant T-Mobile USA, Inc. STIPULATED MOTION TO Perkins Coie LLP