Schubert v. Strange

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 10 ISAIAH SCHUBERT, CASE NO. 2:21-cv-01070-RJB-JRC 11 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 12 v. STAY AND GRANTING EXTENSION 13 CHERYL STRANGE, et al., 14 Defendants.

16 This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’s motion to stay. Dkt. 43. Defendants have not responded to the motion, which is ripe for the Court’s decision.

18 Plaintiff requests that the Court stay this matter because (1) the facility library has been (and remains) closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak and (2) plaintiff wishes to await further proceedings in a related matter in which the Court has appointed counsel. See Dkt. 43, at 1–2.

21 Plaintiff asks that the Court stay this matter until counsel in the related matter “decides if the[se] cases will be joined as a Class Action” and until the law library opens. See Dkt. 43, at 3.

1 Regarding the first reason, the Court has been unable to locate counsel to represent plaintiff in the related matter. The Court declines to stay or grant any extensions in this matter on this basis.

4 Regarding the second reason, plaintiff asks for a stay without an endpoint on a certain date. The Ninth Circuit strongly disfavors indefinite or long stays. See, e.g., Dependable Highway Express, Inc. v. Navigators Ins. Co., 498 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir. 2007) (“Generally, stays should not be indefinite in nature.”). Therefore, the Court denies the request for a stay but will grant a 42-day extension of the following deadlines. Plaintiff may file a motion for an extension upon an appropriate future showing.

10 The scheduling order in this matter is amended as follows: Event Prior Date New Date Deadline to file any motion to compel discovery April 15, 2022 May 27, 2022 Completion of discovery April 29, 2022 June 10, 2022 Dispositive motions shall be filed and served on or before May 13, 2022 June 24, 2022 16 Except as amended herein, the parties shall comply with the scheduling order previously entered in this matter. Dkt. 37.

18 Dated this 16th day of March, 2022.

A J. Richard Creatura 21 Chief United States Magistrate Judge