Gagetta v. Walmart, Inc.

Background

The plaintiffs asked to enlarge by 120 days the deadlines in the October 2, 2023 case-management scheduling order, primarily the deadline for filing a motion for class certification. Walmart opposed the request.

The court said the plaintiffs had improperly filed the request as an administrative motion under Civil Local Rule 7-11. In the court’s view, a request to modify a scheduling order should have been presented under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 and the applicable local rules. The court stated that this procedural defect alone supported denial of the motion, and warned that future noncompliant filings could be summarily denied or stricken.

Court’s Analysis

Even setting aside the filing defect, the court found that the plaintiffs had not shown the diligence required by Rule 16(b)(4) to support the full extension. The court described delays involving electronically stored information procedures, a protective order, document production, search terms, redactions, sales data, and depositions. It concluded that at least some of the reasons the plaintiffs could not meet the existing deadlines appeared to be of their own making because they had not promptly sought court assistance or pursued certain discovery issues.

The court also stated that Walmart had not fully explained several aspects of the discovery delays, including the timing of document production and its position on some discovery disputes. The court therefore concluded that neither side had fulfilled its responsibility to help resolve the litigation fairly and without unnecessary cost or delay.

Ruling

The court granted in part the plaintiffs’ administrative motion. It extended the existing deadlines by 60 days rather than the requested 120 days. The revised schedule set March 14, 2024, as the deadline for substantial completion of document production, including sales data; May 13, 2024, for the plaintiffs’ class-certification motion and related expert reports; July 9, 2024, for Walmart’s opposition and related expert reports and evidentiary motions; August 13, 2024, for the plaintiffs’ reply; August 27, 2024, for Walmart’s reply concerning those motions; September 10, 2024, for the plaintiffs’ reply concerning those motions; September 20, 2024, for the close of fact discovery; and October 24, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., for the hearing on class certification and the related expert-witness motions. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin also ordered that any request to extend a deadline set by the order be filed at least seven days before that deadline expires.