Marble v. HALO Innovations, Inc.

Background

The opinion concerns a joint request involving two related cases: the Marble Action, brought by Amanda Marble and Kelsey Reimer individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, and the Bender Action, brought by Cassidy Bender individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated. The defendant is HALO Innovations, Inc., identified in the filing as also known as HALO Dream, Inc.

The parties reported that they had engaged in discovery and settlement-related activities in the Marble Action, including exchanging initial disclosures and documents, negotiating discovery-related orders, meeting about discovery and mediation, and completing briefing on HALO’s motion to dismiss. The Bender Action was filed as a related action on June 7, 2024. HALO had not yet accepted service in that case, and an initial pretrial conference was scheduled for September 12, 2024.

Parties’ Request

The parties jointly requested a temporary stay of all proceedings in both cases, including all current deadlines and deadlines in the case-management plan, until after mediation scheduled for August 27, 2024. They stated that a stay would allow them to focus on mediation, conserve judicial and party resources, and avoid unnecessary discovery, motion practice, and potential discovery disputes while settlement discussions were ongoing.

Court’s Ruling

The court granted the application. Proceedings in Marble v. HALO Innovations, Inc., No. 23-CV-11048, and Bender v. HALO Innovations, Inc., No. 24-CV-4371, were stayed, and all deadlines were adjourned sine die, meaning without a fixed date. The parties were directed to file a joint letter by August 30, 2024. The clerk was directed to terminate the specified docket entry in the Marble Action and docket the order in both cases.

The order paused the litigation; it did not decide the underlying claims, the pending motion to dismiss in the Marble Action, or any anticipated motion to dismiss in the Bender Action.