Onwukeme v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:19-cv-07263
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Onwukeme v. Costco, Judge Rogers denied plaintiffs’ motion to exclude Costco’s expert testimony and changed several case deadlines.
The plaintiffs’ challenge to Costco’s expert testimony was denied. The order also affected both sides by changing the trial and pretrial schedule and referring the case for settlement.
What happened
In Onwukeme v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, the plaintiffs asked the court to exclude testimony from Costco’s retained expert, S.C. Mummert. They relied on the federal rule governing expert testimony and the Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert.
The court denied the motion to exclude the expert’s testimony. Because of uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also canceled the February 22, 2021 trial date so it could be reset later and extended several pretrial deadlines.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued the order. She extended the expert-discovery deadline to January 29, 2021, the deadline for pretrial filings to February 12, 2021, and the pretrial conference to February 26, 2021. The case was also referred to Judge Sallie Kim for settlement.
The detailed version
- Onwukeme v. Costco Wholesale Corporation · No. 4:19-cv-07263
- Yvonne Rogers
- Jan. 14, 2021
Background
On December 9, 2020, the plaintiffs moved under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals to exclude testimony from Costco’s retained expert, S.C. Mummert. The order states that the court considered the parties’ briefing and arguments at the January 12, 2021 hearing.
Ruling on Expert Testimony
The court denied the plaintiffs’ Motion to Exclude Testimony. The order says the reasons for that ruling were stated on the record at the hearing, but those reasons are not included in the provided text.
Scheduling and Settlement
Because of uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the court vacated the February 22, 2021 trial date so it could be reset later. The court continued the expert-discovery cutoff to January 29, 2021; the deadline for the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and Trial Readiness Filings and Binder to February 12, 2021; and the pretrial conference to February 26, 2021. The order allowed the trial-readiness binder to be mailed to chambers after filing if it was received the following week. The case was referred to Judge Sallie Kim for settlement. The order terminated Docket Number 33.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.