John Utne v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.
- Richard Seeborg
- 3:16-cv-01854
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 6
In John Utne v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., Judge Seeborg approved revised discovery, pretrial, decertification-motion, and trial dates.
John Utne, Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., and the parties’ class-action litigation schedule.
What happened
John Utne and Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. jointly asked the court to revise the schedule in John Utne v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. The request followed disagreements about Home Depot’s production of time records, pay records, and a class list.
The parties reached an agreement about producing or reproducing those records and asked for additional time for expert discovery, briefing on Home Depot’s motion to decertify the class, pretrial motions, the pretrial conference, and trial. Home Depot’s supplemental submission about the decertification motion was made subject to the court allowing it.
Judge Richard Seeborg entered the revised schedule. The order set June 6, 2022, as the trial date and March 24, 2022, as the hearing date for Home Depot’s decertification motion; it did not decide that motion or the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- John Utne v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. · No. 3:16-cv-01854
- Richard Seeborg
- Aug. 3, 2021
Background
John Utne sued Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. on behalf of himself, similarly situated people, and the general public. The provided opinion is a joint stipulation and scheduling order; it does not describe the underlying claims or decide their merits.
The parties had previously agreed to deadlines intended to allow time for expert discovery before Home Depot’s motion to decertify the class. Utne continued to question whether Home Depot’s document production was complete, while Home Depot disputed those concerns. During discussions, Home Depot agreed to investigate reproducing time and pay records in a different format, potentially provide a knowledgeable witness after the records were reviewed, and extend deadlines while the parties worked on the issues.
The parties eventually agreed on the planned production or reproduction of time records, pay records, and a class list. Utne agreed that production complying with the parties’ agreements would resolve the pending issues about the records’ format and the class list, while reserving the right to seek court intervention if an unforeseen completeness issue arose. Home Depot estimated that compiling the necessary records would take approximately 400 hours.
Court’s Order
Judge Richard Seeborg approved the revised schedule. The order set these dates:
- August 27, 2021: Home Depot’s deadline to file a supplemental submission supporting its motion to decertify the class and addressing two recent decisions, subject to the court granting leave to file the supplement. - October 15, 2021: Home Depot’s deadline to submit any supplemental time records. - December 17, 2021: Deadline for supplemental expert reports. - January 21, 2022: Deadline for depositions of the currently designated experts and completion of expert discovery. - February 18, 2022: Utne’s deadline to oppose Home Depot’s decertification motion. - March 11, 2022: Home Depot’s deadline to reply in support of that motion. - March 24, 2022: Last day for hearing pretrial motions and hearing date for the decertification motion. - May 25, 2022: Pretrial conference. - June 6, 2022: Trial.
The order changed scheduling deadlines only. It did not grant or deny Home Depot’s decertification motion, resolve the discovery disagreement, or decide the parties’ underlying legal claims.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.