Dominguez v. Amsterdam Gourmet Foods, Inc.

Background

This order concerns the parties’ proposed Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order in Armando Dominguez’s case against Amsterdam Gourmet Foods, Inc., and other defendants. The parties submitted the plan under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f)(3). The order does not describe the underlying claims or decide their merits.

Case-management provisions

The parties did not consent to conducting all further proceedings before a United States magistrate judge. The plan states that the parties had conferred under Rule 26(f), but that settlement discussions had not taken place.

The plan set November 20, 2020, as the deadline for motions to amend the pleadings or add parties. It set November 4, 2020, for initial disclosures and February 26, 2020, for completion of fact discovery as written in the order. It also set November 23, 2020, for initial document requests and certain interrogatories. The plan stated that there was no need for expert discovery.

The order required counsel to meet in person for at least one hour to discuss settlement within 14 days after fact discovery closed. It also described procedures for discovery disputes, including a good-faith conference before a party sought court intervention. The order stated that, absent good cause, the court would not have summary-judgment practice in a non-jury case. It set procedures for any applicable dispositive motions, expert-testimony motions, the joint pretrial order, and trial submissions.

The plan stated that the case was not to be tried to a jury and that the current estimate for trial length was three days. It required the parties to be ready for trial two weeks after filing the joint pretrial order, unless the court ordered otherwise for good cause.

Court’s action

The court approved the parties’ proposed Case Management Plan. It canceled the initial pretrial conference scheduled for October 21, 2020, and denied the request to appear by telephone as moot. The court stated that any party seeking a conference should confer with the other side and file a letter motion. It scheduled the next pretrial conference for March 3, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate ECF No. 18.

This is a procedural order governing case administration, discovery, and future proceedings. It does not resolve the parties’ underlying legal claims.