West v. Lasership, Inc.

Background

The court issued this order after a telephone conference involving plaintiffs Daniel West and Romaine Clarke and defendant Lasership, Inc. The case caption also names Ryon Morgan, Saadala Aboulessan, So Sure Transports Inc., Richard Grace, Richard LLC, and unknown subcontractor companies A-Z.

The parties were preparing a protective order for discovery. Plaintiffs asked to exclude “driver pay records, working time, and driver lists” from the definition of “Confidential Information” unless those records contained personally identifying information. The court cited authority stating that discovery documents generally do not receive the same presumption of public access as documents submitted to obtain court action.

Rulings and scheduling

The court denied plaintiffs’ request to exclude those records from the proposed definition of “Confidential Information.” The parties were ordered to promptly file their proposed protective order for the court’s review and entry.

The court scheduled a telephone conference for August 22, 2023, to discuss the status of discovery and required the parties to file a joint letter by August 18 if they had discovery disputes requiring the court’s attention. The parties were also ordered to promptly order a transcript of the conference.

The court continued to hold in abeyance the deadlines to amend pleadings, join other parties, and file motions. The order specifically referred to Lasership’s anticipated motion for judgment on the pleadings and plaintiffs’ anticipated motions for conditional collective and class certification. This order addressed discovery and case management; it did not decide those anticipated motions.