Silbaugh v. Chao

Opinion

1 The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 7 AT SEATTLE

8 ALISHA SILBAUGH, an individual, ) No.: 2:17-cv-01759-RSM ) 9 Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO ) STAY DEADLINES 10 vs. ) ) 11 PETE BUTTIGIEG, Secretary of the ) NOTED FOR CONSIDERATION: Department of Transportation, ) July 14, 2021 12 ) Defendant. ) 13 STIPULATION 14 Plaintiff Alisha Silbaugh and Defendant Pete Buttigieg, through their respective counsel, 15 hereby stipulate to stay the remaining case deadlines and the trial date until after the Court rules 16 on defendant’s pending motion for summary judgment, Dkt. #65. Defendant has moved for 17 summary judgment on all claims. 18 The court “has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to control 19 its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997); see also Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 20 U.S. 248, 254 (1936). In determining whether to grant a motion to stay, “the competing interests 21 which will be affected by the granting or refusal to grant a stay must be weighed.” Lockyer v. 22 Mirant Corp., 398 F.3d 1098, 1110 (9th Cir. 2005) (citing CMAX, Inc. v. Hall, 300 F.2d 265, 268 23 (9th Cir. 1962)). Those interests include: (1) “the possible damage which may result from the 24 granting of a stay,” (2) “the hardship or inequity which a party may suffer in being required to go 1 forward, and (3) “the orderly course of justice measured in terms of the simplifying or 2 complicating of issues, proof, and questions of law which could be expected to result from a 3 stay.” Id. 4 In this case, the factors weigh in favor of granting the stay. Considering the first factor, 5 the parties do not anticipate that granting a stay will cause damage to either party. The second

6 factor favors a stay to conserve judicial resources and the parties’ resources. Pretrial deadlines 7 are quickly approaching, including the July 26, 2021 deadline for plaintiff to submit her pretrial 8 statement, the August 5, 2021 deadline for defendant to submit his pretrial statement, and the 9 August 9, 2021 deadline to file motions in limine. Those submissions will require significant 10 time and resources. The parties will face hardships if they are required to endure the expense 11 and burden of completing that work when the case may be resolved (or at least the issues 12 narrowed significantly) by the pending motion for summary judgment. 13 The third factor, the orderly course of justice and judicial economy, also weighs in favor 14 of a stay. Judicial economy will be furthered if the Court is not burdened by motions in limine

15 that may be unnecessary if the case is dismissed. In addition, the orderly course of justice will be 16 furthered if the parties know what, if any, issues remain for trial before preparing for trial, 17 drafting motions in limine, and drafting their pretrial statements. 18 Therefore, the parties request that the Court stay this case pending a ruling on defendant’s 19 motion for summary judgment. If the Court’s ruling on that motion does not resolve the case, 20 the parties will file a joint status report within 30 days after the Court issues its ruling to propose 21 a new trial date and pretrial deadlines. 22 // 23 // 24 // 1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 DATED: July 14, 2021 Longshot Law, Inc.

3 s/ Chalmers Johnson 4 Chalmers Johnson, WSBA No. 40180 PO Box 1575 5 Port Orchard, Washington 98366 Phone: (425) 999-0900 6 Attorney for Plaintiff

8 DATED: July 14, 2021 TESSA M. GORMAN 9 Acting U.S. Attorney

10 s/ Sarah K. Morehead s/ Heather C. Costanzo 11 SARAH K. MOREHEAD, WSBA #29680 HEATHER C. COSTANZO, FLBA #37378 12 Assistant United States Attorneys United States Attorney’s Office 13 700 Stewart Street, Suite 5220 Seattle, WA 98101-1271 14 Phone: (206) 553-7970 Email: sarah.morehead@usdoj.gov 15 Email: heather.costanzo@usdoj.gov Attorneys for Defendant 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 ORDER 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. This case is stayed. If the pending dispositive motion does not 3 resolve the case, the parties will file a joint status report within thirty days of the date the Court 4 issues an order on the dispositive motion and request a new trial date and pretrial deadlines. 5 DATED this 14th day of July, 2021.

6 7 A 8 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 9 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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