Starling v. Walmart Inc

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided May 22, 2023·No. 2:21-cv-01156·Unknown

Opinion

1 The Honorable Ricardo 8S. Martinez 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 8 JOSEPH STARLING individually and on NO, 2:21-cv-01156 — RSM-MLP 9 || behalf of his minor children M.J.A and M.E.S, PROPOSED] PRETRIAL ORDER 10 Plaintiffs, 11 V. 12 || WALMART INC., a Delaware Corporation, 13 Defendant. 14 I, JURISDICTION 15 16 || Jurisdiction is vested in this court by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Plaintiffs originally filed suit 17 || in the Superior Court of Washington in and for the County of King; however, insofar as there is 1g || diversity among and between all parties, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 19 || exclusive of interest and costs, Walmart removed this case to this Court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 29 || 1332, 1441, and 1446 on August 26, 2021. 21 Il. CLAIMS AND DEFENSES 22 A. Plaintiffs will pursue at trial the following claims: 23 1. False Imprisonment 24 2. Tort of Outrage 25 3. Negligence PRETRIAL ORDER - 1 Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC 601 Union Street, Suite 4100 Seattle, Washington 98101-2380 (206) 628-6600 (USDC Case No. 2:21-cv-01156-RSM-MLP) 77493 18.1

1 B. Defendant will pursue the following affirmative defenses': 2 No. 2 - Plaintiffs’ damages, if any, were proximately caused by the negligence of 3 || Plaintiffs in failing to exercise reasonable care. 4 No. 3 - Plaintiffs were comparatively negligent. 5 No. 4 - The risk of injury or damage to Plaintiffs was not foreseeable to Walmart. 6 No. 5 - Plaintiffs’ claimed injuries and damages were due to actions of third parties. 7 No. 6 - Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by some or all of the following: waiver, estoppel, 8 laches, ratification, acquiescence, accord and satisfaction, and/or consent. 9 No. 7 - Walmart took precautions and affirmative actions that were consistent with the 10 || state of its knowledge at the time. i No. 8 - Walmart acted reasonably and/or did not breach any duty to Plaintiffs. 12 No. 11 - Walmart’s allegedly tortious conduct was privileged as a matter of law. 13 No. 13 - The alleged conduct is not “outrageous” as defined by Washington law. 14 No. 15 - Walmart did not intend, or act with intent, to cause emotional distress or to 15 injure Plaintiffs. 16 Il. ADMITTED FACTS 17 The following facts are admitted by the parties: (Enumerate every agreed fact, irrespective of 18 admissibility, but with notation of objections as to admissibility. List 1, 2, 3, etc.) 19 1, Mr. Starling’s children, MJS and MES are African American. Defendant 20 objects on the basis of relevance (FRE 401-403), and subject to the Court’s ruling on 21 Def.’s MIL #5. 22 || ——————— 1 These defenses are numbered in accordance with their original-designated number in Walmart’s Answer to 94 || Plaintiffs’ Complaint. Walmart is tentatively withdrawing other affirmative defenses because Walmart does not intend to pursue those affirmative defenses based on the claims Plaintiffs are no longer pursuing, either 95 || voluntarily, or because those claims have been dismissed; however, Walmart reserves the right to reassert originally pled affirmative defenses, and maintains all of the other reservations in its Answer, depending on the nature of the proof offered by Plaintiffs at trial and the evidence that is ultimately admitted by the Court at trial. PRETRIAL ORDER - 2 Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC 601 Union Street, Suite 4100 Seattle, Washington 98 101-2380 (206) 628-6600 (USDC Case No. 2:21-cv-01156-RSM-MLP) 7749318.1

1 2. MJS and MES walked to Walmart on the date of the incident, March 12, 2018, 2 || alone. 3 3. MJS and MES entered Walmart alone on the date of the incident. 4 4, The Walmart in question is in Federal Way, Washington. 5 5. The Starling family lives nearby (approximately a five-minute walk). 6 6. Mr. Starling gave MJS and MES money to purchase items at Walmart. 7 || Defendant objects on the basis of relevance (FRE 401-403). 8 7. MJS and MES were six- and ten-years-old on the date of the incident. 9 8. On the date in question, Walmart Asset Protection Manager Debra Utu observed 10 || the Starling children alone in the store. 11 9. Utu approached the Starling children and asked them questions. 12 10. After Utu asked the Starling children questions, they followed her to the loss 13 || prevention room. 14 11. | Utu did not touch the children during the walk to the loss prevention office. 15 12. _Utu called Joseph Starling while in the loss prevention office with the Starling 16 || children. 17 13. Joseph Starling and Utu spoke briefly on the phone while Utu was in the loss 18 || prevention office with the Starling children. 19 14. Starling became bothered and highly upset on the phone. 20 15. Following the phone call between Starling and Utu, Utu called Federal Way 21 || Police. 22 16. | Utu placed the call to Federal Way police at 19:30:41 PM (7:30 PM). 23 17. ‘It was after dark at the time Utu made the call to Federal Way Police. 24 18. Immediately following the phone call from Walmart, Starling went to the 25 || Federal Way Walmart to retrieve his children.

PRETRIAL ORDER- 3 601 Union Steet, Sate 4100 Seattle, Washington 98101-2380 (USDC Case No. 2:21-cv-01156-RSM-MLP)

1 19. □ Upon entering Walmart, Starling approached the customer service section of the 2 || store and was informed that his children were in the loss prevention office. 3 20. The loss prevention office is a secure area of Walmart that is generally off limits 4 || to the public. 5 21. After learning the whereabouts of his children, Starling proceeded to the loss 6 || prevention office door. 7 22. Ator around the time Starling proceeded towards the loss prevention door, 8 || Debra Utu closed the door from inside the office. 9 23. Starling stood at the office door knocking continuously and requesting and 10 || demanding the return of the Starling children to him. 11 24. Utu did not open the door or give the Starling children to Joseph Starling while 12 || awaiting the arrival of police. 13 25. Police arrived on scene after Starling, at 19:39:40 PM (7:39 PM). 14 26. Police asked Starling to calm down. 15 27. — Starling had an emotional outburst after being asked to calm down because 16 || Walmart had still not released his children to him. 17 28. | The Federal Way Police placed Mr. Starling in handcuffs until he was calm. 18 29. The children were in the loss prevention office for roughly 20 minutes, from the 19 || time of Utu’s approach until the release of the children to Joseph Starling after the police 20 || arrived. 21 30. No party was charged with any crime related to the above-described events. 22 IV. ISSUES OF LAW 23 24 The parties cannot agree on the issues of law, and therefore submit the following separate 95 || Statements for the Court’s consideration:

PRETRIAL ORDER - 4 Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC 601 Union Street, Suite 4100 Seattle, Washington 98 101-2380 (206) 628-6600 (USDC Case No. 2:21-cv-01156-RSM-MLP) 7749318.1

1 A. Plaintiffs’ Proposed Issues of Law: 2 1. Whether Walmart associate Debra Utu actions were negligent when she 3 detained the Starling children in the loss prevention office after Mr. Starling requested his 4 || children be released to him 5 2. Whether Walmart willfully detained one or more Plaintiffs’, without their 6 || consent, without legal authority and interfered with the Plaintiffs’ movement or freedom. 7 3.

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