Thiel v. Adams County Public Hospital District 2

Opinion

1 U.S. DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 2 Aug 29, 2023 3 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 4 5 6 9 10 ESTATE OF KAREN THIEL, and 11 LAMAR THIEL, No. 2:21-CV-00279-SAB 12 Plaintiffs, 13 v. ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO 14 ADAMS COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL AMEND COMPLAINT; 15 DISTRICT NO. 2, d/b/a EAST ADAMS DENYING MOTION FOR 16 RURAL HEALTHCARE, d/b/a EAST PROTECTIVE ORDER 17 ADAMS RURAL HOSPITAL, a 18 Washington Public Hospital District; and 19 MATTHEW MECHAM, an individual, 20 Defendants. 21 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 1 Before the Court are Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint, ECF 2 No. 47, and Defendant East Adams Rural Hospital’s Motion for Protective Order 3 Limiting Scope of Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition, ECF No. 49. Plaintiffs are 4 represented by Trevor William Matthews. Defendants are represented by Markus 5 William Louvier and Scott Alan Flage. The motions were considered without oral 6 argument. 7 Plaintiffs move the Court for leave to amend their original complaint and 8 include a proposed Amended Complaint with their motion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2) 9 states that “a party may amend its pleading only with the opposing party’s written 10 consent or the [C]ourt’s leave. The [C]ourt should freely give leave when justice so 11 requires.” In the Ninth Circuit, requests for leave should be granted with extreme 12 liberality.” Moss v. U.S. Secret Serv., 572 F. 3d 962, 972 (9th Cir. 2009) (quotation 13 omitted). The Court finds grounds for granting the motion and allowing the 14 proposed amended complaint to become the operative complaint in the above- 15 captioned matter upon refiling by Plaintiffs. 16 Defendant East Adams Rural Hospital’s motion for protective order is 17 denied. The parties are expected to conduct discovery in good faith and consistent 18 with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with particular reference to Rule 1 and 19 Rules 26 – 37. 20 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 21 1. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint, ECF No. 47, is 23 2. For Court efficiency and docket clarity, Plaintiff’s shall file their 24 Amended Complaint as a separate filing on ECF no later than September 8, 25 2023. Once the Amended Complaint is filed separately on ECF, it will become the 26 operative complaint in the above-captioned matter. 27 // 28 // 1 3. Defendant East Adams Rural Hospital’s Motion for Protective Order Limiting Scope of Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition, ECF No. 49, is DENIED. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. The District Court Clerk is hereby directed to enter this Order and to provide copies to counsel. 5 DATED this 29th day of August 2023. © 9 by Sect Stanley A. Bastian Chief United States District Judge

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT; DENYING