Landon v. Ply-Gem Windows

— 1 — — 2 — — 3 — — 4 — — 5 — — 6 — — 7 — UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON — 8 — AT SEATTLE — 9 — 10 STEPHEN LEE LANDON, CASE NO. C23-1747JLR 11 Plaintiff, ORDER v. — 12 — PLY-GEM WINDOWS, — 13 — Defendant. — 14 — 15 On April 17, 2024, Defendant Ply Gem Pacific Windows Corp. (“Ply Gem”) filed 16 a notice informing the court that pro se Plaintiff Stephen Lee Landon refused to 17 participate in a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) conference, as he was ordered to 18 do. (Notice (Dkt. # 25); see also 3/28/24 Order (Dkt. # 22) at 1 (setting April 11, 2024 19 deadline for Rule 26(f) conference).) According to Ply Gem, Mr. Landon refused to 20 participate because he “claimed he wanted to obtain an attorney before moving forward.” 21 (Notice at 1.) 22 // 1 Mr. Landon’s desire to hire an attorney does not obviate the obligation to follow 2 court orders, rules, and deadlines. See, e.g., Briones v. Riviera Hotel & Casino, 116 F.3d 3 379, 381 (9th Cir. 1997) (explaining that “[p]ro se litigants must follow the same rules of 4 procedure that govern other litigants”). Refusal to comply with court orders can result in 5 a finding of civil contempt and sanctions, including dismissal of the case. See In re 6 Dual-Deck Video Cassette Recorder Antitr. Litig., 10 F.3d 693, 695 (9th Cir. 1993) 7 (“Civil contempt in this context consists of a party’s disobedience to a specific and 8 definite court order by failure to take all reasonable steps within the party’s power to 9 comply.”); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) (providing for involuntary dismissal where the 10 plaintiff fails to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a court order). 11 Mr. Landon is advised that he must abide by court orders, rules, and deadlines 12 regardless of whether he is acting pro se or through an attorney. The court will extend its 13 initial deadlines in this instance, as set forth below. The court warns Mr. Landon that 14 failure to comply in the future may result in sanctions, up to and including dismissal of 15 this case. 16 Deadline for FRCP 26(f) Conference: 4/25/2024 17 Initial Disclosures Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1): 5/9/2024 18 Combined Joint Status Report and Discovery Plan as Required by FRCP 26(f) and 19 Local Civil Rule 26(f): 5/16/2024 20 Dated this 18th day of April, 2024. A — 21 — JAMES L. ROBART 22 United States District Judge