Cellemme v. Lynch

1 |}NICHOLAS A. TRUTANICH United States Attorney [2] HOLLY A. VANCE 3 || Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 4 || 400 South Virginia Street, Suite 900 Reno, NV 89501 5 || Tel: (775) 784-5438 Fax: (775) 784-5181 6 || Holly.A.Vance@usdoj.gov 7 || Attorneys for Defendant William Barr 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA [9] DREE ANN CELLEMME, Case No. 2:16-cv-02539-JAD-DJA [10] Plaintiff Order Granting 11 JOINT MOTION TO STAY CASE Vv. UNTIL FBI RESUMES DISCOVERY 12 OPERATIONS WILLIAM BARR, USS. Att G 3 , orney General, ECE No. 77 Defendant. [14] 15 Defendant William Barr (“Defendant”) and Plaintiff Dree Ann Cellemme (“Plaintiff”) 16 hereby stipulate to, and jointly move for, an order staying the case until discovery operations 17 ||resume at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI’). The FBI is currently unable to process 18 || discovery requests because staff who process such requests are on administrative leave due to the 19 || spread of the COVID-19 virus. This motion is supported by the case law cited herein and the 20 || attached declarations. 21 PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS 22 Plaintiff has filed suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Rehabilitation Act. 23 No. 43, at {§ 41-87). She asserts claims for gender and disability discrimination based on [24] 1 || various personnel actions taken by the FBI, including discharging her from her employment with 2 || the agency. (/d.). 3 DISCOVERY 4 The parties have engaged in written discovery in the case, including providing initial and 5 supplemental disclosures, requesting and producing thousands of pages of documents, and 6 || propounding and responding to discovery requests. (Vance Decl. § 3). Recently, the parties 7 || submitted, and responded to, an additional round of discovery requests. Ud. § 4). On April 8, 8 || 2020, the parties met and conferred to discuss responses to those requests that each party believed 9 || warranted the submission of additional information. (/d.). 10 After that meet-and-confer conference, defense counsel contacted FBI counsel regarding 11 || Plaintiffs requests for additional information. (/d. § 5). FBI counsel advised at that time that the 12 || agency was unable to process discovery requests because all staff within the agency’s Discovery 13 || Management Section (“DMS”) are on administrative leave due to the COVID-19 crisis. (/d. 4 5; 14 || Wiegand Decl. § 15). Without the assistance of DMS staff, the FBI is unable to process discovery 15 || requests. (Wiegand Decl. § 16). 16 Once the meet-and-confer issues are resolved, the parties plan to depose key witnesses in 17 || the case. (Vance Decl. § 6). Those depositions cannot proceed, however, until the parties receive 18 || all documents to which they are entitled under the discovery rules. (/d.). 19 DEFENSE COUNSEL’S UNAVAILABILITY 20 On April 9, 2020, defense counsel learned that her father entered into hospice care at a 21 |} nursing home in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Vance Decl. § 7). Defense counsel is exploring 22 || the possibility of flying to New Hampshire. (/d.). It is unclear at this time, however, whether 23 || defense counsel may enter the nursing home to visit her father due to the COVID-19 crisis. (/d.). [24] 1 || If counsel is unable to see her father, she nonetheless plans to take time off due to her father’s 2 || deteriorating condition. (/d.). 3 ARGUMENT 4 A. Good cause exists to stay the proceedings because the FBI is currently unable to 5 process discovery requests. 6 A district court has broad discretion to stay proceedings incidental to its power to control 7 || its own docket. Landis v. North Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936); see also CMAX, Inc. v. Hall, 8 F.2d 265, 268 (9th Cir. 1962) (district courts possess “inherent power to control the 9 || disposition of the causes on its docket in a manner which will promote economy of time and effort 10 || for itself, for counsel, and for litigants”). A district court may stay proceedings where the moving 11 || party demonstrates good cause. Libutan v. MGM Grand Hotel LLC, 2020 WL 1434440 , at *2 (D. 12 || Nev. Mar. 24, 2020). 13 Here, good cause warrants a stay of the proceedings. The FBI is currently unable to 14 || process discovery requests due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, defense counsel will be out of 15 || the office, and possibly in New Hampshire, due to her father’s recent placement in hospice care. 16 || Under the circumstances, a stay of the proceedings is appropriate. See Libutan, 2020 WL 17 || 1434440, at *2 (extenuating circumstances caused by the COVID-19 virus establish good cause 18 || to stay the proceedings); Garbutt v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 2020 WL 1476159 , at *2 (M.D. 19 || Fla. Mar. 26, 2020) (finding good cause exists to stay the proceedings “based on the disruption to 20 || business caused by the spread of COVID-19”).! [22] In the event the Court grants the stay, the parties plan to issue a revised discovery plan after the 24 || DMS resumes operations. The revised discovery plan will provide dates for the remaining deadlines in the case: discovery cut-off, dispositive motions and a joint pre-trial order. 1 CONCLUSION 2 For the reasons argued above, a stay of the proceedings is warranted. 3 Respectfully submitted this 17th day of April, 2020. 4 NICHOLAS A. TRUTANICH United States Attorney [5] s/ Holly A. Vance s/ Dylan T. Cicliano 6 HOLLY A. VANCE DYLAN T. CICILIANO Assistant United States Attorney Counsel for Plaintiff [7] 8 ORDER IT APPEARS that a stay is warranted for the reasons stated in this motion. ? Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Joint Motion to Stay [ECF No. 77] is 10 GRANTED. This case is STAYED for all purposes until discovery operations at the FBl reopen. The FBI must file a motion to lift stay within five days of discovery 11 || Operations resuming. amon — UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE [13] 14 DATED; 4-20-2020