Opinion
1:21-cv-01643-JLT-BAM
05-02-2023
VARINDER GREWAL, Plaintiff, v. LAND O'LAKES, INC. and DOES 1 through 25, inclusive, Defendants.
BARBARA A. MCAULIFFE, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
ORDER PARTIALLY GRANTING STIPULATED REQUEST TO MODIFY THE SCHEDULING CONFERENCE ORDER PURSUANT TO FRCP 16(D) (DOC. 11)
On May 11, 2023, Plaintiff Varinder Grewal and Defendant Land O' Lakes, Inc. filed a stipulated request to modify the Scheduling Order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). The parties seek to extend the July 17, 2023 dispositive motion deadline an additional sixty (60) days because they have agreed to proceed to a settlement conference with Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on July 17, 2023. (Doc. 11.) According to the parties, July 17, 2023 was the first available date for a Settlement Conference that comported with the parties' and the Court's schedules. The parties wish to conserve resources by giving the settlement process a chance to play out before incurring the attorneys' fees necessary to prepare dispositive motions before the July 17 deadline. (Id.)
Generally, settlement discussions do not constitute good cause justifying modification of the pretrial Scheduling Order. See, e.g., Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. Rehrig Pacific Co., No. 11-cv-01273-LJO-BAM, 2013 WL 1164941, * 4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 20, 2013). However, in the interests of judicial and party efficiency and economy, the Court will modify the dispositive motion deadline. Because the parties have not explained why they require an additional sixty (60) days following the settlement conference, the requested extension will be limited to thirty (30) days. Accordingly, the current deadline to file dispositive motions is continued from July 17, 2023, to August 16, 2023. All other deadlines in the Scheduling Order remain unchanged.
IT IS SO ORDERED.