Opinion
21cv603-GPC(KSC)
11-05-2021
MARIA GUADALUPE GUTIERREZ, Plaintiff, v. COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE PARTIES' JOINT MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE OF DISCOVERY AND OTHER DEADLINES [DOC. NO. 21.]
Hon. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge.
Before the Court is the parties' Joint Motion for Continuance of Discovery Deadlines. [Doc. No. 21.] In the Joint Motion, the parties seek a 90-day extension of the deadlines for completing fact and expert discovery, as well as the deadline for filing dispositive motions. The reason for the request is that defendant has not yet obtained plaintiff's medical records. The parties have not explained why defendant was not able to obtain these records in a timely manner. [Doc. No. 21, at p. 2.]
“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with the judge's consent.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(b)(4). “Good cause” means that the party seeking an extension must make a showing that they are unable to meet the deadlines in the scheduling order despite diligence. Johnson v. Mammoth, 975 F.2d 604, 610-611 (9th Cir. 1992), Based on the information presented, the Court finds that the parties have not established good cause for a lengthy 90-day extension of the deadlines in the Scheduling Order for completing discovery and for filing dispositive motions. Although the Court will extend the deadline for completing fact discovery to allow defendant time to obtain plaintiff's medical records, all other dates and deadlines in the operative Scheduling Order will remain the same. The Court notes that the parties indicate in their Joint Motion that a 90-day extension of the discovery and dispositive motion deadlines would not impact other deadlines in the Scheduling Order. However, a 90-day extension of the deadline for filing dispositive motions would require a continuance of the final Pre-Trial Conference and related deadlines. Otherwise, the District Court would not have sufficient time to consider fully briefed summary judgment or other dispositive motions prior to the final Pre-Trial Conference. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties' request to continue the fact discovery deadline until February 17, 2022 is GRANTED. The parties' request to continue other deadlines in the Scheduling Order is DENIED. [Doc. No. 21.]
IT IS SO ORDERED.