Opinion
2:20-cv-1129-BJR
12-28-2021
TANVEER CHAWLA, Plaintiff, v. WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL DATE AND AMEND CASE SCHEDULING ORDER
Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, U.S. District Court Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on the parties' Stipulated Motion to Continue Trial Date and Amend Case Scheduling Order. Dkt. No. 27. The Court finds good cause to continue the trial date and related dates due to: (1) Plaintiff's inability to travel to the United States from India for the scheduled trial date of February 22, 2022, due to the rising cases associated with the omicron variant of COVID-19; and (2) the parties' intent to engage in efforts to resolve this case through alternative dispute resolution.
The Court is mindful that this is the second continuance of the trial date. The parties are advised that the Court is able to conduct civil jury trials remotely over Zoom.gov. See General Order 10-21 of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The parties should not expect that further continuances of the trial date will be granted due to difficulties in conducting the trial in-person if the Court continues to have the authority to conduct the trial remotely over Zoom.gov.
Therefore, the Court GRANTS the stipulated motion and ORDERS as follows:
1. The trial date is continued to May 9, 2022.
2. The deadline for filing motions in limine is extended to April 4, 2022. Except upon a showing of good cause, any motions in limine shall be filed as one motion. Motions in limine and oppositions thereto shall not exceed 15 pages. Any opposition to a motion in limine shall be filed no later than 14 days after a motion is filed. No reply in support of a motion in limine is authorized unless otherwise ordered by the Court.
3. The deadline for filing the Joint Pretrial Statement is extended to April 11, 2022.
4. The Pretrial Conference is rescheduled for April 25, 2022, at 11:00 a.m.