Opinion
22 Civ 02777 (CM)
07-14-2022
LORENA MERCEDES, ETHEL DUBOUZET, and BARBORA SIMPSON et al on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, Plaintiffs v. MANHATTAN FOOD & BEV LTD. d/b/a REICHENBACH HALL, WILIAM REICHENBACH aka WILLY REICHENBACH individually, and KEITH REICHENBACH individually, Defendants.
SCHEDULING ORDER
McMahon, J.
Defendants Manhattan Food & Bev Ltd., William Reichenbach, and Keith Reichenbach (collectively, the “Defendants”) move pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 9 U.S.C. Sections 3 and 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) to dismiss the Complaint in its entirety and to compel Plaintiffs Lorena Mercedes, Ethel Dubouzet, Barbora Simpson, To Tran, and Katrina Sanjongco Coyle (collectively “Plaintiffs”) to arbitrate their claims on an individual basis. Alternatively, Defendants move to stay these proceedings and to compel Plaintiffs to arbitrate their claims on an individual basis.
Because this motion cannot be decided without discovery into the circumstances under which each named plaintiff signed the agreement to arbitrate and a hearing to resolve disputed issues of fact, the court held a telephone conference this morning, at which time we set the following schedule: case stayed on all merits issues (including the motion for conditional class certification of the FLSA non-Rule 23 class); discovery, limited to the issue of the signing of the arbitration agreements, to take place between now and October 31, 2022. By close of business November 10, 2022, each side should file a report with the court summarizing the results of that discovery. The parties will thereafter be on 72 hours' notice for a hearing (with live witnesses) to resolve the issues of fact needed to decide the motion to dismiss.