Opinion
Civil Action 22-00193-BAJ-EWD
01-08-2024
NIA MILLS v. WILLIAM ALLEN CONNELLY, ET AL.
ORDER
JUDGE BRIAN A. JACKSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
On January 4, 2024, this Court granted Plaintiffs Unopposed Motion to Stay the Scheduling Order Pending Resolution of Certain Proceedings (Doc. 148), seeking to stay discovery until the resolution of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 78). Now, the Court will amend that order so that the discovery stay instead hinges first on resolution of the issues regarding Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint (Doc. 130).
As Plaintiff noted in her Unopposed Motion to Stay the Scheduling Order (Doc. 148), “[o]n November 10, 2023, this Court granted . . . leave to amend certain claims and found that other claims, notably those asserted by [a possible second plaintiff] . . . were prescribed.” (Doc. 148 at 4). Since that order, Plaintiff filed her First Amended Complaint on November 17, (Doc. 130), Defendants moved to strike Plaintiffs Amended Complaint on November 28, (Doc. 134), and Plaintiff moved for reconsideration of the Magistrate Judge's Order on Plaintiffs Motion to Amend on December 8, (Doc. 140). Currently also pending before the Court is the aforementioned Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 78) and a Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 91). As Defendants note in their Reply to Plaintiffs Opposition to the Motion for Summary Judgment, the claims presented in the newly filed First Amended Complaint “will likely be the subject of future Motions to Dismiss . . . and another Partial Motion for Summary Judgment.” (Doc. 133 at 8).
In light of the uncertainty regarding the pleading, to avoid future replicate briefing of the same or similar issues, and pursuant to its inherent power “to protect its . . . judgments and to control its docket,” Hollinger v. Home State Mut. Ins. Co., 654 F.3d 564, 569 (5th Cir. 2011), the Court will modify its January 4, 2024 Order (Doc. 149) and terminate Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and the Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings without prejudice to the right to refile, if necessary, when the issues regarding the amended complaint are resolved.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 78) and Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 91) be and are hereby TERMINATED without prejudice to the right to refile, if necessary, when the issues regarding Plaintiffs amended complaint are resolved.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Court's January 4, 2024 Order (Doc. 149) be and is hereby AMENDED. Discovery remains stayed, but the parties shall instead confer as ordered, (See Doc. 149), no later than fourteen days after resolution of both Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration (Doc. 140) and Defendants' Motion to Strike (Doc. 134).