Opinion
20-cv-2393-HLT-TJJ
10-24-2022
QUINN NGIENDO, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY PARTNERS, LLC, et al., Defendants.
ORDER MEMORIALIZING RULINGS FROM OCTOBER 20, 2022 STATUS CONFERENCE
Teresa J. James, U.S. Magistrate Judge
On October 20, 2022, the Court conducted a telephone status conference in this case with the parties. Plaintiff Quinn Ngiendo appeared pro se on her own behalf. Defendant Asset Campus USA, LLC appeared through counsel, Michelle Stewart. Defendant Cardinal Group Midwest, LLC (“Cardinal Group”) appeared through counsel, Blake Edwards. Defendant Everest Campus West, LLC appeared through counsel, Michael Skidgel. This order memorializes and supplements the Court's oral rulings made during status conference.
1. Plaintiff's Depositions
The Court took up Plaintiff's requests to continue her deposition scheduled on October 27 and 28, 2022 and to change the location from Kansas City to Minneapolis or Topeka. After discussion, Plaintiff and all counsel agreed to the firm, final date of November 14, 2022 for Plaintiff's deposition, to be taken in Rooms 403E and 404D of the Topeka federal courthouse, located at 444 S.E. Quincy, Topeka, Kansas 66683. Plaintiff indicated she preferred one sevenhour day rather than dividing the deposition hours over multiple days. The deposition shall begin at 9:00 am and shall not exceed seven hours in total length, with such deposition time apportioned or shared among the Defendants. Given the mutually agreed upon postponed deposition date (delayed to accommodate Plaintiff's health concerns), the Court stressed there will be no continuance or stay of this deposition date.
See Amended Joint Notice to Take Videotaped Deposition of Quinn Ngiendo (ECF No. 235).
The Court advised Plaintiff that she will be required to travel to Kansas for her deposition as she filed her case in the District of Kansas and the events giving rise to her lawsuit occurred in Kansas. The Court further cautioned Plaintiff that if she fails to appear for her deposition on November 14, 2022, she may be subject to sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(d) for her failure to appear, including possibly even the dismissal of her case. The rulings here resolve Plaintiff's Emergency Motion to quash her deposition notice and for protective order (ECF No. 237), which is granted in part and denied in part as set out above.
2. Plaintiff's Request for Extension of Discovery Deadline
Plaintiff's request for extensions of the Scheduling Order deadlines is granted in part and denied in part. The current October 31, 2022 deadline for completion of discovery is extended to November 23, 2022, but only for the limited purpose of completing Plaintiff's deposition. No other discovery shall be permitted after October 31, 2022. This case has been on file for more than two years with the parties permitted nearly eleven months to conduct discovery. Plaintiff failed to show good cause for her requested extension of the discovery deadline and subsequent deadlines in the case, as she was unable to identify any relevant additional discovery still to be conducted and which could not be conducted by the October 31, 2022 discovery deadline. A separate Amended Scheduling Order will be entered setting deadlines and dates for the pretrial conference, submission of the pretrial order, and filing of any dispositive motions.
3. Plaintiff's Request to Increase the Number of Discovery Requests
Plaintiff's request for leave to increase the number of interrogatories, requests for admission and requests for production of documents beyond the limits set in the Scheduling Order is denied. Plaintiff provides no justification for increasing the limits for these discovery requests over the objections of all Defendants.
See Scheduling Order (ECF No. 122) §2(h) (“No party may initially serve more than 25 interrogatories, 12 requests for admissions, and 25 requests for production, including all discrete subparts, on any other party.”).
4. Defendant Cardinal Group's Motion to Compel (ECF No. 206)
After hearing from both Plaintiff and counsel for Defendant Cardinal Group, the Court grants Defendant Cardinal Group's Motion to Compel (ECF No. 206). Defendant Cardinal Group advised the Court that Plaintiff provided her answers to its First Set of Interrogatories, but has failed to provide any written responses to its First Requests for Production of Documents and has only produced a couple of documents. Plaintiff has been given multiple extensions of time to serve her responses to these discovery requests, which were originally served upon Plaintiff on May 17, 2022, nearly five months ago. Plaintiff shall serve her responses to Defendant Cardinal Group's First Requests for Production of Documents and produce all responsive documents by October 31, 2022 . If Plaintiff fails to provide her responses and produce responsive documents by this deadline, Plaintiff will be subject to sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2).
5. Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions (ECF No. 211)
Based upon its review of Plaintiff's filings and Plaintiff's lengthy comments during the status conference, the Court finds Plaintiff's allegations against Defendants and their counsel- that they were involved in the alleged ransacking or theft of documents from her storage units, or that they gained remote virtual access to her personal computer-to be unsupported and unsubstantiated. Plaintiff has provided no photographs, videos, police reports, or other tangible evidence of the alleged misconduct, much less that Defendants were responsible for the alleged misconduct. Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions is denied.
6. Implementation of Page Limits on Discovery-Related Motions
Under its inherent authority to manage the case and the docket, the Court imposes the following page limits on all future discovery-related and non-dispositive motions, including any motion to stay, filed by the parties:
• Motions and memoranda in support must not exceed a total of ten (10) pages;
• response briefs in opposition must not exceed ten (10) pages;
• replies must not exceed five (5) pages.
Any motion for leave to exceed these page limits must be filed at least three (3) days before the filing's deadline.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff's Emergency Motion to quash her deposition notice and for protective order (ECF No. 237) is granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiff's deposition is rescheduled to November 14, 2022 in Topeka, Kansas, by agreement of all counsel and Plaintiff.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Cardinal Group's Motion to Compel (ECF No. 206) is granted. Plaintiff shall serve her responses to Defendant Cardinal Group's First Request for Production of Documents and produce all responsive documents by October 31, 2022 . If Plaintiff fails to provide her responses and produce responsive documents by this deadline, Plaintiff will be subject to sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions (ECF No. 211) is denied.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall be mailed to Plaintiff.
IT IS SO ORDERED.