Opinion
20-11785
07-07-2021
PRUDENTIAL DEFENSE SOLUTIONS, INC., Plaintiff, v. JAKE W. GRAHAM, MARK SHEAHAN, and ROBERT CHARNOT Defendants.
ORDER HOLDING IN ABEYANCE DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO EXTEND DISCOVERY
ROBERT H. CLELAND, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Prudential Defense Solutions, Inc., brings this action asserting claims under the Michigan Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“MUTSA”), Mich. Comp. Laws § 445.1904, the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(1), and for state law claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and civil conspiracy. (ECF No. 15, PageID.247-60.) Plaintiff alleges that, as its vice president, Defendant Jake W. Graham signed an agreement not to compete with Plaintiff, but thereafter established a competing private security company with Defendants Mark Sheahan and Robert Charnot, two nonemployees. Plaintiff also alleges that Defendants misappropriated Plaintiff's proprietary information to use in their competing business.
The parties' discovery deadline expired on June 30, 2021. (ECF No. 43.) On June 30, 2021, Defendants filed a motion to extend the discovery deadline by sixty days. (ECF No. 68.) They claim that discovery was delayed due to settlement negotiations and additional time is needed to investigate audio recordings Plaintiff recently produced.
On July 1, 2021, the court held that Defendants were in contempt of court for violating an injunction issued on December 29, 2020. (ECF Nos. 69, 35.) The court ordered Defendants to complete production of information, in compliance with the December 29 injunction, by July 16, 2021. (See ECF No. 69, PageID.1957-58.)
Therefore, the court will hold in abeyance Defendants' motion for an extension of the discovery deadline, and it will await the production of information detailed in the July 1 opinion. (Id.) Once Defendants have completed the production by July 16, 2021, the court will consider whether and to what extent it will extend the discovery deadline.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' “Motion to Extend Discovery” (ECF No. 68) is HELD IN ABEYANCE pending Defendants' compliance with the court's July 1 opinion (ECF No. 69, PageID.1957-58). A telephonic status conference will be conducted on July 21, 2021 at 10:30 am.