Opinion
2:20-cv-00510-KJD-DJA
01-18-2022
MARTIN J. WALSH, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor Plaintiff, v. Unforgettable Coatings, Inc., a Nevada Corporation; et al. Defendants.
SUSAN G. KUMLI Acting Regional Solicitor ANDREW J. SCHULTZ Counsel for Wage and Hour JESSICA M. FLORES CHARLES C. SONG Senior Trial Attorney KATHYRN A. PANACCIONE Trial Attorney UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Attorneys for Plaintiff United States Secretary of Labor Paul T. Trimmer Holly E. Walker Joshua A. Sliker Rick J. Sutherland Mark A. Hutchinson Jackson Lewis P.C. Attorneys for Defendants
SUSAN G. KUMLI
Acting Regional Solicitor
ANDREW J. SCHULTZ
Counsel for Wage and Hour
JESSICA M. FLORES
CHARLES C. SONG
Senior Trial Attorney
KATHYRN A. PANACCIONE
Trial Attorney
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Attorneys for Plaintiff United States Secretary of Labor
Paul T. Trimmer
Holly E. Walker
Joshua A. Sliker
Rick J. Sutherland
Mark A. Hutchinson
Jackson Lewis P.C.
Attorneys for Defendants
SECRETARY'S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINES TO RESPOND TO DEFENDANTS' [ECF NOS. 131 & 132] MOTIONS TO COMPEL
FIRST REQUEST
DANIEL J. ALBREGTS, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pursuant to LR IA 6-1, the Secretary submits the following Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadline to Respond to Defendants' [ECF No. 131] Motion to Compel re: Deliberative Process and Investigative Files Privilege and [ECF No. 132] Motion to Compel re: Work Product Privilege (“Motions to Compel”). This is the Secretary's first request for an extension of the subject deadline. Defendants' Motions to Compel were filed on January 10, 2022, responses are due January 24, and replies are due January 31. The Secretary respectfully requests that his responses be due January 31, 2022, and the replies be due February 7. This Motion is based on the following points and authorities, the attached exhibits, the pleadings and papers on file, and any additional evidence the Court deems appropriate to consider.
MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
I. INTRODUCTION
The Secretary respectfully requests that the deadline to respond to Defendants' [ECF No. 131] Motion to Compel re: Deliberative Process and Investigative Files Privilege and [ECF No. 132] Motion to Compel re: Work Product Privilege (“Motions to Compel”) be extended from January 24, 2022 to January 31, 2022. Defendants shall submit their Replies on February 7, 2022. Defendants do not oppose this one-week extension, and the Secretary's request is made for good cause and not for purpose of delay. Defendants will not prejudiced and the scheduling calendar will not be disrupted.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A court may grant a request to extend time for good cause. Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(b)(1)(A); Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1258-59 (9th Cir. 2010). Good cause is a nonrigorous standard that has been construed broadly. Id. at 1259-1260. Motions filed before the deadline expires should generally be granted if the requesting party did not move in bad faith and no prejudice would accrue to any other party. Id. at 1259. Under LR IA 6-1, a “A motion or stipulation to extend time must state the reasons for the extension requested and must inform the court of all previous extensions of the subject deadline the court granted.”
III. ARGUMENT
The Secretary submits this unopposed motion with good cause as it does not prejudice Defendants, alter the current scheduling calendar, and is not made for the purpose of delay. After Defendants' Motions to Compel were filed on January 10, 2022, the Secretary contacted opposing counsel to inform them that the documents in Defendants' 285-page exhibit (ECF No. 131-11) did not include the Bates numbers they were produced with and to request a stipulation to extend the briefing schedule for these motions. Declaration of Charles Song (“Song Decl.”) ¶ 2. The next day, January 12, 2022, Defendants responded saying that they would re-file the exhibit with the Bates numbers but would not stipulate to extend the briefing schedule. Id. at ¶ 3. Defendants then filed a corrected exhibit with Bates numbers (ECF No. 134) Id. On January 14, 2022, the Secretary contacted Defendants to query whether they would oppose the Secretary's motion to extend the briefing schedule for Defendants' Motions to Compel filed on January 10, 2022 (ECF Nos. 131, 132). Id. at ¶ 4. Defendants responded that “as a general matter” they did not oppose the Secretary's motion to extend the time to respond to Defendants' motions to compel but noted that extending the opposition deadlines would also require extension of the reply deadlines in ECF No. 133. Id.
The Secretary respectfully requests that the Court extend the deadline to respond to Defendants' [ECF Nos. 131, 132] Motions to Compel to January 31, 2022. The Motions to Compel request the re-noticing of 8 depositions and un-redactions of hundreds of pages of Secretary's document production that are redacted under the investigative files, deliberative process, and attorney-work product privileges. To adequately brief these issues, the Secretary will have to review hundreds of pages of redacted documents and depositions. This review also requires involvement of the National Office, which requires additional time. As a result, the Secretary has good cause for a first request to extend time to respond to Defendants' Motions to Compel.
IV. CONCLUSION
The Secretary respectfully requests that this Court grant this Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadline to Respond to Defendants' [ECF Nos. 131 & 132] Motions to Compel.
Dated: January 14, 2022
Respectfully submitted, SEEMA NANDA
Solicitor of Labor
SUSAN G. KUMLI
Acting Regional Solicitor
CHARLES SONG
Senior Trial Attorney
JESSICA FLORES
Senior Trial Attorney
KATHRYN PANACCIONE
Trial Attorney
VICTORIA YEE
Trial Attorney
Attorneys for Plaintiff
United States Department of Labor
INDEX OF EXHIBITS
Exhibit
Description
A
Declaration of Charles Song
B
Email correspondence
IT IS SO ORDERED.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I am over eighteen years of age. I am not a party to the within action; my business address is 350 South Figueroa Street, Suite 370, Los Angeles, California 90017.
On January 14, 2022, I served the within SECRETARY'S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINES TO RESPOND TO DEFENDANTS' [ECF Nos. 131 & 132] MOTIONS TO COMPEL (FIRST REQUEST) properly addressed to the following:
Paul T. Trimmer
Holly E. Walker
Joshua A. Sliker
Rick J. Sutherland
Mark A. Hutchinson
Jackson Lewis P.C.
Attorneys for Defendants
I certify under penalty of perjury that the above is true and correct.
Executed January 14, 2022
Charles Song
Office of the Solicitor U.S. Department of Labor
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA
MARTIN J. WALSH, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor Plaintiff, v.
Martin J. Walsh was sworn in as the Secretary of Labor effective March 23, 2021. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 25(d), the caption has been revised to reflect this change.
Unforgettable Coatings, Inc., a Nevada Corporation; et al. Defendants.
Case No. 2:20-cv-00510-KJD-DJA
SUSAN GILLETT KUMLI
Acting Regional Solicitor
ANDREW J. SCHULTZ
Counsel for Wage and Hour
CHARLES S. SONG
JESSICA FLORES
Senior Trial Attorneys
KATHRYN A. PANACCIONE
Trial Attorney
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Attorneys for Plaintiff United States Secretary of Labor
DECLARATION OF CHARLES SONG IN SUPPORT OF SECRETARY'S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND TIME
I, Charles Song, hereby declare as follows:
1. I am a Senior Trial Attorney for the United States Secretary of Labor. I submit this declaration in support of the Secretary's Motion to Extend Time. I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth below. If called as a witness, I could and would testify competently to the matters set forth in this Declaration.
2. On January 11, 2022, the undersigned contacted opposing counsel to inform them that documents in Defendants' 285 page Exhibit (ECF No. 131-11) to their motion to compel did not include the Bates numbers they were produced with and to request a stipulation to extend the briefing time for Defendants' motions.
3. On January 12, 2022, Defendants responded they would refile the exhibit with Bates numbers but would not stipulate to extend the briefing schedule. Defendants subsequently filed a corrected exhibit with Bates numbers (ECF No. 134) that same day.
4. On January 14, 2022, the undersigned contacted opposing counsel to determine whether Defendants would oppose the Secretary's motion to extend the briefing schedule for Defendants' motions to compel filed on January 10, 2022 (ECF Nos. 131, 132). Defendants responded that “as a general matter” they did not oppose the Secretary's motion to extend the time to respond to Defendants' motions to compel but noted that extending the opposition deadlines would also require extension of the reply deadlines in ECF No. 133. Attached as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of the email chain.
5. This request is made in good faith, and not for the purpose of delay. The Secretary respectfully requests that the Court allow the Secretary to submit his Oppositions to Defendants' motions to compel filed on January 10, 2022 (ECF Nos. 131, 132) on January 31, 2022, and the Defendants to submit their Replies on February 7, 2022.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the forgoing is true and correct.
Executed on January 14, 2022, in Los Angeles, California.
CHARLES SONG
EXHIBIT A
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA
MARTIN J. WALSH, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor
Plaintiff, v.
Unforgettable Coatings, Inc., a Nevada Corporation; et al.
Defendants.
Case No. 2:20-cv-00510-KJD-DJA
[PROPOSED] ORDER
SUSAN G. KUMLI
Acting Regional Solicitor
ANDREW J. SCHULTZ
Counsel for Wage and Hour
JESSICA M. FLORES
CHARLES C. SONG
Senior Trial Attorney
KATHYRN A. PANACCIONE
Trial Attorney
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
350 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 370
Los Angeles, CA 90071-1202
Telephone: 213-894-3950
song.charles.c@dol.gov Attorneys for Plaintiff United States Secretary of Labor
Presently before the Court is the Secretary's Unopposed Motion to Extend Deadline. Having read and considered the motion and good cause being found, it is hereby GRANTED. The briefing schedule will be altered as follows: The Secretary's opposition briefs will be due Monday, January 31, 2022. Defendants' reply briefs will be due Monday, February 7, 2022.
IT IS SO ORDERED.