Izzo et al v. PeopleConnect Inc, No. 2:2022cv00016 - Document 42 (W.D. Wash. 2024)
Court Description: ORDER granting Defendant's 40 Joint MOTION for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery. The arbitration-related discovery deadline is extended to 4/26/2024. The deadline for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond is extended to 5/31/2024. Signed by Judge Marsha J. Pechman. (SS)
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Izzo et al v. PeopleConnect Inc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Doc. 42 The Honorable Marsha J. Pechman UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE ALYSSA WILSON and JOHN WILSON, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Case No. 2:22-CV-00016-MJP JOINT MOTION AND PROPOSED ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES Plaintiffs, NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: March 13, 2024 v. PEOPLECONNECT, INC., a Delaware Corporation, Defendant. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, Plaintiffs Izzo and Wilson and Defendant PeopleConnect, Inc., by and through their undersigned attorneys, respectfully request the Court to extend the deadline for the Parties to complete arbitration-related discovery to April 26, 2024, and extend the deadline for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond to May 31, 2024. 1. On September 26, 2023, the Court ordered the Parties to complete arbitration- related discovery by December 26, 2023. (Dkt. 33). The Court also set a deadline for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond by January 25, 2024. (Id.) JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 1 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477 Dockets.Justia.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 2. On November 7, 2023, the Court granted the Parties’ joint motion to extend the deadline to complete arbitration-related discovery by February 26, 2024, and for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond by March 27, 2024. (Dkt. 35). 3. On February 22, 2024, the Parties filed a Joint Motion and Proposed Order to Extend Deadlines. (Dkt 38). Prior to the filing of this motion, Defendant’s 30(b)(6) deposition and Plaintiff Izzo’s deposition were taken. Defendant, however, has been unable to take the deposition of Plaintiff Wilson or Plaintiffs’ counsel, as detailed below, despite both depositions having been timely noticed. 4. On February 26, 2024, the Court denied the Parties’ Joint Motion and Proposed Order to Extend Deadlines without prejudice. (Dkt. 39). The Court indicated that the Parties’ motion lacked sufficient detail regarding Plaintiff Wilson’s medical condition and its impact on the scheduling of his deposition, as well as the delay in completing the depositions of Plaintiffs’ counsel. (Id.). 5. Plaintiff Wilson was scheduled to be deposed on Tuesday, February 6 in Columbus, 6. On the afternoon of Friday, February 2, 2024, Plaintiff Wilson’s counsel informed Ohio. Defendant’s counsel that, earlier in the day, Plaintiff Wilson’s doctor had identified a serious health issue that required further consultation and potential treatment. See Declaration of Samuel J. Strauss, ¶5. As a result, Plaintiff Wilson had various medical appointments scheduled the following week, including on February 6, to discuss his diagnosis with his medical team. Id. Should the Court require additional details about Mr. Wilson’s health issue and medical appointments, Plaintiffs’ counsel will provide that for in camera review given the sensitive nature of the information. Id. JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 2 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 7. Although Defendant’s counsel was prepared to extend their trip to Columbus to take Mr. Wilson’s deposition on February 7, 2024, on February 6, 2024, while the parties were in Columbus, Ohio, his counsel informed Defendant’s counsel that he was not able to be deposed at all that week. Strauss Decl., ¶¶ 6-8. 8. On February 28, 2024, the Parties conferred regarding discovery in this case. Defendant’s counsel asked for Mr. Wilson’s availability to sit for a deposition in the month of March and also dates for counsels’ depositions. On March 4, 2024, Plaintiffs’ counsel informed Defendant’s counsel that Plaintiff Wilson and his counsel were not available under the week of April 3-5, 2024, at the earliest. The parties have agreed to take Plaintiff Wilson’s deposition on April 3, 2024. 9. Regarding the production of documents by and depositions of Plaintiffs’ counsel, the Parties agree that those subpoenas should be held in abeyance pending completion of Mr. Wilson’s deposition. By way of background, on January 25, 2024, Defendant served subpoenas for production of documents and for deposition on two of Plaintiffs’ counsel. Defendant served those subpoenas based on the Ninth Circuit’s holding in Knapke v. PeopleConnect, Inc., that PeopleConnect is entitled to discovery on the “contours of” and “limits of” Plaintiffs’ counsel’s authority to act on Plaintiffs’ behalf and that attorney-client privilege may be waived if the client “simultaneously den[ies] an agency relationship regarding the arbitration agreement” while seeking to shield “communications that would bear directly on that issue.” 38 F.4th 824, 834 (9th Cir. 2022). Defendant also served those subpoenas based on this Court’s order in Boshears, where this Court ordered counsel in that case to produce an email chain that plaintiff claimed was privileged based upon the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Knapke. Boshears v. PeopleConnect, No. C21-1222, Dkt. 79 at 3 (Dec. 18, 2023). JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 3 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 10. Plaintiffs have objected to the subpoenas for production of documents based primarily on claims of attorney-client privilege and, during subsequent meetings regarding the subpoenas, have indicated that they also object to the deposition of their attorneys on the same basis. They have informed Defendant they intend to move to quash the subpoenas. 11. Defendant believes it cannot determine whether it will need to depose Plaintiffs’ counsel and, to the extent it does, the specifics of the questions until after Plaintiff Wilson has been deposed. Indeed, it is possible Plaintiff Wilson has sufficient knowledge of his attorneys’ activity on Classmates.com and related issues that third-party discovery from his counsel may prove to be unnecessary. For example, in Boshears v. PeopleConnect, Inc. (No. 2:21-cv-01222), Defendant concluded that Plaintiff Boshears’ testimony was sufficiently comprehensive to obviate the need for any additional discovery from his attorneys. 12. Based on that experience, the Parties agreed as part of their meet and confer efforts to hold the third-party subpoenas in abeyance to allow Defendant to appropriately define the scope of its third-party discovery efforts. This also would avoid having the Parties prematurely present and adjudicate a motion to quash to the Court. 13. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 provides the Court with the discretion to set the schedule for discovery. 14. The Parties thus jointly request that this Court extend the deadlines in its existing scheduling order such that the deadline for the Parties to complete arbitration-related discovery would be extended to April 26, 2024, and the deadline for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond would be extended to May 31, 2024. That would allow the deposition of Plaintiff Wilson to go forward on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, negotiate the scope of the subpoenas directed at Plaintiffs’ counsel, to the extent those negotiations are not successful present a submission JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 4 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 pursuant to Local Rule 37, and take any depositions of Plaintiffs’ counsel during the week of April 22, 2024. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs and Defendant respectfully request the Court to extend the deadline for the Parties to complete arbitration-related discovery to April 26, 2024, and the deadline for Defendant to answer or otherwise respond to May 31, 2024. DATED this 13th day of March, 2024. PEOPLECONNECT, INC. ALYSSA IZZO AND JOHN WILSON /s/ Michael Rosenberger Michael Rosenberger, WSBA #17730 Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell LLP 600 University Street, 2915 Seattle, Washington 98101 Telephone: 206-467-6477 mrosenberger@gordontilden.com /s/ Samuel J. Strauss Samuel J. Strauss Raina C. Borrelli (pro hac vice) TURKE & STRAUSS LLP 613 Williamson St, Ste 201 Madison, WI 53703 Telephone: 608-237-1775 Facsimile: 608-509-4423 raina@turkestrauss.com sam@turkestrauss.com Benjamin T. Halbig (pro hac vice) Jenner & Block LLP 455 Market Street, Suite 2100 San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: 628-267-6800 bhalbig@jenner.com Attorneys for Plaintiffs Debbie L. Berman (pro hac vice) Wade A. Thomson (pro hac vice) Clifford W. Berlow (pro hac vice) Hope H. Tone-O’Keefe (pro hac vice) Jenner & Block LLP 353 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654 Telephone: 312-222-9350 dberman@jenner.com wthomson@jenner.com cberlow@jenner.com htoneokeefe@jenner.com Attorneys for Defendant PeopleConnect, Inc. JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 5 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: March 14, 2024 A Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge JOINT MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND DEADLINES - 6 No. 2:22-cv-00016-MJP GORDON TILDEN THOMAS CORDELL 600 University Street Suite 2915 Seattle, WA 98101 206.467.6477
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