Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_05-cv-04004/USCOURTS-cand-4_05-cv-04004-11/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 446
Nature of Suit: Americans with Disabilities Act - Other
Cause of Action: 42:12101 Americans w/ Disabilities Act (ADA)

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LAWRENCE CELANO, RICHARD

THESING, and WILLIAM HEFFERON on

behalf of themselves and all others similarly

situated,

Plaintiffs, No. C 05-4004 PJH

v. ORDER RE DEFENDANT’S

MOTION TO STAY HEARING

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC., a

Delaware Corporation,

Defendant.

_______________________________/

Before the court is defendant Marriott International’s motion to stay the pending

hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. Marriott seeks to stay the class

certification hearing on grounds that the court should defer a decision on class certification

in order to first resolve Marriott’s motion for summary judgment, which Marriott has noticed

for hearing on January 17, 2006. 

The case management goals and deadlines thus far agreed upon by the parties and

the court have expressly contemplated that discovery be limited to class discovery before

merits discovery. As such, the court will not require plaintiffs to oppose a summary

judgment motion on the merits of their claims until they have first had the opportunity to

conduct merits discovery, particularly since there appear to be disputed facts on what

defendant says is purely a question of law – namely, surrounding the issue of defendant’s

subsequent purchase of single rider cars and implementation of a reasonable

accommodation policy. 

Accordingly, Marriott’s motion to stay is DENIED. The hearing on plaintiffs’ motion

Case 4:05-cv-04004-PJH Document 132 Filed 12/12/06 Page 1 of 2
United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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for class certification is placed back on calendar. Due to the court’s heavy calendar,

however, the class certification motion will now be heard on February 21, 2007. Defendant

is further ordered to withdraw its motion for summary judgment, until a deadline is set by

the court for the filing of dispositive motions, after the class certification issue is decided. 

Defendant shall file its notice of withdrawal within one week of the date of this order.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 12, 2006 ______________________________

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON

United States District Judge

Case 4:05-cv-04004-PJH Document 132 Filed 12/12/06 Page 2 of 2