Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cv-00697/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cv-00697-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 710
Nature of Suit: Fair Labor Standards Act
Cause of Action: 29:201 Fair Labor Standards Act

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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE

STAN S. MALLISON (Bar No. 184191) 

 StanM@TheMMLawFirm.com 

HECTOR R. MARTINEZ (Bar No. 206336) 

 HectorM@TheMMLawFirm.com 

MARCO A. PALAU (Bar No. 242340) 

 MPalau@TheMMLawFirm.com 

JOSEPH D. SUTTON (Bar No. 269951) 

 JSutton@TheMMLawFirm.com 

MALLISON & MARTINEZ 

1939 Harrison Street, Suite 730 

Oakland, California 94612-3547 

Telephone: (510) 832-9999 

Facsimile: (510) 832-1101 

Attorneys for Plaintiff MIGUEL ROJAS-CIFUENTES and 

Real Party in Interest the STATE OF CALIFORNIA, pursuant 

to the California Labor Code Private 

Attorney General Act 

Angel Gomez (State Bar No. 74476) 

Kevin D. Sullivan (State Bar No. 270343) 

EPSTEIN BECKER & GREEN, P.C. 

1925 Century Park East, Suite 500 

Los Angeles, California 90067-2506 

Telephone: 310.556.8861 

Facsimile: 310.553.2165 

agomez@ebglaw.com 

ksullivan@ebglaw.com 

Attorneys for Defendants 

ACX PACIFIC NORTHWEST, INC., PACIFIC LEASING, LLC, JOHN M. GOMBOS, and 

JOHN E. GOMBOS 

(Additional Counsel for Defendants Appear on Page 2) 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MIGUEL ROJAS-CIFUENTES on behalf of himself, 

on behalf of all others similarly situated and in the 

interest of the general public, 

 Plaintiffs, 

 vs 

ACX PACIFIC NORTHWEST INC, PACIFIC 

LEASING, LLC, JOHN M. GOMBOS, JOHN E. 

GOMBOS and Does 1-20 

 

 Defendants. 

Case No. 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD

 

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO RESET CLASS CERTIFICATION 

DEADLINE AND SET BRIEFING 

SCHEDULE AND HEARING 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 1 of 6
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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE 

Matthew A. Goodin (State Bar No. 169674) 

EPSTEIN BECKER & GREEN, P.C. 

655 Montgomery Street, Suite 1150 

San Francisco, California 94111 

Telephone: 415.398.3500 

Facsimile: 415.398.0955 

mgoodin@ebglaw.com 

Attorneys for Defendants 

ACX PACIFIC NORTHWEST, INC., PACIFIC LEASING, LLC, JOHN M. GOMBOS, and 

JOHN E. GOMBOS 

 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 2 of 6
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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE 

The Parties to the above-entitled action, through their respective counsel of record, submit 

this Stipulation and Proposed Order to (a) re-set Plaintiff’s deadline to file his Motion for Class 

Certification and (b) set a briefing schedule and hearing date on Motion for Class Certification. 

The deadline to move for class certification is presently June 14, 2016. Because FRCP 30(b)(6) 

depositions have commenced but have not been completed, and there is pending class certification 

discovery and discovery-related motions that need to be resolved prior to the filing of Plaintiff’s 

Class Certification Motion, the Parties agree to request from the court that the deadline for Plaintiff 

to file his Motion for Class Certification be re-set to November 14, 2016. This is the second 

request by the Parties to continue the class certification deadline. There is good cause for 

modifying the existing deadline, and the need to do so is no fault of either party. 

The Parties have diligently pursued discovery in this matter. Plaintiff has served 

interrogatories and document requests. Plaintiff has filed a Motion to Compel Further Discovery 

Responses and for Production of Documents. (Dkt. No. 23.) Plaintiff contends that this motion 

pertains to discovery that Plaintiff is central to his moving for class certification. The Parties 

disagree regarding whether the documents sought are discoverable based on the causes of action 

that are presently set forth in Plaintiff’s operative First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff also seeks to 

further amend the First Amended Complaint to add new claims and theories of liability. 

Accordingly, the Parties have agreed that Plaintiff will take off calendar his pending Motion to 

Compel Further Discovery Responses and for Production of Documents1 while he seeks leave from 

the Court to file a second amended complaint. Based upon the Court’s ruling on Plaintiff’s 

anticipated motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, the Parties will again meet and 

confer regarding the requests at issue in Plaintiff’s pending Motion to Compel Further Discovery 

Responses and for Production of Documents before Plaintiff refiles his motion. 

Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to Compel Further Responses to Interrogatories, seeking 

the contact information for putative class members. (Dkt. No. 24.) Plaintiff contends that this 

 

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Should the Court reject the continuance of the class certification deadline, Plaintiff will re-notice 

his Motion to Compel Further Discovery Responses and for Production of Documents. 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 3 of 6
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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE 

motion pertains to discovery that Plaintiff is central to his moving for class certification. The 

Parties have agreed that (a) Plaintiff will withdraw his pending Motion to Compel Further 

Responses to Interrogatories,2 and (b) Defendant will provide the contact information for putative 

class members subject to (i) an appropriate protective order and (ii) an opt-out notice pursuant to 

the procedure set forth in Belaire-West Landscape, Inc. v. Superior Court, 149 Cal. App. 4th 554, 

561 (2007), that will be disseminated to the putative class. See, e.g., Aldapa v. Fowlery Packing 

Co., Inc., 310 F.R.D. 583, 588 (E.D. Cal. 2015) (“Federal courts have adopted the Belaire opt out 

procedure in employment class actions.”). However, the Parties must still meet and confer 

regarding the language of a protective order and Belaire notice, in addition to obtaining approval 

from the Court regarding both issues. Thereafter, notice will be sent to the putative class members 

and they will have 30 to 45 days to opt out from having their contact information provided to 

Plaintiff’s counsel. At that point, subject to the protective order, Plaintiff’s counsel will be 

provided the contact information for putative class members who did not opt out. The amount of 

time this process will take further warrants continuing the class certification deadline. 

Plaintiff has also completed two rounds of FRCP 30(b)(6) witness depositions and is 

meeting and conferring with Defendants about dates for further 30(b)(6) and fact witness 

depositions. However, not all anticipated depositions have been completed. The parties have 

agreed to notice the continued deposition of Defendants’ 30(b)(6) witnesses and other additional 

witnesses for June and/or July 2016, or later if necessary. Defendants’ counsel is presently 

completing discovery in another matter that is expected to go to trial on July 27, 2016, and thus the 

complications in scheduling the completion of Defendants’ witnesses. Plaintiff intends to examine 

Defendants’ 30(b)(6) witnesses on Rule 23 matters, and anticipates that testimony from them and 

other additional witnesses/supervisors on the relevant employment practices and policies will be 

central to class certification. 

Based on the foregoing, the Parties have agreed to request that the Court continue the 

 

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 Should the Court reject the continuance of the class certification deadline, Plaintiff will re-notice 

his Motion to Compel Further Responses to Interrogatories. 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 4 of 6
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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE 

deadline for Plaintiff to file a Motion for Class Certification to November 14, 2016. Moreover, 

given the significance of this motion and anticipated need to conduct further discovery concerning 

certification during the briefing process, the Parties have agreed to a briefing and hearing schedule 

as follows: 

 Plaintiff shall file his Motion for Class Certification by no later than November 14, 

2016; 

 Defendants shall file their Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification by 

no later than December 19, 2016; 

 Plaintiff shall file his Reply to Defendants’ Opposition to Motion for Class 

Certification by no later than January 9, 2017; and 

 The hearing on Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification shall be set for February 7, 

2017 at 1:30 p.m., or whichever date and time are convenient for the Court. 

Respectfully submitted, 

DATED: May 24, 2016 MALLISON & MARTINEZ 

 

 

 By: /s/ Marco A. Palau Marco A. Palau 

 Attorneys for PLAINTIFFS 

DATED: May 24, 2016 EPSTEIN BECKER & GREEN, P.C. 

 By: 

 ANGEL GOMEZ 

 Attorney for DEFENDANTS 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 5 of 6
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STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO RE-SET CLASS CERTIFICATION SCHEDULE

ORDER 

For good cause appearing, the deadline for Plaintiff to file a motion for class certification 

under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 23, and a motion to certify a collective action under the 

Fair Labor Standards Act, is hereby continued to November 14, 2016; 

Defendants shall file their Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification by no 

later than December 19, 2016. 

 Plaintiff shall file his Reply to Defendants’ Opposition to Motion for Class Certification by 

no later than January 9, 2017. 

 The hearing on Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification shall be set for February 7, 2017 at 

1:30 p.m. 

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: 5/24/2016 /s/ John A. Mendez_______ 

U. S. District Court Judge 

Case 2:14-cv-00697-JAM-CKD Document 26 Filed 05/25/16 Page 6 of 6