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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

West Palm Beach Division

BRITTANY ROBERSON, REBECCA 

FREEMAN, BIANCA VIÑAS, TIFFANY 

KING, and TRESHA THOMPSON, 

individually and on behalf of others similarly 

situated,

 Plaintiffs, 

v.

HEALTH CAREER INSTITUTE LLC (dba 

HCI COLLEGE LLC and HCI 

ACQUISITION LLC), FLORIAN 

EDUCATION INVESTORS LLC, and 

STEVEN W. HART,

 Defendants.

Civil Action No. 9:22-cv-81883-RAR

District Judge: Rodolfo A. Ruiz, II

Magistrate Judge: Ryon M. McCabe

JOINT MOTION TO CLARIFY AND CORRECT OR AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), Plaintiffs Brittany Roberson, Rebecca 

Freeman, Bianca Viñas, Tiffany King, and Tresha Thompson (“Plaintiffs”) and Defendants Health 

Career Institute LLC (dba HCI College LLC and HCI Acquisition LLC), Florian Education 

Investors LLC, and Steven W. Hart (“Hart”) jointly move this Court to clarify and correct or amend

the deadlines set by an Order of this Court entered on February 2, 2024. Good cause exists to 

clarify and correct or amend the scheduling order.

1. On February 1, 2024, this Court held a Joint Status Conference. During the 

Conference, the Court announced that it planned to deny Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification 

(ECF Nos. 141, 142) without prejudice and with leave to refile within 30 days. The Court explained 

that its intent was to permit Plaintiffs to redefine a subclass, if necessary, and to incorporate new 

Case 9:22-cv-81883-RAR Document 191 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/07/2024 Page 1 of 4
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evidence that had been produced just prior to, and that would be produced following, a hearing 

held by Magistrate Judge McCabe on two discovery motions (ECF Nos. 156, 157). At the close of 

the Conference, Plaintiffs’ counsel asked whether Plaintiffs would have sufficient time to review 

all documents ordered to be produced following the discovery hearing. The Court clarified that the 

30-day deadline would run from the date of production set by Judge McCabe.

2. Later on February 1, Judge McCabe entered an Order denying ECF No. 157, 

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce Order 133 and for Sanctions. ECF No. 185. The following day, this 

Court entered an Amended Scheduling Order, setting the deadline for Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class 

Certification for March 4, 2024. ECF No. 186.

3. On February 5, 2024, Judge McCabe entered an Order granting in part and denying 

in part ECF No. 156, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production of Documents (“MTC”). ECF No. 

189 (“Order). The Order gave Defendants until March 6, 2024, to produce a wide range of 

documents sought by Plaintiffs in their Third Requests for Production to Defendant HCI and their 

Second Requests for Production to Defendant FEI. Id.

4. To benefit from Judge McCabe’s Order, and to realize the goal of this Court’s 

modifications to the scheduling order, Plaintiffs will need time to review the documents produced 

pursuant to the Order before they file their Motion for Class Certification.

5. As a result, the Parties ask the Court to correct or amend the briefing deadline for 

the Motion for Class Certification as follows:

Current Deadline Proposed Deadline

March 4, 2024, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class 

Certification

April 5, 2024, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class 

Certification

20 days later, Defendants’ Response 20 days later, Defendants’ Response

14 days later, Plaintiffs’ Reply 14 days later, Plaintiffs’ Reply

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To the extent that this correction or amendment affects the deadlines for mediation, the Parties ask 

the Court to make all necessary adjustments.

6. The Amended Scheduling Order stated that “[a]ll other deadlines set in the Court’s 

previous Scheduling Orders, [ECF Nos. 111, 128], are hereby TERMINATED pending the 

adjudication of Plaintiffs’ forthcoming Motion for Certification of a Rule 23 Class.” ECF No. 186 

at 2. The Parties ask the Court to clarify whether this means that no fact discovery deadline is 

currently set in this matter, or whether the Parties should proceed with the understanding that the 

current deadline remains in effect.

7. Finally, to obviate the need for future motions, the Parties also ask the Court to 

include in its Order a provision granting the Parties the same page limits that applied to their 

previous briefs: 35 pages for Plaintiffs’ Motion, see ECF No. 138; 30 pages for Defendants’ 

Response, see ECF No. 153; and 15 pages for Plaintiffs’ Reply, see ECF No. 173.

Dated: February 7, 2024

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Jennifer Thelusma

JENNIFER THELUSMA

Florida Bar No. 1019776

jthelusma@ppsl.org

REBECCA EISENBREY (pro hac vice)

reisenbrey@ppsl.org

VICTORIA ROYTENBERG (pro hac vice)

vroytenberg@ppsl.org

Project on Predatory Student Lending

769 Centre Street, Suite 166

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

(617) 322-2843

NICOLE MAYER

Florida Bar No. 012035

Nicole@MayerLawFlorida.com

Mayer Law

171 Dommerich Drive

Case 9:22-cv-81883-RAR Document 191 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/07/2024 Page 3 of 4
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Maitland, Florida 32751

(352) 494-3657

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

/s/ Michael J. Carney   

MICHAEL J. CARNEY   

Florida Bar No. 44326   

MJC-KD@kubickidraper.com   

BARBARA FOX   

Florida Bar No. 155608   

BF-KD@kubickidraper.com   

KUBICKI DRAPER   

110 East Broward Boulevard, Suite 1400   

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301   

(954) 713-2323   

   

Attorneys for Defendants  

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