Opinion ID: 3032627
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Amend the Pretrial Order

Text: Following the close of evidence, Galdamez moved to amend the pretrial order to include a retaliation claim. According to Galdamez, evidence emerged at trial that the Postal Service had subjected her to various retaliatory actions after Ron Gates, Galdamez’s second official representative in disciplinary proceedings, told Bogroff that an EEO investigation might result from the attempt to discipline Galdamez. The district court, noting that the disciplinary process started well before Gates made the comment, and thus could not have been instituted in retaliation for it, denied the motion for lack of evidence to support the claim. [1] Galdamez had the burden of showing that an amendment to the pretrial order was necessary to prevent “manifest injustice.” See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e); Byrd v. Guess, 137 F.3d 1126, 1132 (9th Cir. 1998). In evaluating a motion to amend the pretrial order, a district court should consider four factors: (1) the degree of prejudice or surprise to the defendants if the order is modified; (2) the ability of the defendants to cure the prejudice; (3) any impact of modification on the orderly and efficient conduct of the trial; and (4) any willfulness or bad faith by the party seeking modification. Id. We review the district court’s denial of the motion for abuse of discretion. Id. at 1131. [2] Even if the evidence was sufficient to support a retaliation claim, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion. Galdamez had all of the essential evidence she identified in support of the claim well before entry of the pretrial order. However, she did not file her motion until after the close of evidence, and thereby deprived the Postal Service of any opportunity to present additional evi8262 GALDAMEZ v. POTTER dence or examine witnesses on this issue. Had the district court granted the motion, the Postal Service would have been able to respond to the retaliation claim only in closing argument. The Postal Service thus may have been prejudiced by the modification and would not have been able to cure that prejudice effectively. See Byrd, 137 F.3d at 1131-32. [3] We conclude that Galdamez has not shown the requisite manifest injustice.