The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 BJ FOSTER, et al., Case No.: 24-cv-1917-LL-SBC
12 Plaintiffs,
ORDER GRANTING IN PART
13 v. THIRD JOINT MOTION TO
EXTEND DATES OF FACTUAL
14 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
AND EXPERT DISCOVERY AND
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, et
15 ALL RELATED DATES
al.,
[DKT. NO. 44]
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Defendants.
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Presently before the Court is a Third Joint Motion to Extend Dates of Factual and
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Expert Discovery and All Related Dates, in which the parties seek to extend all remaining
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pretrial dates and deadlines by six months. (Dkt. No. 44.) This matter came on for hearing
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on February 24, 2026. (Dkt. No. 50.) As discussed on the record, while the Court finds
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sufficient cause to extend the scheduling order dates, the parties have failed to demonstrate
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good cause for a six-month continuance of all current dates and deadlines. Accordingly,
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the parties’ joint motion is GRANTED IN PART as set forth further below.
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1 I. BACKGROUND
2 The Court issued the original scheduling order in this action on December 23, 2024.
3 (Dkt. No. 13.) The schedule required all fact and expert discovery to be completed by
4 September 19, 2025,1 and included a Pretrial Conference date of February 19, 2026. (Id.)
5 On July 10, 2025, the parties filed a joint motion to continue all scheduling order
6 dates by six months. (Dkt. No. 32.) On July 16, 2025, the Court issued an order granting
7 the joint motion in part. (Dkt. No. 34.) The Court explained, “After considering the parties’
8 motion and conferring with the chambers of the Honorable Linda Lopez, the Court finds
9 that the parties have not provided sufficient cause for a six-month continuance of dates;
10 rather, good cause exists for only a ninety-day continuance.” (Id.) The amended scheduling
11 order included a fact and expert discovery deadline of December 18, 2025, and a Pretrial
12 Conference date of May 21, 2026. (Id.)
13 On October 10, 2025, the parties filed a second joint motion to continue all
14 scheduling order dates, this time by fifteen weeks. (Dkt. No. 38.) The Court granted the
15 joint motion and issued a second amended scheduling order on October 15, 2025. (Dkt.
16 No. 42.) The revised schedule moved the fact and expert discovery deadline to April 2,
17 2026, and the Pretrial Conference to September 3, 2026. (Id.)
18 II. LEGAL STANDARDS
19 Parties seeking to modify the scheduling order under Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) must
20 demonstrate good cause. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for
21 good cause and with the judge’s consent.”); see also Dkt. No. 13 at 6 (“The dates and times
22 set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown.”); Wietfelt v. Comdata,
23 Case No.: 21-CV-1684-CAB(WVG), 2022 WL 1493256, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 7, 2022)
24 (applying good cause standard to joint motion to extend fact discovery deadline). The good
25 cause standard under Rule 16(b) “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the
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1 The Court provided a unitary fact and expert discovery cutoff in accordance with the
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1 amendment.” Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992).
2 “[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon the moving part[ies’] reasons for seeking modification.”
3 Id.
4 III. DISCUSSION
5 The parties have faced a number of challenges that have hampered their ability to
6 move the case forward, as described in further detail in the parties’ three joint motions to
7 continue scheduling order dates. (See Dkt. Nos. 32, 38, 44.) Presently, the parties seek a
8 six-month extension of all remaining deadlines. (Dkt. No. 44.) One basis for the request is
9 that Plaintiffs’ counsel Suzy Moore’s four supervising attorneys “require additional time
10 to become familiar with the facts and circumstances surrounding the case,” and because
11 they began a 6-8 week trial in state court on January 15, 2026, Moore “has not been able
12 to confirm with her new firm the trial calendaring schedule in order to reset for dates
13 certain.” (Id. at 5.) Additionally, the California State University Defendants expect a
14 “second-level review of . . . approximately 3,600” documents to take several more weeks.
15 (Id. at 6.) The first proffered reason for the requested six-month continuance does not
16 demonstrate diligence, and the second proffered reason does not provide a sufficient basis
17 for a continuance of six months.
18 Based on the Court’s familiarity with this matter, including an in-depth discussion
19 of the status of discovery during the Status Conference held on January 20, 2026, (see Dkt.
20 No. 43), as well as during the hearing held on February 24, 2026, (Dkt. No. 50), the Court
21 finds a four-month extension of the fact discovery deadline from today’s date, rather than
22 from the current discovery deadline, will provide a sufficient amount of time for the parties
23 to complete fact discovery in this matter. Additionally, to ensure the orderly and efficient
24 completion of discovery in this case, the Court will bifurcate the fact and expert discovery
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26 IV. THIRD AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER
27 In accordance with the above, the Court hereby issues the following Third Amended
28 Scheduling Order:
Deadline/Date
Status Conference Zoom) S~«*SRIDORB BONE
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g ||| Mandatory Settlement Conference | 5/27/2026 11/10/2026
ee ee
10 Memoranda of Contentions of Fact | 8/6/2026 1/21/2027
12 ||| Meeting of counsel pursuant to 8/6/2026 1/21/2027
Local Rule 16.1(£)(4) (see
13 requirements set forth in original
14 ||| scheduling order)
15 ||| Proposed pretrial order due from 8/13/2026 1/28/2027
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All other guidelines, deadlines, and requirements remain as previously set. (See DKt.
50 Nos. 13, 34, 42.) Absent significant diligence, efficiency, and progress with discovery, no
further extensions will be granted.
3 IT IS SO ORDERED.
33 Dated: February 24, 2026
24 Hy □□ □□□
25 Hon. SteveB.Chu
United States Magistrate Judge
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? Counsel shall participate in the conference by using the same Zoom meeting information
used for the January 20, 2026 status conference in this matter.