Jazmine Chantel Gammon v. FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma addresses three motions filed by pro se plaintiff Jazmine Chantel Gammon in an employment discrimination action against FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc. The court denies the motion to use a treating physician’s deposition at trial, denies the motion for a protective order, and denies without prejudice the motion to compel discovery. The parties are directed to meet and confer regarding the remaining discovery disputes.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff failed to establish exceptional circumstances under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 32(a)(4)(E) because her asserted financial limitations and the expert's scheduling preferences did not show that the expert could not appear at trial.
2. The portion of Plaintiff's protective-order motion challenging Defendant's deposition notice was moot because Defendant withdrew the notice, and the motion was otherwise denied because unresolved discovery disputes did not entitle Plaintiff to delay her deposition.
3. The motion to compel was denied without prejudice because, in light of the parties' disagreement about their prior conference and the narrowed requests, the parties needed to personally meet and confer in good faith before seeking court intervention.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff established exceptional circumstances under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 32(a)(4)(E) permitting her to use her expert's deposition testimony at trial instead of live testimony.
2. Whether Plaintiff's motion for a protective order should be granted based on alleged unresolved discovery disputes and Defendant's initially noticed deposition.
3. Whether Plaintiff's motion to compel should be decided before the parties personally met and conferred in good faith regarding the narrowed discovery requests.

Disposition

other