AMANDA ARNOLD SANSONE, Magistrate Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Stay of Discovery and for Protective Order (Doc. 51), Plaintiff's Amended Motion for Protective Order (Doc. 60), and Defendants' responses thereto (Docs. 52, 54, 62).
Plaintiff, I.C., is a minor child who attended Defendant Our Children's Academy ("OCA"),
In response to Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, Defendants again filed motions to dismiss (Doc. 43, 47), which the Court granted and dismissed the action without prejudice (Doc. 50). Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint on August 3, 2017, against the School Board and OCA. (Doc. 55). Defendants again filed Motions to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint. (Docs. 56, 58).
On August 1, 2017, after the Court granted Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, but before Plaintiff filed his Second Amended Complaint, Plaintiff filed this Motion for Stay of Discovery and for Protective Order. (Doc. 51). On August 3, 2017, Defendants filed their response in opposition to that motion. (Doc. 52). On August 17, 2017, Plaintiff filed an Amended Motion for a Protective Order, clarifying the relief sought in the initial motion. (Doc. 60). That same day, Defendants filed a response to the Amended Motion for a Protective Order. (Doc. 62).
On August 23, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Settlement as to the claims against Defendant OCA. (Doc. 67). The Court has not been notified of any agreements (related to discovery or otherwise) between Plaintiff and Defendant School Board.
Plaintiff seeks a protective order in response to Defendant OCA's Notice of Taking Deposition of I.C. (Doc. 60). In addition, Plaintiff seeks a general stay of discovery pending resolution of any motions to dismiss. (Doc. 51).
When ruling on motions to stay discovery, Courts in this District have held that "[m]otions to [s]tay discovery may be granted pursuant to Rule 26(c), Fed. R. Civ. P., and the moving party bears the burden of showing good cause and reasonableness." Feldman v. Flood, 176 F.R.D. 651, 652 (M.D. Fla. 1997) (citations omitted).
In support of the request for a stay pending resolution of Defendants' motions to dismiss, Plaintiff cites to Chudasama v. Mazda Corporation, 123 F.3d 1353, 1367 (11th Cir. 1997) for the general proposition that discovery should be stayed until a pending motion to dismiss is resolved. Chudasama, however, states: "[f]acial challenges based on the failure to state a claim for relief, should, however, be resolved before discovery begins." Id. at 1368. Chudasama does not dictate that all discovery should be stayed pending a decision on a motion to dismiss. Koock v. Sugar & Felsenthal, LLP, No. 8:09-cv-609-T-17EAJ, 2009 WL 2579307 *2 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 19, 2009). Instead, Chudasama "stand[s] for the much narrower proposition that courts should not delay ruling on a likely meritorious motion to dismiss while undue discovery costs mount." Schreiber v. Kite King's Lake, LLC, No. 8:09-cv-609-T-17EAJ, 2010 WL 3909717 *1 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 1, 2010); Koock, 2009 WL 2579307 at * 2; In re Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., No. 3:04-cv-194-J-33MCR, 2007 WL 1877887 * 1 (M.D. Fla. June 28, 2007).
Here, even after the settlement-in-principle between Plaintiff and OCA, Defendant School Board's motion to dismiss remains pending for adjudication. (Doc. 58). More specifically, there remains a dispute between Plaintiff and Defendant School Board as to whether Plaintiff has adequately pleaded both federal and state claims against the School Board. Not only is this dispute not an unusual circumstance justifying a stay of discovery, but Plaintiff has not made a specific showing of prejudice or undue burden if the discovery period continues in compliance with the Court's Case Management and Scheduling Order (Doc. 26). Thus, Plaintiff's request for a general stay of discovery is denied.
As to Plaintiff's request for a protective order, this request was made in response to Defendant OCA's Notice of Taking Deposition of I.C. (Doc. 52, as amended by Doc. 60). Because Plaintiff today notified the Court that Plaintiff and OCA have reached a settlement in this case and Plaintiff expects that settlement to be finalized within the next three weeks, this discovery dispute between Plaintiff and OCA appears to be moot.
Accordingly, and for the foregoing reasons, it is
(1) Plaintiff's Motion of Stay of Discovery (Doc. 51) is
(2) Plaintiff's Amended Motion for Protective Order (Doc. 60) is