KRISTEN L. MIX, Magistrate Judge.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's
Questions of jurisdiction and immunity should be resolved at the earliest stages of litigation, so as to conserve the time and resources of the Court and the parties. See Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 308 & 310 (1996) (noting that discovery can be particularly disruptive when a dispositive motion regarding immunity is pending); Moore v. Busby, 92 F. App'x 699, 702 (10th Cir. 2004) (affirming trial court's stay of discovery pending resolution of absolute immunity question); Albright v. Rodriguez, 51 F.3d 1531, 1534 (10th Cir. 1995) ("the Supreme Court has repeatedly `stressed the importance of resolving immunity questions at the earliest possible stage in litigation.'" (citation omitted)). Qualified immunity "give[s] government officials a right, not merely to avoid `standing trial,' but also to avoid the burdens of `such pretrial matters as discovery . . . .'" Behrens, 516 U.S. at 308 (citation omitted); see also Martin v. Cty. of Santa Fe, 626 Fed. App'x. 736, 740 (10th Cir. 2015) ("[Q]ualified immunity questions should be resolved at the earliest possible stage in litigation. Even such pretrial matters as discovery are to be avoided if possible, as inquiries of this kind can be peculiarly disruptive of effective government." (quoting Jiron v. City of Lakewood, 392 F.3d 410, 414 (10th Cir. 2004) (emphasis in original))). The Court is obligated to "exercise its discretion so that officials [properly asserting qualified immunity] are not subjected to unnecessary and burdensome discovery or trial proceedings." Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 597-98 (1998).
When exercising its discretion regarding whether to impose a stay, the Court considers the following factors: (1) the interest of the plaintiff in proceeding expeditiously with discovery and the potential prejudice to the plaintiff of a delay; (2) the burden on the defendant of proceeding with discovery; (3) the convenience to the Court of staying discovery; (4) the interests of nonparties in either staying or proceeding with discovery; and (5) the public interest in either staying or proceeding with discovery. String Cheese Incident, LLC v. Stylus Shows, Inc., No. 1:02-cv-01934-LTB-PAC, 2006 WL 894955, at *2 (D. Colo. Mar. 30, 2006) (citing FDIC v. Renda, No. 85-2216-O, 1987 WL 348635, at *2 (D. Kan. Aug. 6, 1987)).
Analyzing the five String Cheese Incident factors, the Court first addresses the interest of Plaintiff in proceeding expeditiously with discovery and the potential prejudice to Plaintiff of a delay. Plaintiff argues that his "interest in proceeding expeditiously with his case is still high" for the same reasons the Court relied on when finding the first String Cheese Incident factor to weigh in Plaintiff's favor on a prior request to stay the case.
With regard to the second factor, the Court finds that Defendant has demonstrated that proceeding with the discovery process presents an undue burden. The defense of qualified immunity is available to 1) individual governmental officials, but not governmental entities; 2) regarding claims for monetary damages, but not claims for injunctive or declaratory relief; and 3) regarding claims against individual governmental officials in their individual capacities, not their official capacities. Rome v. Romero, 225 F.R.D. 640, 643 (D. Colo. 2004) (citations omitted). Here, Defendant has asserted this defense because he is a government official, Plaintiff only seeks damages, and the claim asserted against Defendant is in his individual capacity. Am. Compl. [#30].
Plaintiff does not directly contend that Defendant would not be unduly burdened if the case proceeds to discovery before adjudication of the Motion to Dismiss [#67]. See generally Response [#75]. Instead, Plaintiff first argues that Defendant's qualified immunity defense does not carry dispositive weight, noting that "the entire doctrine of qualified immunity has increasingly been assailed by scholars, advocates, and judges in recent times." Id. at 4. While the Court acknowledges the recent criticism of qualified immunity jurisprudence in federal courts, see Response [#75] at 4-5, the Court will not pre-judge Defendant's immunity defense here. Moreover, the Court is not convinced that this criticism warrants a deviation from current Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit precedent which favors stays while issues of qualified immunity remain pending. See Martin, 626 Fed. App'x. at 740; A.A. ex rel. Archuletta v. Martinez, No. 12-cv-00732-WYD-KMT, 2012 WL 5974170, at *2 (D. Colo. Oct. 9, 2012) (noting that Iqbal "indicate[s] very clearly that the Supreme Court believes discovery should be stayed in the case as a whole even when only one defendant is asserting qualified immunity.").
Plaintiff next argues that a complete stay is unwarranted and that, "[a]t a minimum, discovery should be permitted as to disputed facts relevant to Defendant McFerrin's qualified immunity defense." Response [#75] at 5. However, as Defendant correctly observes, a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) simply tests the legal sufficiency of a plaintiff's complaint, pursuant to which the Court must accept all factual allegations as true. Reply [#76] at 6 (citing Sutton v. Utah State Sch. for the Deaf & Blind, 173 F.3d 1226, 1236 (10th Cir. 1999)). Furthermore, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [#67] is now fully briefed and Plaintiff has not claimed any need for discovery regarding Defendant's qualified immunity defense in his Response [#69] thereto or elsewhere. For these reasons, and based on the strong Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit precedent regarding assertions of qualified immunity and discovery, the Court finds that the second String Cheese Incident factor weighs heavily in favor of staying discovery.
With regard to the third factor, Plaintiff asserts that "[a] stay is not an efficient use of judicial resources because of the unpredictable impact it will have on a court's management of the case and its docket." Response [#75] at 2 (citation omitted). However, as the Court has previously stated, judicial economy and convenience to the Court are enhanced in this situation if the case remains on the Court's docket where scheduling and discovery issues will not be raised and will not take time from the Court that could otherwise be used to address the pending dispositive motion. Order [#58] at 5. Thus, as the Court previously found, "it is certainly more convenient for the Court to stay discovery until it is clear that the case will proceed." Id. (citing Chavous v. D.C. Fin. Responsibility & Mgmt. Assistance Auth., 201 F.R.D. 1, 5 (D.D.C. 2001) (staying discovery pending decision on a dispositive motion that would fully resolve the case "furthers the ends of economy and efficiency, since if [the motion] is granted, there will be no need for [further proceedings].")). The Court therefore finds that the third String Cheese Incident factor weighs in favor of staying discovery.
With regard to the fourth factor, the Court finds that there are no identified nonparties with significant particularized interests in this case. Accordingly, the fourth String Cheese Incident factor neither weighs in favor nor against staying discovery.
With regard to the fifth and final factor, Plaintiff asserts that "there is a `strong interest held by the public in general regarding the prompt and efficient handling of all litigation.'" Response [#75] at 3 (quoting Lester v. Gene Exp., Inc., No. 09-cv-02648-REB-KLM, 2010 WL 743555, at *2 (D. Colo. Mar. 2, 2010)). Plaintiff further avers that "[t]he public has an especially significant interest in the open airing of constitutional claims and in the proceeding of such claims to reveal deficiencies in the operation of its government." Id. (citation omitted). In addressing a similar argument raised by Plaintiff in his opposition to the prior stay, the Court stated:
Order [#58] at 6. Regarding the instant Motion [#73], the Court finds that the same reasoning equally applies and therefore concludes that the fifth String Cheese Incident factor weighs in favor of staying discovery.
Weighing the relevant factors, the Court concludes that staying discovery pending resolution of the Motion to Dismiss [#67] is appropriate. Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY