MOTION FOR EXCEPTION TO REQUIREMENT THAT CARRIER BE IN ATTENDANCE AT SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE

PEGGY A. LEEN, District Judge.

Defendant LAS VEGAS VALLEY WATER DISTRICT hereby requests that a representative of the Water District's insurance carrier be excused from personally appearing at the ENE Conference.

I. Introduction

Defendant Las Vegas Valley Water District1 hereby requests that this Court excuse its insurance carrier from attending the ENE, which is scheduled for October 23, 2014. Per the Order setting the ENE, "if any party is subject to coverage by an insurance carrier, then a representative of the insurance carrier, with authority to settle this matter up to the full amount of the claim, must also be present in court . . ." (Doc. #12). Defendant will be attending the conference through the Water District's Director of Human Resources (Patricia Maxwell) and its counsel, both inside and outside. Its insurance carrier representative, David Barrocas, is located in Chicago, and would like to appear by phone, if necessary. Mr. Barrocas will vest counsel and the Human Resources Director with authority to resolve the matter, within their discretion, so that Defendant will be in a position to productively discuss resolution of the matter at the conference. Defendant is confident that its insurance carrier representative's absence should not impact the ability to resolve the matter, should resolution be appropriate.

II. Facts in Support of Requested Excuse

Plaintiff is a former security guard with LVVWD, who has instituted a series of actions against the District and a number of its employees, all arising from events occurring since late 2008. Through four federal actions, seven EEOC Claims, one mail fraud complaint, and one complaint seeking criminal prosecution of co-workers, Plaintiff asserts numerous and repetitive claims which distill down to allegations of discrimination and retaliation. Each of his cases, save the present case, has been dismissed. Two of the dismissals have been affirmed by the Ninth Circuit and the third is in the briefing stages. A Motion to Dismiss is pending in this matter.

This is the fourth ENE that has been scheduled between Mr. Jones and the Water District. At each of the previous ENE sessions, the Water District has attended, but no settlement could be reached. At each of the sessions, the Water District had authority to resolve the matter—it has never attended a session in bad faith or without authority. While it has an insurance policy that may provide coverage for the claims alleged, it has always requested and received an exemption from the personal attendance requirement for the carrier. Through this application, the Water District again seeks to exempt its insurance carrier representative, who is located in Chicago, from personally attending the conference. Further, as in previous sessions, it will attend this session in good faith with authority to resolve the matter.

For the foregoing reasons, Defendant requests that Mr. Barrocas be exempted from the personal attendance requirement.

IT IS SO ORDERED.