Christophe Kloussing v. ThoughtFocus, Inc

I. BACKGROUND.

In July 2024, Plaintiff Christophe Kloussing (“Plaintiff”) filed this action in the Orange County Superior Court against his former employer ThoughtFocus, Inc. (“ThoughtFocus”) and three individuals employed by ThoughtFocus who have never been served. (Dkt. 1-2 at 2.) Plaintiff alleges ThoughtFocus violated California Labor Code sections that apply to non-exempt employees and failed to pay him the correct amount of commissions he earned on sales. (Id.) After ordering expedited discovery (Dkt. 21), the District Judge authorized the parties to attend a settlement conference conducted by the Magistrate Judge (Dkt. 22). On December 10, 2024, the Magistrate Judge issued an order scheduling the settlement conference. (Dkt. 24.) As relevant here, that scheduling order (1) set a pre-conference call for counsel only on January 8, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.; (2) scheduled the settlement conference for January 14, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.; and (3) ordered that “parties … are required to personally attend the conference, together with trial counsel ….” (Id. at 1.) The order also stated: “Failure to produce the appropriate person(s) at the conference and/or failure to participate…