Randolph v. Trustees of the Cal. State University

BACKGROUND

I Legal Background The statutory deadline to bring a case to trial is five years. (§ 583.310.) Judicial Council emergency rule 10 extended the five-year deadline by six months for cases filed on or before April 6, 2020. (Oswald v. Landmark Builders, Inc. (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 240, 246.) If a case is not brought to trial within the five-year, six-month period, dismissal is mandatory unless a statutory exception applies. (§ 583.360.) One such exception is found in section 583.330, which provides that the parties may extend the statutory deadline either by written stipulation or “[b]y oral agreement made in open court, if entered in the minutes of the court or a transcript is made.” Randolph relies on the oral agreement exception in this appeal. II Factual Background On April 19, 2019, Randolph sued defendants for a myriad of claims relating to her prior employment at California State University, Chico. The five-year, six-month statutory deadline for Randolph to bring the case to trial was October 19, 2024. At the March 27, 2024 case management conference, the trial court set the trial date for February 3, 2025. On November 1, 2024, defendants filed a motion to dismiss…