1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SHARIDAN STILES and STILES 4 U, No. 2:14-cv-02234-MCE-DMC

INC.,

12 Plaintiffs, 13 ORDER v. 14 WALMART, INC. and AMERICAN 15 INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES, INC., 16 Defendants. 17 18 On June 28, 2019, Plaintiffs Sharidan Stiles and Stiles 4 U, Inc. (collectively, 19 “Plaintiffs”) filed a Motion for Leave to Add Defendants, ECF No. 232, which the Court 20 construes as a motion for leave to amend their fourth amended complaint. While 21 Plaintiffs’ Motion relies upon the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), 22 once a district court has filed a pretrial scheduling order (“PTSO”) pursuant to Federal 23 Rule of Civil Procedure 16,1 that Rule’s standards control. Johnson v. Mammoth 24 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 607-08 (9th Cir. 1992). 25 “Unlike Rule 15(a)’s liberal amendment policy which focuses on the bad faith of 26 the party seeking to interpose an amendment and the prejudice to the opposing party,

27 1 Unless otherwise stated, all references to “Rule” or “Rules” refer to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 28 1 Rule 16(b)’s ‘good cause’ standard primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking 2 the amendment.” Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609. Here, a PTSO was issued in this matter on 3 May 20, 2016. ECF No. 54. Consequently, in analyzing the propriety of the proposed 4 amendment, as the language of the PTSO itself suggests, the Court must look to 5 whether the requisite good cause has been established. Plaintiffs fail to address Rule 6 16(b)’s good cause requirement or how they were diligent in seeking leave to amend. 7 Therefore, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Add Defendants, ECF No. 232, is DENIED 8 without prejudice and Defendants’ request to file a sur-reply, ECF No. 262, is DENIED 9 as moot.2 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 12 DATED: November 19, 2019 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2 Because oral argument will not be of material assistance, the Court ordered this matter 28 submitted on the briefs pursuant to Local Rule 230(g).