Case 0:08-md-01916-KAM Document 2825 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/01/2021 Page 1 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. CASE NO. 08-MD-01916-MARRA. IN RE: CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC. ALIEN TORT STATUTE AND SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE LITIGATION This Document Relates to: ATS ACTIONS (08-80465-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-144) 10-80652-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-976) 11-80404-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-677) 11-80405-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-254) 17-80475-CIV-MARRA (Ohio Action) (Does 1-2146) Plaintiffs Motion for Six Month Stay of Discovery, or until the Danger from the Pandemic is Reduced Come now the Plaintiffs, including the next eight bellwether Plaintiffs mutually selected by undersigned counsel and counsel for the Defendant, Chiquita Brands, to move the Court for a Stay of Discovery until travel to and within Colombia is safe. It is currently too dangerous to take the discovery that the Defendants will request. A six month stay is proposed, after which time the Court should review whether travel is safe. The stay would be consistent with Colombian and U. S. policies to control the spread of the virus, and the practices of other courts Counsel conferred with counsel for the Defendants on January 20, 2021, and again on January 31, 2021, who oppose the stay. See Exhibit 1 attached hereto. Te non-Wolf Plaintiffs’ counsel didn't respond but have previously argued in favor of a discovery stay in the context of the pending appeal of the standard of review.Case 0:08-md-01916-KAM Document 2825 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/01/2021 Page 2 of 5 L Responding to interrogatories and attending depositions presents an unreasonable risk to the plaintiffs, attorneys, experts, and court reporters who have to meet in person. To respond to Chiquita's discovery requests in the first round, the plaintiffs first had to make overnight bus trips to the city of Medellin to obtain passports. ‘Then they had to make a four-day trip back and forth to Bogota to apply for U.S. visas. The Plaintiffs would have to spend about six days each riding on buses during the pandemic, which is not reasonable. This is in addition to meeting with myself or my assistants multiple times. Chiquita served two sets of interrogatories on each Plaintiff in the last round. As explained in previous filing, DE 2722, my long time assistant Lina Maria Delgado contracted the coronavirus, and although she subsequently has tested negative, is still too sick to work. I will need to go to Apartado, Colombia personally to meet with the next eight clients, and find a way for my experts to interview them.’ Colombia has recently imposed lockdowns, travel restrictions, and restrictions on businesses across the country due to a surge in covid cases, See Exhibit 2, attached hereto, Colombia brings back lockdowns as coronavirus cases rise, ABC News, January 5, 2021. The USS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommend avoiding any travel to Colombia and puts Colombia in the highest risk category, of "very high." See Exhibit 3 attached hereto. On January 26, 2021, the U.S. State Department imposed a requirement for a negative PCR test for all travelers arriving from Colombia, See Exhibit 4, attached hereto. The United Kingdom recently banned all flights from South America, including Colombia, due to the emergence of the P.1 coronavirus variant in the Amazonas State in Brazil, which borders * Some of the work can presumably be done by video, but Chiquita has always insisted that testimony be taken in a Colombian court supervised by a judge. This will not be possible because Colombia is under a strict lockdown. ? Online at https://co.usembassy.gov/covid-1 information.Case 0:08-md-01916-KAM Document 2825 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/01/2021 Page 3 of 5 Colombia to the south, See Exhibit 5, Travel from South American destinations, Panama, Portugal, and Cape Verde banned to prevent spread of new variant, UK Department of Transport, January 14, 2021. The P.1 variant has had an especially severe impact on the city of Manaus, Brazil. Although the P.1 strain was only recently discovered, it is believed to have circulated widely in Brazil and elsewhere in South America, On January 25, 2021, President Biden issued a Proclamation prohibiting non-citizens from entering the U.S. from the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil to the United States because of the P.1 and other variants, See Exhibit 6 attached hereto. The Proclamation wouldn't prevent me from returning, since it applies to Brazil, not Colombia, and only to non-citizens. However, it points out the heightened risk of travel from this part of the world. Colombia doesn't have the capacity to do genetic sequencing to determine whether the P.1 variant is responsible for the recent surge in cases. 2. Other courts have granted discovery stays because of travel difficul pandemic. s during the Courts have found good cause to grant discovery stays because of the pandemic in easier circumstances than these, not involving international travel. See C.W.v NCL (Bahamas) Ltd, No, 19-cv-24441 (S.D. Fla. March 21, 2020) ("It is painfully obvious that counsel for both sides failed to keep their comparatively unimportant dispute in perspective. Would the world end if the corporate deposition did not occur next week? Obviously not. Is it reasonable to require defense counsel to prepare the 30(b\(6) witness for a deposition while complying with the social distancing standard of ten feet? Absolutely not. [ .. . ] So the deposition will not be taken next week.”); “[G]ood cause exists based on the disruption to business caused by the spread of COVID-19,” and “[t]he situation caused by the virus makes it reasonable to stay discovery for a period of time.” Garbutt v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 8:20-CV-136-T-36J8S, 2020 WLCase 0:08-md-01916-KAM Document 2825 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/01/2021 Page 4 of 5 1476159, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 26, 2020). The instant case presents much more serious risks, and no prejudice to the Defendants would result from a six month stay. Conelusion For the foregoing reasons, the Court should GRANT Plaintiffs’ Motion for a six month stay of discovery. Respectfully submitted, s/ Paul Wolf Paul Wolf, DC Bar #480285 Attorney for Plaintiffs P.O, Box 21840 Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 431-6986 paulwolf@yahoo.com Fax: n/a February 1, 2021 Certificate of Service I hereby certify that on this Ist day of February, 2021, I filed the foregoing document with the Clerk of the Court using the Court's Electronic Case Filing (ECF) system, which will send electronic notices to all persons entitled to receive them, /s/ Paul Wolf Paul WolfCase 0:08-md-01916-KAM Document 2825 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/01/2021 Page 5 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. CASE NO. 08-MD-01916-MARRA. IN RE: CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC. ALIEN TORT STATUTE AND SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE LITIGATION This Document Relates to: ATS ACTIONS (08-80465-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-144) 10-80652-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-976) 11-80404-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-677) 11-80405-CIV-MARRA (D.C. Action) (Does 1-254) 17-80475-CIV-MARRA (Ohio Action) (Does 1-2146) Proposed Order In consideration of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Six Month Stay of Discovery, or until the Danger from the Pandemic is Reduced, and all exhibits thereto, and all responses, oppositions, and replies, and exhibits thereto, itis hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED. Discovery of the next eight bellwether plaintiffs represented by Attorney Wolf is STAYED for six months, until 2021, without prejudice to any party making a renewed motion for an additional stay. Done this day of, +2021 Kenneth A. Marra US. District Judge