Krabach v. King County et al, No. 2:2022cv01252 - Document 106 (W.D. Wash. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER denying Plaintiff's 98 MOTION to Certify Interlocutory Appeal. Signed by Judge Barbara J. Rothstein. (SB)
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Krabach v. King County et al Doc. 106 Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 1 of 6 1 The Honorable Barbara J. Rothstein 2 3 4 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 5 6 7 AMBER KRABACH, Plaintiff, 8 Civil Action No. 2:22-cv-1252-BJR v. 9 10 ORDER DENYING MOTION TO CERTIFY INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL KING COUNTY et al., Defendant. 11 12 13 14 15 I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Amber Krabach (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against King County and Julie Wise in her individual capacity and in her capacity as the 16 17 18 Director of King County Elections (“the County Defendants”), and Steve Hobbs in his official capacity as Secretary of State of Washington and Jay Inslee in his official capacity as Governor of 19 the State of Washington (“the State Defendants”) (collectively “Defendants”). Dkt. No. 1. 20 Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated her state and federal constitutional rights by removing 21 signs she caused to be placed near ballot collection boxes in King County during the August 2022 22 election. 23 Currently pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to certify for interlocutory appeal 24 25 certain questions arising from the Court’s denial of her motion to compel discovery and override 26 privilege objections. Dkt. No. 98. Having reviewed the motion, the opposition and reply thereto, 27 the record of the case, and the relevant legal authority, the Court will deny the motion. 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 2 of 6 1 II. 2 3 BACKGROUND This Court denied Plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction in October 2022. 1 Dkt. No. 36. Thereafter, Plaintiff sought leave to file an amended complaint, which this Court granted. 4 Dkt. Nos. 51 and 54. After the State Defendants moved to dismiss the First Amended Complaint 5 6 (“FAC”), this Court sua sponte struck the FAC and ordered Plaintiff to file a Second Amended 7 Complaint (“SAC”) that addresses the pleading deficiencies identified by the Court in the order 8 denying Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction. Dkt. No. 69. Plaintiff filed the SAC in 9 March 2023 and the County Defendants filed counterclaims. Dkt. No. 70. Thereafter, the State 10 Defendants moved to dismiss the SAC and Plaintiff moved to dismiss the County Defendants’ 11 counterclaims. These motions are currently pending before the Court. 12 In the interim, the parties commenced discovery and Plaintiff served the County 13 14 Defendants with written discovery requests. Dkt. No. 79, Ex. 1. The County Defendants objected 15 to the requests, arguing that they sought information that is protected by the attorney-client 16 privilege. Plaintiff moved this Court to overrule the attorney-client privilege objection, claiming 17 that the County Defendants waived the right to assert the attorney-client privilege. This Court 18 19 denied Plaintiff’s motion to compel, and Plaintiff filed the instant motion for interlocutory appeal, which the County Defendants oppose. Dkt. Nos. 97 and 98. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 Plaintiff appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit in October 2022 and the Appellate Court dismissed the appeal as moot in August 2023. Dkt. Nos. 39 and 103. Plaintiff’s motion for a rehearing en banc was denied and the Appellate Court’s mandate was issued in September 2023. Dkt. Nos. 104-105. 2 Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 3 of 6 1 2 3 III. DISCUSSION A. Legal Standard Generally, the United States Courts of Appeal have jurisdiction over appeals from “final 4 decisions of the district courts.” See 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Congress created a limited exception to the 5 6 final-judgment rule in 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), which “provides a mechanism by which litigants can 7 bring an immediate appeal of a non-final order upon the consent of both the district court and the 8 court of appeals.” In re Cement Antitrust (MDL No. 296), 673 F.2d 1020, 1025–26 (9th Cir.1981) 9 (en banc). Known as an interlocutory appeal, these appeals are approved only in “rare 10 11 circumstances” because they are “a departure from the normal rule that only final judgments are appealable,” and therefore requests for interlocutory appeals “must be construed narrowly.” 12 13 14 James v. Price Stern Sloan, Inc., 283 F.3d 1064, 1070, n. 6 (9th Cir. 2002); see also, In re Cement Antitrust, 673 F.2d at 1026 (Section 1292(b) is “to be used only in exceptional situations in which 15 allowing an interlocutory appeal would avoid protracted and expensive litigation”); United States 16 Rubber Co. v. Wright, 359 F.2d 784, 785 (9th Cir. 1966) (Section 1292(b) “was not intended 17 merely to provide review of difficult rulings in hard cases”). The party seeking interlocutory 18 19 appeal “bears the heavy burden of demonstrating that the case is an exceptional one in which immediate appeal is warranted.” White v. Nix, 43 F.3d 374, 376 (8th Cir. 1994). 20 21 To grant a § 1292(b) motion, a district court must first find “that the certification 22 requirements of the statute have been met.” In re Cement Antitrust Litig., 673 F.2d at 1026. 23 “These certification requirements are (1) that there be a controlling question of law, (2) that there 24 be substantial grounds for difference of opinion, and (3) that an immediate appeal may materially 25 advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.” Id. 26 27 3 Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 4 of 6 1 B. 2 An order must involve a controlling question of law to be eligible for certification for an 3 Controlling Question of Law interlocutory appeal. “Examples of controlling questions of law include fundamental issues such 4 as ‘“the determination of who are necessary and proper parties, whether a court to which a case 5 6 has been transferred has jurisdiction, or whether state or federal law should be applied.’” Rieve v. 7 Coventry Health Care, Inc., 870 F. Supp. 2d 856, 879 (C.D. Cal. 2012); see also United States v. 8 Woodbury, 263 F.2d 784, 787 (9th Cir. 1959) (“Examples of such questions are those relating to 9 jurisdiction or a statute of limitations which the district court had decided in a manner which 10 11 keeps the litigation alive but which, if answered differently on appeal, would terminate the case.”). Here, Plaintiff argues that this requirement is satisfied because “the course of [this] 12 13 14 litigation turns drastically on whether or not Plaintiff is permitted to learn details of the legal advice upon which Director Wise undisputedly relied.” Dkt. No. 98 at 4. This Court disagrees. 15 The fundamental issues in this case are whether the State and County Defendants violated 16 Plaintiff’s federal constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and her 17 Washington state constitutional rights, by censoring her protected speech and chilling future 18 19 speech. As this Court stated in denying Plaintiff’s motion to compel, “[w]hether Plaintiff’s signs violate voter intimidation laws (as the County Defendants allege) or whether the County 20 21 Defendants’ actions in removing the signs violate the First Amendment (as Plaintiff alleges) does 22 not turn on the legal advice provided by counsel. Likewise, whether Director Wise is entitled to 23 qualified immunity does not depend on the legal advice she was provided. Thus, Plaintiff has not 24 been denied access to information that is vital to her claims.” Dkt. No. 97 at 6. Therefore, the 25 issue of whether the requested discovery is privileged is a collateral issue to the fundamental 26 issues in this case and is not a “controlling question of law.” See e.g. In re Examination of 27 4 Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 5 of 6 1 Privilege Claims, 2016 WL 11713117, *2 (W.D. Wash. January 25, 2016) (quoting Woodbury, 2 263 F.2d at 787) (“The order determining whether the documents are privileged ‘involves nothing 3 as fundamental as the determination of who are necessary and proper parties, whether a court to 4 which a cause had been transferred has jurisdiction, or whether state law shall be applied’” 5 6 7 therefore the issue of whether the documents “are privileged is collateral to the basic issues of the case and is not ‘a controlling question of law.’”). 8 C. 9 To determine if a “substantial ground for difference of opinion” exists under § 1292(b), 10 11 Substantial Ground for Difference of Opinion courts must examine to what extent controlling law is unclear. Couch v. Telescope, 611 F.3d 629, 633 (9th Cir. 2010). “[T]he question under this prong is not whether [the district court’s] 12 13 14 application of the law was correct; rather, the question is whether a substantial ground for difference of opinion exists.” In re Examination of Privilege Claims, 2016 WL 11713117, *3 15 (W.D. Wash. January 25, 2016). “Courts are more likely to find a substantial ground for 16 difference of opinion exists where ‘the circuits are in dispute on the question and the court of 17 appeals for the circuit has not spoken on the point.” Id. quoting Couch, 611 F.3d at 633. Here, 18 19 Plaintiff argues that this Court “misapplied” settled circuit law and “relied on a different standard from a different circuit.” Dkt. No. 101 at 4. In short, Plaintiff argues that this Court’s application 20 21 of the law was incorrect; such argument is insufficient to satisfy the “substantial ground for 22 difference of opinion” under sec. 1292(b). See e.g., Miller v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National 23 Pension Trust, 2021 WL 2934590, *7 (E.D. Wash. July 12, 2021) (quoting Couch, 611 F.3d at 24 633) (“A party’s disagreement with the Court’s rulings is not sufficient for there to be ‘substantial 25 ground for difference of opinion.’”). 26 27 5 Case 2:22-cv-01252-BJR Document 106 Filed 09/29/23 Page 6 of 6 1 D. 2 “The third requirement for an interlocutory appeal—that the appeal must be likely to 3 Materially Advance the Ultimate Termination of Litigation materially speed the termination of the litigation—is closely linked to the question of whether an 4 issue of law is ‘controlling,’ because the district court should consider the effect of a reversal on 5 6 the management of the case.” L.H. Meeker v. Belridge Water Storage District, 2007 WL 781889, 7 at *6 (E.D. Cal. March 13, 2007) (citing In re Cement, 673 F.2d at 1026). This Court has already 8 concluded that whether the discovery Plaintiff seeks is protected by the attorney-client privilege is 9 a collateral issue to the fundamental issues in this case. Therefore, immediate appeal of this issue 10 will not materially advance the ultimate termination of this litigation given that other issues would 11 have to be determined in order to resolve Plaintiff’s claims. See Piper Jaffray & Co. v. Marketing 12 13 14 15 Group, USA, Inc., 2007 WL 2316996, *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 9, 2007) (stating that “the determination of these issues would not materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation since other issues would have to be determined in order to resolve Plaintiff’s claims”). 16 17 18 19 IV. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, this Court HEREBY DENIES Plaintiff’s motion for certification of interlocutory appeal. Dated this 29th day of September 2023. 20 21 A 22 Barbara Jacobs Rothstein U.S. District Court Judge 23 24 25 26 27 6
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