Plaintiffs in Dish Suit Pointing to Ruling in Bid To Deny Motion To Stay

A federal judge's denial of a motion to stay in a putative class action against an auto parts retailer is being cited to bolster arguments against a motion to stay filed by Dish Network in a related suit. The plaintiffs in Ernst et al. v. Dish and Sterling Infosystems on Tuesday filed a copy of a Dec. 18 ruling by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays of Kansas City, Missouri, in which Kays shot down a motion to stay by O'Reilly Automotive Stores in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit brought by a woman who charges she was unfairly denied employment there after O'Reilly ran a credit check on her. Dish and background check company Sterling face a similar FCRA-related suit for their use of credit reports to do background checks on prospective employees or subcontractors. Dish and Sterling are seeking a delay in the plaintiffs' motion for class certification, saying the Spokeo v. Robins case now before the Supreme Court -- which also involves alleged FCRA violations -- will affect class certification and court jurisdiction issues (see 1512160017). In Kays' ruling -- submitted as part of the Ernst et al. filing -- the judge said O'Reilly "will not be irreparably harmed if the stay is not granted" while the court waits for a decision in Spokeo. "Granted, Defendants face a risk of incurring what may turn out to be unnecessary expenses if the case is not stayed and the Supreme Court issues a favorable decision, but a risk of a monetary harm is not 'irreparable harm,' " Kays said. "Even if it were, the Court's interest in managing its docket and resolving this case in a timely fashion weighs against granting the motion."