Beyond injunctions, Jeremy Mayfield-NASCAR case won’t be decided until next summer
The Jeremy Mayfield-NASCAR saga in U.S. District Court likely won’t be decided until at least next June, and that doesn’t take into consideration possible delays and additional appeals.
As both sides await decisions from the U.S. District Court in Charlotte and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on whether an injunction that lifted Mayfield’s suspension should remain in effect, the sides have agreed to a preliminary schedule of how the case will unfold. The injunctions are rulings that are in effect until the case is fully investigated and then heard in court.
According to a filing Friday in U.S. District Court, all discovery – the investigations by attorneys that include deposing of witnesses – is supposed to be completed by April 7, 2010. All motions for summary judgment should be made by May 7 with responses due May 28.
Any trial would follow the ruling on summary judgment, which likely would require a hearing sometime next June. Both sides indicated a settlement is unlikely and any mediation to achieve a settlement should follow the summary judgment phase.
A trial in the case would be expected to last five to seven days.
Any decisions on a summary judgment or from the trial can be appealed.
The dates filed Friday are initial deadlines and can be extended by the court.
Mayfield contends that the May 1 drug test findings that prompted his suspension resulted from a combination of prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine.
NASCAR has disputed that claim and stated in its court filing Wednesday that the analysis used both Mayfield’s May 1 and another test July 6 “exclude the possibility that the positive methamphetamine test results were caused by his use of Adderall and Claritin-D.”
Mayfield also contests the procedures NASCAR uses in testing the second, so-called B sample. He claims it should be done at an independent laboratory. NASCAR contends it should be done by Aegis Laboratories, which oversees NASCAR’s drug-testing programs.
NASCAR has countersued Mayfield for not disclosing his use of Adderall and for violating the substance-abuse policy he agreed to follow when he signed the contract with NASCAR for his NASCAR license.
