2016-00189355-CU-MM

Natalie Owen vs. Sutter Health

Nature of Proceeding: Motion for Terminating Sanctions

Filed By: Hale, Adam

Defendant Sutter Health and Twin Cities Surgical Hospital LLC’s Motion for Terminating Sanctions is unopposed and is granted.

Plaintiff alleges a claim for medical negligence arising out of a redo laparoscopic procedure performed on January 23, 2015. Plaintiff’s counsel withdrew from representing her in October of 2017 and moving party has been unsuccessful in its attempts to communicate with the self-represented plaintiff. The motion to withdraw was granted because Plaintiff’s counsel had no current address for his client and had lost communication with her.

Defendant served Supplemental Interrogatories, an Amended Notice of Deposition, and Requests for Production on plaintiff on December 29, 2017. Plaintiff did not appear at her January 23, 2018 deposition, nor did she comply with the other discovery. Plaintiff failed to obey a court order to provide discovery responses and attend her deposition on April 7, 2018. (See Minute Order March 7, 2018) Now it is clear that plaintiff has abandoned her claim by not keeping in contact with her prior attorney nor responding to defendants’ discovery efforts.
The court noted in the prior order that failure to obey that court order may result in future sanctions including but not limited to a terminating sanction.

On April 6, 2018, plaintiff again failed to appear for her deposition without any explanation and a Certificate of Nonappearance was issued. (Hale Decl. 15-16; see Exhibit “H.”) Plaintiff is now in violation of the Court’s order since she has failed to provide responses to the discovery and has failed to appear for her deposition on or before April 7, 2018. (Hale Decl. ¶16.) Despite continued meet and confer efforts, considerable opportunities given to plaintiff, and a court order, plaintiff continues to be

non-compliant and has unreasonably avoided her discovery obligations. (Hale Decl. ¶ 17.)

The Court finds that plaintiff has wilfully failed to obey her discovery obligations and the court order of March 7, 2018. Moreover, as a court order did not provide incentive for plaintiff to comply, the Court now orders the requested terminating sanction.

The Court will sign the proposed order.