Case Number: 19STCV14591 Hearing Date: September 17, 2019 Dept: 5

Superior Court of California
County of Los Angeles
Department 5

edna calvo,

Plaintiff,

v.

Wal-mart stores, inc.,

Defendant.

Case No.: 19STCV14591

Hearing Date: September 17, 2019

[TENTATIVE] order RE:

motions to compel discovery responses

Defendant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (“Defendant”) moves to compel responses from Plaintiff Edna Calvo (“Plaintiff”) to: Form Interrogatories, Set One (“FROG”), Special Interrogatories, Set One (“SROG”), and Requests for Production of Documents, Set One (“RPD”). Defendant also moves to deem admitted matters specified in Requests for Admissions, Set One (“RFA”). After Defendant filed these motions, Plaintiff’s counsel filed a declaration stating that Plaintiff had responded to the discovery at issue. Therefore, the motions are denied as moot.

Defendant requests sanctions against Plaintiff (but not Plaintiff’s counsel). In this case, Defendant served the discovery requests on May 22, 2019, meaning that the responses were due on June 26, 2019. Defendant granted an extension to July 10, 2019, and then to July 30, 2019. Defendant sent a meet-and-confer letter indicating that it would file motions to compel on August 5, 2019. Defendant waited until August 21, 2019 to file the instant motions. Only then did Plaintiff comply with her discovery obligations. Plaintiff’s conduct constitutes an abuse of the discovery process, and it is clear the motions facilitated Plaintiff’s compliance with her discovery obligations. Therefore, sanctions are warranted. The Court orders sanctions against Plaintiff (but not Plaintiff’s counsel) in the amount of $800, based upon four hours of attorney time at a rate of $200 per hour, plus four filing fees of $60 each.

CONCLUSION AND ORDER

Defendant’s motions are denied as moot except with respect to sanctions. Plaintiff is ordered to pay monetary sanctions in the amount of $1,040 to Defendant, by and through counsel, within thirty (30) days of notice of this order. Defendant shall provide notice and file proof of such with the Court.

DATED: September 17, 2019 ___________________________

Stephen I. Goorvitch

Judge of the Superior Court