Case Name: Dee Vu vs Thomas Nguyen
Case No.: 16CV302134

Plaintiff Dee Vu has filed motions for an order to deem requests for admissions admitted, and for an order compelling Defendant Thomas Vu to respond to request for production of documents.

The Court finds that Defendant Thomas Nguyen’s claims that he did not receive the discovery requests are not credible. Plaintiff’s motions to deem requests for admissions admitted and to compel were timely served. Defendant’s only arguments in opposition were Defendant’s claim, again, not to have received the requests, a claim that the Court finds is not credible, and that he is being bothered by having to respond to appropriately served discovery requests in this action. Defendant is advised that he is obligated to respond to discovery by the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, these requests were served again after the October hearing and were also attached to the moving papers that he obviously received as he filed opposition. The Court finds that Defendant was not substantially justified in refusing to respond to discovery, and as the Court will grant the motions, that Defendant will be ordered to pay monetary sanctions.

The motion to deem requests for admissions admitted is GRANTED. The Court also will make an award of monetary sanctions, but Plaintiff is not entitled to sanctions for preparation of the discovery, for meet and confer, for time not yet spent, or for copying costs. Accordingly, the Court orders Defendant to pay to Plaintiff’s counsel the sum of $1,110 (which appears to be for time spent to prepare both motions to compel, including the motion to compel responses to the request for production of documents).

Plaintiff’s motion to compel responses to the request for production of documents is GRANTED. Defendant shall serve full and complete, code-compliant, without objections, written responses to the Request for Production of Documents within 20 days after notice of entry of a signed order granting the motions. As the declarations for sanctions seems to include duplicate time entries, the Court will order one amount of sanctions as referenced above to cover both motions.

Moving party shall comply with Rules of Court, Rule 3.1312 and submit an order to the Court.