Case Number: BC721998 Hearing Date: November 04, 2019 Dept: 5

Superior Court of California
County of Los Angeles
Department 5

robert lee bradley, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

antonio silva, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: BC721998

Hearing Date: November 4, 2019

[TENTATIVE] order RE:

motions to compel discovery responses

Defendant Honorio Orozco Trucking, Inc. (“Defendant”) filed a motion to compel responses from Plaintiffs Robert Lee Bradley and Belinda Bradley (“Plaintiffs”) to: (1) Request for Production of Documents, Set Three (“RPD”); (2) Form Interrogatories, Set Four (“FROG”); (3) Special Interrogatories, Set Two (“SROG”); and (4) Requests for Admissions, Set Three (“RFAs”). Defendant also moves to compel Plaintiffs to appear for depositions. The motions are granted.

Defendant served the discovery at issue on Plaintiffs by mail on August 8, 2019. Defendant granted extensions of time to respond to September 20, 2019. As of the filing date of these motions, Defendant has not received responses from Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs filed no opposition to these motions, and there is nothing in the record to suggest that Plaintiffs have complied with their discovery obligations. Therefore, the motions to compel responses to the RPD, FROG, and SROG are granted per Code of Civil Procedure sections 2030.290 and 2031.300. Plaintiffs are ordered to serve responses to Defendant’s RPD, FROG, and SROG, without objections, within thirty (30) days of service of this order.

Defendant also moves to deem the RFAs admitted. Where a party fails to respond to requests for admissions, the propounding party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted, as well as for a monetary sanction. (Code of Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (b).) The Court “shall” grant a motion to deem admitted the matters specified in the requests for admissions, “unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.” (Code of Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).) As Plaintiffs have not responded to Defendant’s RFAs, the motions to deem admitted are granted.

Finally, Defendant and co-Defendant Antonio Silva (“Silva”) move to compel Plaintiffs’ deposition. Plaintiffs oppose the motion and state that Plaintiffs have agreed to appear for deposition on October 31, 2019. It is unclear whether these depositions occurred on that date, as neither party filed an update after October 31, 2019. Therefore, the motion is granted, to the extent these depositions have not been conducted. Even if so, the motion is not moot as to sanctions.

The Court concludes that sanctions are warranted in this case in connection with all motions. The failure to respond to discovery requests is an abuse of the discovery process. Moreover, Plaintiffs abused the discovery process with respect to their depositions. Plaintiffs notified Defendant that they would not appear for deposition the day prior to the scheduled deposition, on the basis that their counsel was unavailable as he was engaged in trial. Plaintiffs’ counsel should have provided more notice of a potential conflict. The Court awards sanctions against Plaintiffs and their counsel of record, Raymond Ghermezian, in the amount of $2,200.40, which represents seven hours of attorney time to prepare the motions and attend the hearing at $200 per hour, plus nine filing fees of $60 each and the $260.40 cancellation fee for the court reporter.

CONCLUSION AND ORDER

Defendant’s motions to compel responses to the RPD, FROG, and SROG are granted per Code of Civil Procedure sections 2030.290 and 2031.300. Plaintiffs are ordered to serve verified responses, without objections, within thirty (30) days of notice of this order.

Plaintiffs are deemed to have admitted the truth of all matters specified in the RFAs as of this date.

Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel, Raymond Ghermezian, jointly and severally, are ordered to pay monetary sanctions in the amount of $2,200.40 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: November 4, 2019 ___________________________

Stephen I. Goorvitch

Judge of the Superior Court