Judge: Gregory Keosian, Case: 20STCV42444, Date: 2023-05-10 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 20STCV42444    Hearing Date: March 28, 2024    Dept: 61

Defendants Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Memorial Health Services, and Desiree Thomas ‘Motion to Compel Deposition of Plaintiff Gergis Ghobrial is GRANTED. Sanctions are awarded against Plaintiff in the amount of $2,310.

Defendants to give notice.

I.       MOTION TO COMPEL DEPOSITION

A party may make a motion compelling a witness’s deposition “after service of a deposition notice” if that witness “fails to appear for examination, or to proceed with it.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 2025.450, subd. (a).) The motion must include a meet-and-confer declaration and show good cause for the discovery sought. (Code Civ. Proc. § 2025.450, subd. (b)(1), (2).)

Defendants Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Memorial Health Services, and Desiree Thomas (Defendants) move to compel the deposition of Plaintiff  Gergis Ghobrial (Plaintiff) and for terminating and other sanctions, based on Plaintiff’s refusal to appear for a second session of deposition noticed on November 13, 2023, based on Plaintiff’s desire to impose a number of conditions upon the deposition, already discussed in this court’s order of February 22, 2024, denying Plaintiff’s motion for a protective order.

Plaintiff repeats in his tardy opposition the arguments that this court rejected in denying his motion for a protective order. Although Plaintiff in opposition contends that after the denial of this motion, he “reached out . . . in an attempt to schedule the remainder of the deposition” (Ghobrial Decl. ¶ 5), the email that Plaintiff cites contains no offer of dates, only listing, in a concluding paragraph to an email about other discovery matters, “[s]etting a date for my deposition” among other matters that Defendants’ prior emails had failed to discuss. (Ghobrial Decl. Exh. 2.) Plaintiff made no affirmative attempt to moot the present motion, after this court’s denial of his motion for a protective order.

The motion to compel deposition is therefore GRANTED. Defendants’ request for terminating, issue, and evidentiary sanctions is DENIED, as prior monetary sanctions and court orders have proven effective at securing Plaintiff’s compliance with the matters ordered, such as Plaintiff’s acknowledged appearance for Defendant’s IME. (See Stein Decl. ¶ 5.)

II.                SANCTIONS

If a motion to compel deposition is granted, “the court shall impose a monetary sanction . . .  in favor of the party who noticed the deposition and against the deponent or the party with whom the deponent is affiliated, unless the court finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 2025.450, subd. (g)(1).)

Defendants seek $5,686.00 in sanctions, representing 12.5 hours of attorney work at $450 per hour, plus a $60 filing fee. (Mino Decl. ¶ 18.)

Sanctions are awarded against Plaintiff in the amount of $2,310.