Judge: John J. Kralik, Case: 23BBCV00611, Date: 2023-10-13 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 23BBCV00611 Hearing Date: October 13, 2023 Dept: NCB
North
Central District
|
jibralta
merrill,
Plaintiff, v. ralphs grocery
company dba ralphs,
et al., Defendants. |
Case
No.: 23BBCV00611 Hearing Date: October 13, 2023 [TENTATIVE]
order RE: motions to compel discovery responses; requests for sanctions |
On August 18,
2023, Defendant Ralphs Grocery Company dba Ralphs (“Defendant”) filed 3 motions
to compel initial responses from Plaintiff Jibralta Merrill (“Plaintiff”) for:
(1) Form Interrogatories (“FROG”), set one; (2) Special Interrogatories
(“SROG”), set one; and (3) Request for Production of Documents (“RPD”), set
one.
On May 4, 2023, Defendant
served on Plaintiff the discovery requests.
On July 25, 2023, defense counsel contacted Plaintiff’s counsel regarding
the discovery and requested that responses by provided by August 1, 2023. Plaintiff’s counsel responded that Plaintiff
would respond “soon” but without an actual date of service for the discovery
responses. Defense counsel then
requested responses by August 7, 2023. As
of the filing of the motions, Defendant states that it has not received
responses from Plaintiff.
On October 5,
2023, Defendant filed replies stating that it has not received any opposition
papers from Plaintiff.
Defendant’s unopposed
motions to compel responses to the FROG, SROG, and RPD are granted pursuant to
CCP §§ 2030.290 and 2031.300. Plaintiff
is ordered to provide verified responses to Defendant’s
discovery requests, without
objections, within 20 days of notice of this order.
Defendant
requests sanctions against Plaintiff and her attorney in the amount of $1,310
for each motion (= 2.5 hours spent on the motion + 2.5 anticipated hours on the
reply at $250/hour, plus $60 in filing fees).
The Court notes that the 3 motions are essentially identical such that
awarding $1,310 on each motion would be duplicative. As such, the requests for sanctions are
granted but in the total amount of $1,180 (= 4 hours x $250/hour, plus $180 in
filing fees). Plaintiff and her counsel
of record, jointly and severally, are ordered to pay monetary sanctions in the
amount of $1,180 to Defendant, by and through counsel, within 20 days of notice
of this order.
Defendant shall provide
notice of this order.