Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 22STCV19099, Date: 2023-11-27 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV19099    Hearing Date: November 29, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion to compel responses to her Special and Form Interrogatories is MOOT. The Court declines to award sanctions at this time.

On 6/10/2022, Plaintiff Naiisha Y. Foster (Plaintiff) initiated this suit against Stephanie Wilson. On 12/20/2022, Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint (FAC) alleging: (1) breach of contract/breach of quiet enjoyment/warranty of habitability; (2) tortious breach of the implied warranty of habitability; (3) negligence; (4) private nuisance; (5) fraud; (6) unfair business practices; and (7) intentional infliction of emotional distress.

            Now, Plaintiff moves to compel responses from Defendant Stephanie Wilson to her Special and Form Interrogatories. Plaintiff also seeks monetary sanctions.

Discussion

            On 5/17/2023, Plaintiff served Defendant with the relevant discovery. On 6/21/2023, Defendant provided unverified objection-only responses with no document production.

            As a preliminary matter, given that Defendant provided initial responses to Plaintiff’s discovery and Plaintiff challenges the sufficiency of those responses, this motion should have properly been filed as a motion to compel further.

            Second, Defendant clarified in opposition that supplemental responses have since been provided. As such, the substance of this motion is moot.

            Moreover, the Court finds that sanctions are not appropriate. The Court requires that parties participate in an informal discovery conference (IDC) before motions to compel further are heard on the merits. Additionally, given that Defendant eventually provided supplemental responses, there is strong reason to believe this discovery dispute could have been resolved informally through meet and confer, rather than through formal motion practice.

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion compel responses to her Special and Form Interrogatories is moot.  The Court declines to award sanctions at this time.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  November    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.