Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 23STCV07157, Date: 2024-04-12 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV07157    Hearing Date: April 12, 2024    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion to compel initial responses is MOOT. Defendant is sanctioned, jointly and severally with counsel, $350 per motion, for a total of $1,400.

            On 4/3/2023, Plaintiff John Sepulveda (Plaintiff) filed suit against FCA US, LLC, alleging violations of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.

            On 12/14/2023, Plaintiff moved to compel Defendant’s initial responses to: (1) Form Interrogatories, Set One; (2) Special Interrogatories, Set One; (3) Requests for Admissions, Set One; and (4) Requests for Production of Documents, Set One (collectively, the “Discovery”).

Discussion

            As a preliminary matter, Plaintiff must issue filing fees for four motions, given that this omnibus motion consolidates four different discovery sets into a single motion.

            In opposition, Defendant clarifies that outstanding responses have been provided. However, Defendant argues that the right to assert objections should not be waived because the failure to timely respond was the product of “mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect,” depends on the facts of the case. (See City of Fresno v. Super. Ct. (1988) 205 Cal.App.3d 1459, 1466-1467.)

            Given that initial responses have been provided, the substance of this motion is moot. The Court declines to take up Defendant’s contention that it is also entitled to relief from waiver. As noted by Plaintiff in reply, such a request requires a separate noticed motion. (CCP §§ 2030.290, 2031.300 and 2033.280.) The Court strongly urges the party to meet and confer and resolve this issue informally.

Despite Defendant providing responses, the Court still finds sanctions to be warranted. Defendant contends that the failure to respond was because “counsel for FCA US inadvertently overlooked the one single email containing all of the discovery requests at issue. Amidst the substantial increase in Song-Beverly matters, we have experienced a substantial increase in emails which contributed to the oversight. While we do have protocols in place to try to avoid such errors, this is the type of excusable human error that occurs in life, especially in light of the increase in emails during the course of the pandemic and remote work. As a result, the discovery went undetected and the deadline to provide timely responses lapsed. Given the circumstances, a reasonably prudent person might well have made the same mistake as counsel.” (Opp., 3: 18-19.)

            However, in reply, Plaintiff submits evidence which challenges Defendant’s characterization contention. First, Plaintiff provided two email reminders in writing: one on September 15, 2023, and another on September 20, 2023. (Xie Decl. at ¶¶ 5-8, Ex. 2-3). Indeed, Defendant even acknowledged receipt of the September 20, 2023, correspondence that same day, stating that Defendant would send responses by October 4, 2023. (Id. at ¶ 8, Ex. 4) Then, on November 7, 2023, Plaintiff again emailed Defendant to request the overdue discovery responses (Id. at ¶ 9, Ex. 5).

As such, while Defendant’s conduct may still constitute reasonable inadvertence or excusable neglect for relief purposes, this motion was still necessary and thus sanctions are warranted.

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion to compel initial responses is moot. Defendant is sanctioned, jointly and severally with counsel, $350 per motion. ($350/hr x 1 hr.)

It is so ordered.

Dated:  April    , 2024

   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.