Judge: Latrice A. G. Byrdsong, Case: 23STLC05560, Date: 2024-04-08 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STLC05560    Hearing Date: April 8, 2024    Dept: 25

Hearing Date:                         Monday, April 08, 2024

Case Name:                             CLIFFORD JOHNSON v. RAR2 - VILLA MARINA CENTER CA SPE, INC. AKA RAR2-VILLA MARINA CENTER CA, LLC; BAGELDELICIOUS LLC; STEPHANIE N. CHUNG; and DOES 1 - 10

Case No.:                                23STLC05560

Motion:                                   Motion to Compel Rar2 -Villa Marina Center CA SPE, Inc. Aka RAR2-Villa Marina Center CA, LLC’s Answers to Special Interrogatories; Motion to Compel Bageldelicious LLC’s Answers to Special Interrogatories; Requests for Sanctions

Moving Party:                         Plaintiff Clifford Johnson

Responding Party:                   None

Notice:                                    OK

Tentative Ruling:                    Plaintiff Clifford Johnson’s Motion to Compel RAR2 -Villa Marina Center’s Answers to Interrogatories is GRANTED.

Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Bageldelicious LLC’s Answers to Interrogatories is GRANTED.

Plaintiff’s Request for Monetary Sanctions against Defendants Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center is GRANTED in the amount of $500.00 each against Defendant’s respective counsel ONLY.  

SERVICE: 

[X] Proof of Service Timely Filed (CRC, rule 3.1300)                      OK

[X] Correct Address (CCP §§ 1013, 1013a)                                      OK

[X] 16/21 Court Days Lapsed (CCP §§ 12c, 1005(b))                       OK 

OPPOSITION:          None filed as of March 25, 2024                    [   ] Late          [X] None 

REPLY:                     None filed as of March 29, 2024                    [   ] Late          [X] None 

BACKGROUND

On August 29, 2023, Plaintiff Clifford Johnson (“Plaintiff”), filed an Unruh Civil Rights action against Defendants Bageldelicious, LLC (“Bageldelicious”), Stephanie N. Chung (“Chung”) and RAR2-Villa Marina Center aka RAR2-Villa Marina Center CA, LLC (“RAR2-Villa Marina Center”) (collectively “Defendants”).

Defendants filed their Answer to Plaintiff’s Complaint on November 30, 2023.

On February 27, 2024, Plaintiff filed the instant Motion to Compel RAR2 -Villa Marina Center’s Answers to Interrogatories; Motion to Compel Bageldelicious LLC Answers to Interrogatories and request for monetary sanctions.

No opposition has been filed.

MOVING PARTY POSITION

            Plaintiff prays for the Court to issue an order compelling Defendants Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center to serve verified responses to Plaintiff’s Special Interrogatories served on Defendants on December 12, 2023. Plaintiff makes this motion on the grounds that Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center failed to serve timely responses to Plaintiff’s Special interrogatories after Plaintiff propounded them on the Defendants. Plaintiff additionally requests that the Court issue sanctions in the amount of $500.00 against Defendants Bageldelicious, RAR2-Villa Marina Center, and their attorney.

OPPOSITION

             No opposition has been filed.

REPLY

             No reply has been filed.

ANALYSIS

I.          Legal Standard  

A party must respond to interrogatories within 30 days after service.  (Code Civ. Proc., §¿2030.260(a).)  If a party to whom interrogatories are directed does not provide timely responses, the requesting party may move for an order compelling response to the discovery.  (Code Civ. Proc. §¿2030.290(b).)  Once compelled to respond, the party waives the right to make any objections, including ones based on privilege or work-product protection.  (Code Civ. Proc. §¿2030.290(a).)  There is no time limit for a motion to compel responses to interrogatories other than the cut-off on hearing discovery motions 15 days before trial.  (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2024.020(a), 2030.290.)  No “meet and confer”: efforts are required before filing a motion to compel responses to the discovery.  (See Code Civ. Proc. §¿2030.290; Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc. v. Pacific Healthcare Consultants (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 390, 411.)

II.        Discussion

As a preliminary matter the Court notes that Plaintiff provides the same underlying facts for both motions. Thus, for the purposes of this order the Court will address both motions together below.

Here, Plaintiff provides the declaration of its counsel who states that on December 01, 2023, his office served Defendants Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center with Plaintiff’s Special Interrogatories, Set One. (Morse Mehrban Decl. ¶ 3; Exh. A.) Counsel avers that no responses to the interrogatories have been received. (Id.¶ 4.) Counsel additionally provides his correspondence sent to Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center’s counsel requesting their respective responses to Plaintiff’s Special Interrogatories. (Id. ¶ 5; Exh. B.)

Here, the Court finds that more than 30 days have lapsed since Plaintiff served its Special Interrogatories on Defendants on December 01, 2023.  Defendants’ timely responses were due by or before January 02, 2024. Here, Plaintiff provides evidence showing that Defendants have not provided any responses to Plaintiff’s discovery requests. Since more than thirty (30) days has lapsed since Plaintiff served its Special Interrogatories, Plaintiff is entitled to pursue the instant motion.  

Thus, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Answers to Interrogatories (Set One) as to both Defendants.

D. Sanctions

The Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.290(c) provides in relevant part that, 

“The court shall impose a monetary sanction under [Section 2023.010] against any party, person, or attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to compel a response to interrogatories, unless it 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., § 2030.290(c).)

            Moreover, Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030, subdivision (a) provides, in pertinent part, that the court may impose a monetary sanction on a party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by anyone because of that conduct. A misuse of the discovery process includes failing to respond or to submit to an authorized method of discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010, subd. (d).) Furthermore, it is “mandatory that the Court impose a monetary sanction…on the party or attorney, or both, whose failure to serve a timely response to requests for admission necessitated this motion.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).) 

The Court finds Defendants’ failure to respond to Plaintiff’s discovery request to be a misuse of the discovery process. Plaintiff has successfully argued the motion and without evidence to the contrary, the Court cannot find that either Bageldelicious or RAR2-Villa Marina Center acted with substantial justification in failing to respond to Plaintiff’s discovery request. Thus, the Court must impose monetary sanctions on both Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center for their failure to respond to the discovery request that necessitated the instant motion. 

Plaintiff seeks $500.00 in attorney’s fees for each motion to be issued as sanctions against Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center and their counsel for one hour spent working on the instant motion. The Court finds the request to be reasonable considering the simplicity of the Motion and the lack of opposition and replies. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s request for sanctions in the amount of $500 each against Defendants Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center.

III.       Conclusion

            Plaintiff Clifford Johnson’s Motion to Compel RAR2 -Villa Marina Center’s Answers to Interrogatories is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Bageldelicious LLC’s Answers to Interrogatories is also GRANTED.

Plaintiff’s Request for Monetary Sanctions against Defendants Bageldelicious and RAR2-Villa Marina Center is GRANTED in the amount of $500.00 each against Defendants’ counsel ONLY.

DEFENDANT BAGELDELICIOUS LLC IS ORDERED TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF’S SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE WITH CODE COMPLIANT, OBJECTION-FREE VERIFIED RESPONSES WITHIN TWENTY (20) DAYS OF NOTICE OF THIS ORDER.

DEFENDANT RAR2 -VILLA MARINA CENTER CA SPE, INC. AKA RAR2-VILLA MARINA CENTER CA, LLC’S IS ORDERED TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF’S SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE WITH CODE COMPLIANT, OBJECTION-FREE VERIFIED RESPONSES WITHIN TWENTY (20) DAYS OF NOTICE OF THIS ORDER.

‘

DEFENDANTS’ RESPECTIVE COUNSEL IS ADDITIONALLY ORDERED TO PAY PLAINTIFF SANCTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $500.00 FOR EACH DEFENDANT (RAR2-VILLA MARINA CENTER CA SPE, INC. AKA RAR2-VILLA MARINA CENTER CA, LLC  AND BAGELDELICIOUS, LLC) WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS OF SERVICE OF THIS ORDER.

Moving party is ordered to give notice.