HON. LEE S. ARIAN 

DEPARTMENT 27 

TENTATIVE RULING 

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Hearing Date: 3/29/2024 at 1:30 p.m. 

Case No./Name: 22STCV16034 ERIC SLATTERY vs MAR PIZZA, INC. 

Motion: MOTION TO COMPEL DEPOSITION AND FOR SANCTIONS 

Moving Party: Plaintiff 

Responding Party: Defendants Maria De Los Angeles Sanchez and Mar Pizza 

Notice: Sufficient 

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Ruling: MOTION TO COMPEL DEPOSITION AND FOR SANCTIONS IS DENIED 

 

On May 13, 2022, Plaintiff filed an auto accident case against Defendant Maria De Los Angeles Sanchez who allegedly crashed into Plaintiff while in the course her employment with Defendant Mar Pizza. On February 9, 2024, Plaintiff scheduled Defendant Sanchez’s deposition for February 21, 2024. On February 15, 2024, Defendant filed an objection, citing the unavailability of both her and her counsel on the scheduled date. On February 15, 2024, defense counsel communicated to Plaintiff that he has trial on February 20, 2024, and would not be available until mid-March. Despite this, on February 21, 2024, Plaintiff proceeded with the deposition and acquired a certificate of non-appearance. Despite efforts to obtain an alternative deposition date before the discovery deadline, Plaintiff was unable to do so and filed the present motion on February 27, 2024. 

On March 16, 2024, Defendant proposed several deposition dates, and Plaintiff agreed to take Defendant Sanchez's deposition on April 5, 2024. Thus, the present motion is moot and therefore DENIED. 

The Court finds that the Parties acted with substantial justification. There was a short amount of time between when the deposition was noticed on February 9, 2024, and when the motion to compel was filed on February 27, 2024. The Court understands the urgency to conduct a deposition before the discovery deadline, but this urgency was partly due to Plaintiff's delay in not noticing the deposition earlier. Conversely, Plaintiff repeatedly requested alternative dates for a deposition before the discovery deadline throughout the process. Despite these requests, Defendant failed to provide any alternative dates, citing counsel’s unavailability for almost a month, prompting Plaintiff to file the current motion. Given the circumstances, both parties acted with substantial justification, and sanctions are therefore DENIED. 

 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:¿ 

 

If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling,¿the party must send an email to the court at¿sscdept27@lacourt.org¿with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.¿ The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting. 

 

Unless¿all¿parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.¿ You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue. 

 

If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.¿ After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave.