Judge Lee S. Arian, Case Number: 23STCV06282, Date: 2024-08-01 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 23STCV06282, Date: 2024-08-01 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV06282 Hearing Date: August 1, 2024 Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27

MOTION TO COMPEL DEPOSITION AND REQUESTS FOR SANCTIONS

Hearing Date: 5/9/24

CASE NO./NAME: 23STCV06282 KALYN CONWAY, et al. vs KSARA ELAINE TANTAY, et al.

Moving Party: Plaintiffs

Responding Party: Defendants KSARA ELAINE TANTAY and BILL MASON

Notice: Sufficient

Ruling: MOTION TO COMPEL DEPOSITION AND REQUESTS FOR SANCTIONS ARE GRANTED.

Background

On April 17, 2024, Plaintiffs KALYN CONWAY and JASMINE CONWAY served a notice to depose Defendants KSARA ELAINE TANTAY and BILL MASON (collectively, "Defendants") on May 17, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Plaintiffs sent multiple meet and confer letters to Defendants requesting Defendants' counsel to propose alternative deposition dates should the May 17 date be inconvenient for the deponents and their counsel. Defendants did not respond to Plaintiffs’ meet and confer efforts and failed to appear for their depositions on May 17, 2024. Plaintiffs now move to compel Defendants to attend their depositions. Defendants did not file an opposition.

Legal Standard

Any party may obtain any discovery of information, documents, land, property, or electronically stored information so long as the discoverable matter is not privileged, is relevant to the subject matter and can lead one to admissible evidence.¿(Code Civ. Proc. § 2017.010.)

Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.450¿provides in pertinent part the following:

“(a) If, after service of a deposition notice, a party to the action or an officer, director, managing agent, or employee of a party, or a person designated by an organization that is a party under Section 2025.230, without having served a valid objection under Section 2025.410, fails to appear for examination, or to proceed with it, or to produce for inspection any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing described in the deposition notice, the party giving the notice may move for an order compelling the deponent's attendance and testimony, and the production for inspection of any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing described in the deposition notice.

(b) A motion under subdivision (a) shall comply with both of the following:

(1) The motion shall set forth specific facts showing good cause justifying the production for inspection of any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing described in the deposition notice.

(2) The motion shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040¿or, when the deponent fails to attend the deposition and produce the documents, electronically stored information, or things described in the deposition notice, by a declaration stating that the petitioner has contacted the deponent to inquire about the nonappearance.

Where a motion to compel a party’s appearance and testimony at deposition is granted, the court shall impose a monetary sanction in favor of the party who noticed the deposition and against the deponent, unless the court finds the one subject to sanctions acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.450, subd. (g)(1).) On motion of a party who, in person or by attorney, attended at the time and place specified in the deposition notice in the expectation that the deponent’s testimony would be taken, the court shall impose a monetary sanction in favor of that party and against the deponent. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.450, subd. (g)(2).)

Analysis

Defendants failed to serve a written objection and failed to appear for their depositions on the noticed date. CCP §2025.450(a). Plaintiffs have attempted to meet and confer with Defendants’ counsel numerous times but to no avail and have therefore fulfilled the met and confer requirement under CCP §2025.450(b)(2). Thus, all the requirements to compel Defendants’ deposition have been met and the present motion is GRANTED. Defendants are ordered to appear for their deposition within 30 days of today.

Defendants’ nonappearance forced Plaintiffs to file the present motion and incur attorney’s fees. Plaintiffs seek sanctions in the amount of $761.65, which the court finds reasonable. The Court ORDERS Defendants and their counsel, jointly and severally, to pay sanctions of $760 to Plaintiffs within 20 days of today’s date.

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.