Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 23STCV10308, Date: 2024-07-26 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV10308    Hearing Date: July 26, 2024    Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27 

MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER¿AND REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS 

Hearing Date: 7/26/24¿ 

CASE NO./NAME: 23STCV10308 JILLIAN ARMENDARIZ vs ACE HOTEL DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES et al. 

Moving Party: Plaintiff 

Responding Party: Defendant Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles 

Notice: Sufficient¿ 

Ruling:  

MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER¿IS GRANTED

REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS IS GRANTED 

Background

On October 25, 2023, Plaintiff served Defendant Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles with a Request for Production, Set One. After several extensions, Defendant served timely discovery responses. On February 23, 2024, Plaintiff served a meet and confer letter relating to the alleged deficiencies in the responses. Plaintiff gave Defendant several extensions to provide further responses, and Defendant extended Plaintiff's motion to compel further deadline to April 26, 2024. No responses were provided by that date, and Plaintiff now moves the Court to compel further responses to her Requests for Production, Set One.

Discussion

The present motion was timely filed. On February 23, 2024, Defendant provided its initial responses and extended Plaintiff's motion to compel further deadline to April 26, 2024. On April 26, 2024, Plaintiff filed the present motion after not receiving further responses. Plaintiff has fulfilled its meet and confer obligations prior to filing the motion, and the parties attended an IDC on July 16, 2024, but were unable to resolve their discovery issues. Plaintiff has met all procedural requirements for the Court to hear the present motion. At issue are Requests for Production numbers 1, 2, 26, 35, 38. 39, 40, 49, 50, 58, 59, 60, 62, 67, 70, 74, 75, and 80.

Requests for Production Nos. 1, 2, 26, 35, 38. 39, 40, 49, 50, 58, 59, 60, 62, 67, 70, 74, 75, 80

Defendant’s responses state “Without waiving the foregoing objections, Responding Party responds that it has conducted a diligent search and reasonable inquiry in an effort to comply with this Request and will comply by producing the following documents:”

With respect to requests for production of documents, there are only three appropriate ways to respond: (1) a statement that the party will comply with the request, (2) a statement of inability to comply, or (3) an objection. (C.C.P. §2031.210.) A party’s statement of compliance must indicate whether it will respond in full or in part, and that all documents that are in the possession, custody or control of the party will be produced. (C.C.P. § 2031.220.) Defendant’s response, as currently phrased, does not clarify whether Defendant will comply with the requests for production in full or in part. To provide a code-compliant statement of compliance, state that the responding party will provide all responsive documents in its possession, custody, or control. Further, if any documents are withheld pursuant to a claimed privilege, the responding party need to produce a privilege log.

The Court grants Plaintiff’s motion. Plaintiff requests attorney fees in the amount of $2,310.00. Sanctions are mandatory to compensate Plaintiff for having to bring this motion to seek code compliant discovery responses. Defendant did not fully act with substantial justification, as the majority of the responses at issue were not code-compliant and forced Plaintiff to file the instant motion. However, due to the simplicity of the issues, the Court reduces the amount of sanction to $1300. Defendant and its counsel are ORDERED to pay, jointly and severally, sanctions of $1300 to Plaintiff within 30 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.