Judge Lee W. Tsao, Case Number: 23NWCV01254, Date: 2024-04-16 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee W. Tsao, Case: 23NWCV01254, Date: 2024-04-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23NWCV01254 Hearing Date: April 16, 2024 Dept: C

Community Connect Socal, Inc. vs Stephanie Alvarez, et al.

Case No.: 23NWCV01254

Hearing Date: April 16, 2024 @ 9:30 AM

Tentative Ruling

Plaintiff Community Connect SoCal, Inc.’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents is GRANTED. Sanctions are imposed in the reduced amount of $1,260.00.

Plaintiff to give notice.

The motion is unopposed as of April 15, 2024.

Background

Plaintiff Community Connect SoCal, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) entered into an assignment agreement with Behavior Resources, Inc. (“BRI”) whereby Plaintiff acquired all of BRI’s rights relating to the wrongful conduct of Defendant Stephanie Alvarez (“Defendant”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant, during her employment with BRI, from approximately 2016 through her termination in January 2023, stole and/or embezzled approximately $228,000.00 from BRI. Among other things, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant: (1) improperly and without authorization assigned herself a company American Express card, which she used for her own personal expenses; (2) improperly and without authorization obtained a debit card linked to BRI’s checking account, which she used for her own personal expenses; (3) forged Christy McIntyre’s (“McIntyre”) signature on checks and other company documents without permission and knowledge by McIntyre; and (4) used company funds to pay for, among other things, her mother’s cell phone bill, her personal travel, personal doctor’s appointments, personal spa appointments/treatments, personal rent and/or mortgage payments, personal credit card bills, personal bills, used BRI’s FedEx account for personal shipments, her side businesses, and to pay for her gas, even though BRI reimbursed Defendant for her mileage.

Meet and Confer Requirement

A motion¿to compel further responses to requests for production “shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration.”¿ (Code Civ. Proc. § 2031.310(b)(2).)¿ The declaration must state facts showing a reasonable and good faith attempt at an informal resolution of each issue presented in the motion.¿ (Code Civ. Proc. § 2016.040.)¿

The Court finds that Plaintiff has fulfilled the meet and confer requirement.

Separate Statement

A motion to compel further responses requires a separate statement. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1345(a).) Plaintiff properly filed separate statements.

Legal Standard

A party may make a demand for production of documents and propound interrogatories without leave of court at any time 10 days after the service of the summons on, or appearance by, the party to whom the demand is directed, whichever occurs first. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.020, subd. (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.020, subd. (b).) The demand for production of documents is not limited by number, but the request must comply with the formatting requirements in Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.030.

The party whom the request is propounded upon is required to respond within 30 days after service of a demand, but the parties are allowed to informally agree to an extension and confirm any such agreement in writing. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.060, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.060, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.070, subd. (a) - (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.070, subd. (a) - (b).)

If a party fails to timely respond to a request for production or interrogatories, the party to whom the request is directed waives any right to exercise the option to produce writings under Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.230, and waives any objection, including one based on privilege or on the protection for work product. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a).)

Discussion

On July 28, 2023, Plaintiff served a total of four requests for production of documents seeking the following:

Request for Production 1: Produce all DOCUMENTS identified in YOUR responses to Form Interrogatories – General, Set One, served concurrently herewith.

Request for Production 2: Produce all mortgage statements RELATING TO all mortgage payments YOU made, or made on YOUR behalf, from 2016 through January 2023.

Request for Production 3: Produce all credit card statements RELATING TO all credit card payments YOU made, or made on YOUR behalf, from 2016 through January 2023.

Request for Production 4: Produce all bank account records in YOUR name from 2016 through January 2023.

Responses were due on September 1, 2023. On September 4, 2023, Defendant served untimely responses which stated the following: “Objection, irrelevant, oppressive, burdensome, overbroad. Without waiving the foregoing responding party responds as follows: After diligent search and reasonable inquiry responding party is unable to produce these documents at this time.”

Because the responses were untimely, all objections are waived. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (a).)

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents is GRANTED.

Sanctions

The court shall impose a monetary sanction against the party who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to compel further responses to interrogatories or demand for production of documents unless the party subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or the sanction would otherwise be unjust. (Code of Civ. Proc., §§ 2030.300, subd. (d), 2031.310, subd. (h), 2033.290, subd. (d).)

Plaintiff requests sanctions in the amount of $4,390.00 (for 6.6 hours of work at a rate of $650.00 per hour). Plaintiff’s counsel does not indicate the allocation of fees. Given the lack of opposition, the Court imposes sanctions in the reasonable amount of $1,260.00, which includes costs.