Judge: Lisa K. Sepe-Wiesenfeld, Case: 23SMCV01508, Date: 2024-01-10 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23SMCV01508    Hearing Date: February 23, 2024    Dept: N

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff Adriana Fadlallah’s Motion for Order Establishing Admissions and for Monetary Sanctions Against Oliver Holt and His Attorneys Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar is DENIED.

Plaintiff Adriana Fadlallah to give notice.

REASONING

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.280, subdivision (b), a “party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted, as well as for a monetary sanction.” The court “shall” grant the motion to deem requests for admission admitted “unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).)

Plaintiff Adriana Fadlallah (“Plaintiff”) served Defendant Oliver Holt dba Oliver Holt Landscape (“Holt”) with Plaintiff’s Requests for Admission on August 2, 2023. (Mot., Sheinbein Decl. ¶ 2.) On September 5, 2023, before responses were due, Plaintiff’s counsel was notified by defense counsel that Holt died on June 2, 2023. (Opp’n, Wang Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. A.) Plaintiff provides no basis for deeming requests for admission admitted against a deceased person or imposing monetary sanctions for failing to respond when the party is deceased, and Plaintiff has also failed to provide a basis for continuing to prosecute this action against Holt when Plaintiff has since named the Estate of Oliver Holt as a defendant. In Plaintiff’s Joint Meet and Confer IDC Statement, Plaintiff states only that this action can be continued despite Defendant’s death, without acknowledging that Plaintiff is asking the Court to deem the requests admitted against a different party than the one who was subject to the discovery requests, i.e., Defendant is a different party than Defendant’s estate. Given that Plaintiff has failed to provide legal authority for deeming requests for admission admitted against a deceased party or imposing monetary sanctions for failing to respond when the party is deceased, Plaintiff Adriana Fadlallah’s Motion for Order Establishing Admissions and for Monetary Sanctions Against Oliver Holt and His Attorneys Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar is DENIED.