Judge: Lynne M. Hobbs, Case: 20STCV24998, Date: 2023-05-24 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 20STCV24998    Hearing Date: August 18, 2023    Dept: 30

MIGUEL ANGEL MENDOZA, AN INDIVIDUAL vs LARRY MCFADDEN, AN INDIVIDUAL

Re:  Motion to Dismiss / Terminating Sanctions

Tentative:  Defendant’s motion for terminating sanctions against Plaintiff is GRANTED.  Moving party to give notice.

Discussion:  

The Court may grant Defendant’s motion for terminating sanctions because of Plaintiff’s failure to obey the Court’s March 2, 2023 order is preceded by a history of abuse, and the evidence shows that less severe sanctions would not produce compliance with the discovery rules. According to the March 2, 2023 minute order, Defendant served Plaintiff with requests for written discovery on June 29, 2022. Defendant sent meet and confer communications to Plaintiff, which remained unanswered, forcing Defendant to file a motion to compel. After the Court granted Defendant’s motions to compel discovery responses, Plaintiff failed to respond within the 20 days allotted and failed to communicate with Defendant regarding the discovery responses. (Harn Decl., ¶4.)  To date, Plaintiff never responded to Defendant’s discovery requests despite the March 2, 2023 order. Plaintiff has now delayed serving discovery responses for more than one year. Plaintiff has not opposed this motion and appears to have no interest in further litigating this matter. Therefore, the Court finds terminating sanctions proper.  Because the Court has granted the ultimate sanction in this matter, the request for sanctions is denied.