Judge: Stephen I. Goorvitch, Case: 21STCV42732, Date: 2023-04-18 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV42732    Hearing Date: April 18, 2023    Dept: 39

 Jane Roe v. Sterling Jewelers, Inc., et al., Case No. 21STCV42732

Defendants seek to continue the deadline to file a motion for summary judgment, currently set for April 28, 2023, and the trial date, currently set for September 12, 2023.  Defendants served a request for production requesting “all declarations, affidavits, and/or witness statements that relate to the allegations in the complaint . . . .”  Plaintiff responded on April 8, 2022, with a series of boilerplate objections, and Defendant did not file a motion to compel further responses.  Then, at her deposition on April 6, 2023, Plaintiff produced three declarations, two of which were dated and executed before Plaintiff’s discovery responses.  Now, Defendants seek a continuance in order to investigate the matters referenced in these declarations.  Defendants articulate good cause, as they are entitled to investigate the issues raised by these declarations.  Plaintiff’s counsel opposes the ex parte application, but he created his own problem by not producing these declarations sooner.  The Court is not persuaded by Plaintiff’s counsel’s argument that Defendants never filed a motion to compel further responses.  An attorney should not object to discovery requests unless there is a good faith basis to do so, and the Court does not fault Defendants for accepting Plaintiff’s counsel’s objections in good faith (despite their lack of merit).   

Based upon the foregoing, the Court advances and continues the final status conference and trial dates to the first available dates:

Final Status Conference:           June 28, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.

Trial:                                       July 9, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.

The discovery and motions deadlines shall be based on the new trial date.  Defendants are free to continue the hearing on their motion for summary judgment to any open date on the Court’s calendar through the court reservation system.

Defendants seek monetary sanctions but they are not available on an ex parte basis.  This order is without prejudice to Defendants filing a noticed motion for any sanction that may be available as a result of Plaintiff’s counsel’s failure to produce these declarations in response to their request for production.

Defendants’ counsel shall provide notice and file proof of such with the Court.