Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 23AHCV01215, Date: 2023-12-22 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23AHCV01215    Hearing Date: December 26, 2023    Dept: 3

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - NORTHEAST DISTRICT

          Plaintiff Jose Pena (“Plaintiff”) moves for an order compelling defendant American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (“Defendant”) to provide further responses to Requests for Production (Set One), Nos. 18, 22-23, 26-30,32, 45-46, and 48-49. Plaintiff additionally requests sanctions in the amount of $3,277.50 against Defendant and counsel of record, Bowman and Brooke LLP.

          Defendant states in its opposition that it served further responses to all of the discovery requests at issue in this motion, except for RFP Nos. 45 and 46. Defendant argues that RFP Nos. 45 and 46, which seek documents relating to customer complaints and warranty repairs on vehicles other than Plaintiff’s, are unrelated to this case. Plaintiff does not argue that the supplemental responses remain deficient. Accordingly, the motion is DENIED as moot as to all RFPs except for Nos. 45 and 46.

RFP No. 45 requests “[a]ll DOCUMENTS evidencing complaints by owners of 2019 Honda Accord vehicles regarding any of the complaints that the SUBJECT VEHICLE was presented to YOUR or YOUR authorized repair facilities for repair during the warranty period.” (Reed Decl., Ex. 1, p. 8.) RFP No. 46 demands “[a]ll DOCUMENTS evidencing warranty repairs to 2019 Honda Accord vehicles regarding any of the components that YOU or YOUR authorized repair facilities performed repairs on under warranty.”

Plaintiff argues that documents related to the frequency of repurchases and complaints about other vehicles of the same year, make, and model as Plaintiff’s are relevant and have a tendency to prove knowledge of widespread problems in similar vehicles, the existence of a defect, whether Defendant’s attempts to repair the defect in Plaintiff’s Subject Vehicle were reasonable, or if repair was even possible.

The motion is GRANTED in part and Defendant is ordered to serve further responses and produce documents evidencing customer complaints and repairs related to the same defects alleged by Plaintiff in 2012 Honda Accord vehicles within California, for the period of October 5, 2019, to present. Supplemental responses are due within 30 days.

Plaintiff’s request for sanctions is DENIED because Defendant opposed this motion with substantial justification.  

Dated this 26th day of December, 2023

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at ALHDEPT3@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter. Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue. If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.