Motions to Compel Discovery Responses and Impose Monetary Sanctions (Judge Holly J. Fujie)


Case Number: BC610032??? Hearing Date: August 19, 2016??? Dept: 98

JOSEPHINE KOH,
Plaintiff,
vs.
TENET HEALTHCARE CORPORATION,
et al.,
Defendants.

Case No.: BC610032

[TENTATIVE] ORDER RE: DEFENDANT?S MOTIONS TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND REQUEST FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS

Dept. 98
1:30 p.m.
August 19, 2016

On February 10, 2016, Plaintiff Josephine Koh (?Plaintiff?) filed this action for medical malpractice. On May 6, 2016, Defendant Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Inc. (erroneously sued as Tenet Healthcare Corporation) (?Defendant?) served Plaintiff with Form Interrogatories, Set One; Special Interrogatories, Set One; and Requests for Production, Set One. Plaintiff has failed to provide any responses. Defendant therefore now moves to compel Plaintiff?s responses to the outstanding discovery requests and for monetary sanctions.

If a party fails to serve a timely response to a demand for production or interrogatories, the party making the demand may move for an order compelling a response. Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. ?? 2030.290(b), 2031.300(b). The party to whom the demand or interrogatories are directed waives any objection, including those based on privilege or work product. Id., ?? 2030.290(a), 2031.300(a). As no responses have been served, Defendant?s unopposed Motions to Compel are GRANTED. Plaintiff is ordered to provide verified responses to the outstanding discovery, without objections, within ten (10) days of the date of this Order.

The Court must impose monetary sanctions, unless it finds that the one subject to sanctions acted with substantial justification or that circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust. Id., ?? 2030.290(c), 2031.300(c). Defendant seeks monetary sanctions in the amount of $1,077.50 for each its three Motions, contending that each took one and one half hours to prepare and will require four hours to prepare a reply and appear at the hearing, at a rate of $185.00 per hour. Defendant also incurred three $60.00 filing fees.

The Court finds one hour to prepare each unopposed Motion and one total hour to attend the hearing, along with the filing fees, to be sufficient to compensate Defendant. The Court therefore awards Defendant a total of $920.00 in monetary sanctions against Plaintiff and her attorney of record, John R. Blanchard. Sanctions are to be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order.

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SMCDEPT98@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion will be placed off calendar.

Dated this 19th day of August, 2016

Hon. Holly J. Fujie
Judge of the Superior Court