Steve Hollstien et al vs Southern California Edison Company et al

Case Number

20CV02179

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Mon, 04/15/2024 - 10:00

Nature of Proceedings

1) Mtn to Compel Plaintiffs' Resp to Form Interrogatories' Req for Monetary Sanctions ($2,919.40); 2) Mtn to Compel Plaintiffs' Resp to Req for Prod of Docs; and, 3) Mtn to Compel to Plaintiff's Resp to Special Interrogatories'' Req for Monetary Sanctions

Tentative Ruling

On July 9, 2021, defendant Southern California Edison Company (SCE) served Special Interrogatories (Set One), Form Interrogatories (Set One), and Requests for Production of Documents (Set One) on plaintiffs Ammon Durtschi, Cassandra Durtschi, Aaron Durtschi, Asher Durtschi, Genevieve Durtschi, Michael Durtschi, Rosalie Durtschi, Paul J. Rutten, Randy J. Rutten, Neil Reilly-Shapiro, Rebecca Calleja, David Thoman, Amy Thoman, Rocky Thoman, Tiger Thoman, Bucky Thoman, Luna Thoman, Veda Thoman.

On September 6, 2022, SCE served Requests for Production (Set Two) on plaintiffs Earl Lynch and Colleen Lynch.

On November 9, 2023, SCE served Requests for Production (Set Two) and Special Interrogatories (Set Two) on plaintiffs Daniel Smith, Aleksandre Rozhko, and Nona Rozhko, and served Requests for Production (Set Three) on plaintiffs Earl Lynch and Colleen Lynch.

On December 20, 2023, SCE served Requests for Production (Set Three) on plaintiffs Aleksandre Rozhko and Ronna Rozhko.

SCE has requested responses to the outstanding discovery on numerous occasions, and plaintiffs’ counsel on several occasions represented that the outstanding discovery would be provided. It was not.

On February 14, 2024, SCE filed the current motions (1) to compel responses to Special Interrogatories, (2) to compel responses to Form Interrogatories, and (3) to compel responses to Requests for Production, seeking sanctions of $2,919.40 for each motion. None of the identified plaintiffs have filed opposition to the motions.

The Court has no information with respect to whether any verified discovery responses have been provided by any of these plaintiffs since the time the motions were filed. Under the assumption that no such verified responses have been served, the Court will grant all of the motions, and will issue an order compelling these plaintiffs to respond to the written discovery served upon them (as articulated above) no later than April 29, 2024, or such other date as this Court may specify at the hearing on these motions.

Given the lengthy period of time during which much of the discovery has remained outstanding, and the many attempts made by SCE to request that the plaintiffs provide responses to the outstanding discovery, an order awarding sanctions is warranted. The Court will therefore order these plaintiffs, their attorneys, or both, to pay sanctions in the total amount of $5,000.00 to counsel for SCE, which the Court finds to be a reasonable sanction for “no response” motions to compel with respect to these multiple plaintiffs.