Immigrant Rights Defense Council LLC vs Nicolas Francisco Gonzalez et al

Case Number

23CV04596

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Mon, 04/15/2024 - 10:00

Nature of Proceedings

Motion: Admissions (3); Motion: Compel (6)

Tentative Ruling

On November 28, 2023, plaintiff served separate sets of Form Interrogatories (Set One), Requests for Production of Documents (Set One), and Requests for Admissions (Set One) upon plaintiffs Santa Barbara Immigration Community Center, Inc., Nicolas Francisco Gonzalez, and Liliana Monroy. No responses were ever provided by any of these defendants. Plaintiff has now moved to compel responses to the Requests for Production of Documents (Set One) and Form Interrogatories (Set One), and for orders that the matters set forth in the Requests for Admissions (Set One) be deemed admitted. In each of the nine motions, plaintiff seeks sanctions of $2,578.35.

Defendants have not opposed the motion.

The Court notes that on April 5, 2024, defendants filed a statement in advance of the Case Management Conference currently set for April 22, 2024, advising that they agree to consent to entry of a stipulated judgment and to entry of judgment, prohibiting them from acting as immigration consultants within the meaning of Business & Professions Code section 22441, and that a trial in this action will therefore not be required. The statement attaches a proposed Stipulated Injunction and order for Entry of Judgment.

Because plaintiff has not yet responded to the statement filed by defendants, there is no indication in the court file that the filing of such statement in any way moots the discovery motions currently pending before the Court, and the Court therefore assumes that the motions are going forward on their merits, the Court will grant the motions, as follows:

The Court will grant the motions to compel verified responses to the Form Interrogatories (Set One) and Requests for Production of Documents (Set One), and will order that each defendant serve verified responses to this discovery upon plaintiff no later than April 24, 2024.

If verified responses to the Requests for Admissions (Set One) are served upon plaintiff by the defendants prior to the hearing on these motions, the motion for deemed admissions will be denied as to any defendant who has provided such verified responses.

If verified responses to the Requests for Admissions (Set One) are not served upon plaintiff by the defendants prior to the hearing on these motions, the motions for deemed admissions will be granted, and the matters set forth in the requests will be deemed to have been admitted by each defendant who has not timely provided verified responses.

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.280(c), an award of sanctions is mandatory where a motion to compel deemed admissions has been filed, regardless of whether verified responses are provided to the propounding party prior to the hearing. Consequently, the Court will order the defendants, their attorney, or both, to pay sanctions in the total amount of $5,000 to counsel for plaintiff, which the Court finds to be a reasonable sanction for these “no response” discovery motions.