Tentative Ruling: Jane Doe vs Brett Williams et al

Case Number

25CV01213

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Fri, 04/24/2026 - 10:00

Nature of Proceedings

Motion to Compel

Tentative Ruling

For the reasons stated herein, the motion of plaintiff to compel further discovery responses is ordered off-calendar.

Background:

On February 25, 2025, plaintiff Jane Doe filed the complaint in this action asserting six causes of action against defendants Article Student Living PM Services LLC (ASL) and Brett Williams: (1) sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA, Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.); (2) sex discrimination in violation of FEHA; (3) race discrimination in violation of FEHA; (4) failure to prevent harassment and discrimination in violation of FEHA; (5) retaliation in violation of FEHA; and (6) wrongful constructive termination in violation of public policy.

On March 28, 2025, ASL filed an answer to the complaint, generally denying its allegations and asserting 37 affirmative defenses.

On September 29, 2025, defendant Williams filed an answer to the complaint, generally denying its allegations and asserting 11 affirmative defenses.

On October 21, 2025, plaintiff filed a motion to obtain orders: (1) compelling ASL to provide further, verified, code-compliant responses to plaintiff’s form interrogatories-general, set one, nos. 12.1, 12.2, and 12.3, special interrogatories, set one, nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 13, and 14 ; and requests for production of documents, set one, nos. 1 through 21; (2) compelling ASL to produce all documents responsive to those requests; and (3) requiring ASL to serve a privilege log for any responsive documents withheld on the basis of privilege.

ASL opposes the motion, which was calendared for hearing on February 20, 2026.

On February 20, 2026, the court issued a minute order noting procedural issues that must be addressed before the court can rule on the merits of plaintiff’s motion, and continuing that motion to March 20, 2026. The court ordered plaintiff to pay to the court filing fees for the two additional motions included in the moving papers; and ordered counsel for the parties to further meet and confer as further described in that order. Further, the court ordered the parties to, on or before March 9, 2026, file either a joint report or separate reports identifying matters that have been resolved and matters that remain in dispute for adjudication.

On March 9, ASL and plaintiff filed a joint report stating that the parties met and conferred by telephone on March 2, 2026; have resolved all present disputes; and that ASL has agreed to provide further amended responses by March 30, 2026. In that report, the parties proposed that the court, among other things, continue the hearing on plaintiff’s motion.

On March 20, after a hearing, the court issued a minute order adopting its tentative ruling on plaintiff’s motion as follows:

“The motion, or motions, to compel further responses to discovery were initially set for hearing on February 20, 2026. Due to mostly procedural issues that required attention by the parties, the hearing was continued to March 20, 2026. As part of the ruling, the parties were ordered to further meet and confer, as well as file either a joint report or separate reports identifying matters that have been resolved by the further meet and confer efforts and matters that remain in need of adjudication by the court.

On March 9, 2026, the parties filed a joint report regarding the motion(s) to compel. By way of the report, the parties indicated that there was additional meet and confer regarding the dispute, and that the parties have resolved all the disputed issues, and that ASL has agreed to provide further amended responses by March 30, 2026. The parties requested that the court continue the hearing to a date on or after April 20, 2026, and set an April 9, 2026 deadline for the parties to submit a further joint report. The court will do as requested by the parties.”

The court continued the hearing on plaintiff’s motion to April 24, 2026, and ordered the parties to, on or before April 10, file a joint status report or separate reports regarding the status of the dispute including as to any matters that remain for adjudication by the court.

On April 10, plaintiff and ASL filed a joint report stating that “the parties continued to meet and confer and have resolved all remaining discovery disputes. Accordingly, the parties jointly request that the Court take the April 24, 2026 hearing off calendar.” (Apr. 10, 2026, Joint Report at p. 2, ll. 5-8.)

Analysis:

Considering the information contained in the parties’ joint report filed on April 10, 2026, and described above, the court will order the motion of plaintiff to compel further discovery responses off-calendar.