Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Osceola Nursing Home LLP

Filing 26

ORDER granting 21 MOTION for Reconsideration re 19 Order, filed by Osceola Nursing Home LLP. The Court vacates that part of 19 Order awarding the attorney's fee. Respondent has complied with the remainder of that Order. This matter is concluded, & the Clerk is directed to close the file. Signed by Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. on 6/15/2011. (jct)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS

JONESBORO DIVISION

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

COMMISSION

v.

PETITIONER

Case No. 3:10-mc-4-DPM

OSCEOLA NURSING HOME LLP
d/b/a OSCEOLA HEALTHCARE

RESPONDENT

ORDER
The Court appreciates Respondent's certification of compliance,
Document No. 25, with the Court's 9 March 2011 Order. If Osceola Nursing

Home, LLP had complied so throughly and promptly with either the EEOC's
original document requests or the EEOC's subpoena, this proceeding would
have been unnecessary.
Respondent's motion for reconsideration of the Court's $2,500.00
attomey's-fee sanction is granted. First, the Court concludes that, in the
circumstances presented, it has no authority to sanction for pre-litigation
conduct. Second, Respondent's willful disobedience of the Court's December
2010 show-cause order has not been established because the facts about
service on Respondent (via Stafford Kees Jr.) remain murky.
There seems to have been dodging and foot dragging and hoping the

matter would go away instead of any effort to find out what the litigation was
about and comply with the Court's December 2010 Order. But without more
facts establishing that the Marshal read the Court's entire Order to Kees, or
left a copy of it at his residence after catching Kees by telephone, the Court
cannot find willful disobedience of the Order. Enough of the parties' and the
Court's scarce resources have been spent on this matter. The Court therefore
declines to conduct further proceedings to discern if Respondent's (and
Kees's) recalcitrance rose to the level of willful disobedience.
The Court vacates that part of its 9 March 2011 Order, Document No. 19,
awarding the attorney's fee. Respondent has complied with the remainder of
that Order. This matter is concluded. And the Court directs the Clerk to close
the file.
So Ordered.

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