Noel v. Paragould Vault Company Inc et al

Filing 12

ORDER granting 10 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that w/i 10 days of the entry date of this Order, Defendant Paragould Vault Company shall provide to Plaintiff full & complete responses to his First Set of Interrogator ies & First Set of Requests for Production, & provide to Plaintiff full & complete Initial Disclosures. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that w/i 21 days of the entry date of this Order, Plaintiff is to file a motion for reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred in making his motion to compel. Signed by Judge Susan Webber Wright on 4/17/2012. (jct)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
JONESBORO DIVISION
JUSTIN NOEL,
Plaintiff,

vs.

PARAGOULD VAULT COMPANY, INC.,
and CASEY ROGERS,
Defendants.

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

No. 3:11-cv-00267-SWW

ORDER
Plaintiff Justin Noel brings this action against defendants Paragould Vault Company, Inc.
and Casey Rogers alleging employment discrimination in violation of the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq. The matter is
before the Court on motion of plaintiff to compel pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37 [doc.#10].
Plaintiff claims defendant Paragould Vault Company has not responded to his First Set of
Interrogatories and First Set of Requests for Production and that it has not submitted its Initial
Disclosures. Plaintiff states that the time for Paragould Vault Company to respond to his
discovery and submit its Initial Disclosures has passed and that he attempted in good faith to
resolve the dispute without court intervention but was unsuccessful in doing so.1 Paragould
Vault Company has not responded to plaintiff’s motion to compel and the time for doing so has
passed.

1

Plaintiff has submitted documentation of his attempt to resolve the dispute without court
intervention.

The Court hereby grants plaintiff’s motion to compel and orders that within ten (10) days
of the date of entry of this Order, defendant Paragould Vault Company provide to plaintiff full
and complete responses to plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories and First Set of Requests for
Production, and provide to plaintiff full and complete Initial Disclosures. Because it has granted
plaintiff’s motion to compel, the Court must require Paragould Vault Company to pay plaintiff’s
reasonable fees incurred in making the motion to compel, including attorney’s fees, unless
Paragould Vault Company demonstrates that its failure to respond to plaintiff’s discovery
requests and provide plaintiff its Initial Disclosures “was substantially justified” or that “other
circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(5)(A). See also Arnold v.
ADT Sec. Services, Inc., 627 F.3d 716, 720 (8th Cir. 2010) (noting that “[u]pon granting a motion
to compel, a court must require the party ‘whose conduct necessitated the motion, the party or
attorney advising that conduct, or both to pay the movant's reasonable expenses incurred in
making the motion, including attorney's fees’” and that “[s]uch payment must be ordered unless
(1) the movant filed the motion before attempting in good faith to obtain the disclosure or
discovery without court action, (2) the nondisclosure was substantially justified, or (3) other
circumstances would make the award of expenses unjust”) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(5)(A)).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that within ten (10) days of the date of entry of this
Order, defendant Paragould Vault Company provide to plaintiff full and complete responses to
plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories and First Set of Requests for Production, and provide to
plaintiff full and complete Initial Disclosures.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within twenty-one (21) days of the date of entry of this
Order, plaintiff file a motion for reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred in

-2-

making his motion to compel (to which Paragould Vault Company will have an opportunity to
respond in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil procedure and this Court’s Local Rules).
Dated this 17th day of April 2012.

/s/Susan Webber Wright
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

-3-