Nicholas Tomaszewski v. AIG Property Casualty Company et al

Filing 37

MINUTE (IN CHAMBERS) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY SANCTIONS SHOULD NOT BE ISSUED by Judge John F. Walter. The Court orders Defendant to show cause, in writing, on or before November 27, 2024, why Defendant should not be sanctioned in the amount of $2,500 for Defendant's failure to comply with this Court's Standing Orders. (iv)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CIVIL MINUTES -- GENERAL
Case No.

CV 24-4661-JFW(AGRx)

Title:

Nicholas Tomaszewski -v- AIG Property Casualty Company, et al.

Date: November 22, 2024

PRESENT:
HONORABLE JOHN F. WALTER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Shannon Reilly
Courtroom Deputy

None Present
Court Reporter

ATTORNEYS PRESENT FOR PLAINTIFFS:
None
PROCEEDINGS (IN CHAMBERS):

ATTORNEYS PRESENT FOR DEFENDANTS:
None

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY SANCTIONS SHOULD
NOT BE ISSUED

Based on the Declaration of Daniel Eli in Support of Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendant’s
Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Per Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), filed November 4,
2024 (Docket No. 32-1) (“Eli Decl.”), Defendant AIG Property Casualty Company (“Defendant”)
failed to comply with this Court’s Standing Order. On July 17, 2024, Plaintiff Nicolas Tomaszewski
(“Plaintiff”) propounded requests for production on Defendant. Eli Decl., ¶ 2. However, Defendant
failed to respond to Plaintiff’s requests for production within the requisite thirty days. Eli Decl., ¶ 3.
Instead, when Plaintiff’s counsel met and conferred with defense counsel regarding Defendant’s
failure to timely respond, defense counsel “took the position that the [S]tanding [O]rder did not
permit pre-Rule 26(f) discovery,” and claimed that discovery did not open until after the Rule 26(f)
conference, which took place on September 3, 2024. Eli Decl., ¶ 4. Indeed, in Defendant’s Reply
in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Per Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 12(c), filed November 8, 2024 (Docket No. 33) (“Reply”), Defendant, despite arguing
that it has “fully complied with its discovery obligations and this Court’s [S]tanding [O]rder” (Reply,
5:1-2), tacitly admits that it has failed to comply with this Court’s Standing Order when it argues
that:
Plaintiff served requests for production before the parties’ Rule 26(f) conference.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d)(2)(B), absent a motion to conduct early
discovery, Plaintiff’s discovery was “considered to have been served at the first Rule
26(f) conference.” AIGPC served its discovery responses 29 days later, complying
with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(b)(2)(A) (parties
must respond “within 30 days after being served or—if the request was delivered
under Rule 26(d)(2)—within 30 days after the parties’ first Rule 26(f) conference.”).
Reply, 5:2-9. However, paragraph 4(b) of the Court’s Standing Order clearly states that “Counsel
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shall begin to actively conduct discovery before the Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(f) conference because at the
Scheduling Conference the Court will impose tight deadlines to complete discovery.” See Standing
Order (Docket No. 9), ¶ 4(b) (emphasis added). In addition, defense counsel’s argument in his
September 3, 2024 email to Plaintiff’s counsel that the Court’s Standing Order “only authorizes the
service of early discovery,” but does not authorize or mandate responses to early discovery until
after the Rule 26(f) conference is, at best, disingenuous. See Exh. B to the Eli Decl.
Accordingly, the Court orders Defendant to show cause, in writing, on or before November
27, 2024, why Defendant should not be sanctioned in the amount of $2,500 for Defendant’s failure
to comply with this Court’s Standing Orders. No oral argument on this matter will be heard unless
otherwise ordered by the Court. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; Local Rule 7-15. The Order will stand
submitted upon the filing of the response to the Order to Show Cause. Failure to respond to the
Order to Show Cause will result in the issuance of sanctions.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

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