Singanonh v. Fine et al
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 11/29/21 RECOMMENDING that defendant's motion for monetary sanctions 57 be denied. Defendant's motion for terminating sanctions 57 be granted. This action be dismissed with prejudice, for failure to comply with a court order. Motion 57 referred to Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Objections due within 14 days.(Plummer, M)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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TIENGKHAM SINGANONH,
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Plaintiff,
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No. 2:18-cv-1824 KJM AC P
v.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
R. FINE, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Plaintiff is a former state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to
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42 U.S.C. § 1983. Currently before the court is defendant’s motion for monetary and/or
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terminating sanctions. ECF No. 57. Plaintiff has not responded.
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I.
Procedural History
On June 28, 2021, defendant filed a motion to compel alleging that plaintiff had
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completely failed to respond to interrogatories and requests for production. ECF No. 52.
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Plaintiff failed to respond to the motion despite the court extending his time to do so and advising
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him that failure to respond would be construed as consent to granting the motion, and the motion
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to compel was granted. ECF No. 54. Plaintiff was ordered to respond to the interrogatories and
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requests for production without objection, and was warned that failure to comply would result in
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sanctions that could range all the way up to dismissal of the case. Id. at 2-3. Defendant has now
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moved for monetary or terminating sanctions on the ground that plaintiff has not provided the
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responses as ordered. ECF No. 57. After plaintiff failed to respond to the motion, he was given
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additional time to respond and warned that failure to do so would result in a recommendation that
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this action be dismissed for failure to prosecute. ECF No. 58. The time to respond has now
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passed and plaintiff has failed to file a response to the motion for sanctions or otherwise
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communicate with the court.
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II.
Motion for Terminating Sanctions
Defendant moves for terminating sanctions on the ground that plaintiff has completely
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failed to comply with the court’s order to provide responses to his interrogatories and requests for
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production. ECF No. 57.
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The Local Rules of the Eastern District provide wide latitude to the court with regard to
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sanctions—under Local Rule 110, the failure of a party to comply with any local rule or order of
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the court may result in the imposition of “any and all sanctions authorized by statute or Rule or
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within the inherent power of the Court.” Moreover, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
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specifically contemplate dismissal as a sanction for failing to comply with an order compelling
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discovery. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2)(A)(v) permits a court to “dismiss[] the
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action or proceeding in whole or in part” if a party fails to comply with a discovery order.
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Similarly, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), “[i]f the plaintiff fails to prosecute or to
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comply with these rules or a court order, a defendant may move to dismiss the action or any claim
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against it.”
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It is within the discretion of a district court to order dismissal sanctions. Olivia v.
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Sullivan, 958 F.2d 272, 273 (9th Cir. 1992) (citing Hamilton Copper & Steel Corp. v. Primary
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Steel, Inc., 898 F.2d 1428, 1429 (9th Cir. 1990)). However, because “dismissal is a harsh penalty
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. . . it should only be imposed in extreme circumstances.” Hernandez v. City of El Monte, 138
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F.3d 393, 399 (9th Cir. 1998) (emphasis in the original) (quoting Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d
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1258, 1260 (9th Cir. 1992)); Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co. v. New Images of Beverly Hills, 482 F.3d
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1091, 1096 (9th Cir. 2007) (“Only ‘willfulness, bad faith, and fault’ justify terminating sanctions”
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(quoting Jorgensen v. Cassiday, 320 F.3d 906, 912 (9th Cir. 2003))). The court must consider
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five factors “before resorting to the penalty of dismissal: ‘(1) the public’s interest in expeditious
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resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage its docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the
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defendants; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the
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availability of less drastic sanctions.’” Id. (quoting Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 1423
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(9th Cir. 1986)). The fifth factor is comprised of three subparts, which include “whether the court
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has considered lesser sanctions, whether it tried them, and whether it warned the recalcitrant party
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about the possibility of case-dispositive sanctions.” Conn. Gen. Life Ins., 482 F.3d at 1096
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(citation omitted).
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Not all factors must cut in favor of dismissal for the sanction to be imposed. Malone v.
U.S. Postal Serv., 833 F.2d 128, 133 n.2 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1263 (“Even
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if the prejudice factor as well as the fifth factor regarding the public policy favoring disposition
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on the merits both weighed against dismissal, they would not outweigh the other three factors that
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strongly support dismissal here.” (citation omitted)).
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A. Public Interest in the Expeditious Resolution of Cases
“[T]he public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation always favors dismissal.”
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Yourish v. Cal. Amplifier, 191 F.3d 983, 990 (9th Cir. 1999). In this case, plaintiff has
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completely failed to fulfill his discovery obligations or comply with this court’s discovery order,
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and he has not provided the court or defendant’s counsel with any explanation for his non-
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compliance. His refusal to comply with discovery obligations, despite a court order to do so, has
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delayed the expeditious resolution of this case. The public interest in efficient resolution of cases
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has thus been thwarted by plaintiff’s refusal to participate in the discovery process.
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B. The Court’s Need to Manage Its Docket
Plaintiff’s continued failure to cooperate in discovery and follow the court’s instructions
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has already consumed a considerable amount of limited judicial time and resources. The Eastern
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District of California has one of the heaviest caseloads in the country, and plaintiff’s continued
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refusal to participate in the discovery process has already resulted in defendants’ motion to
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compel, which demanded this court’s attention, time, and resources, and the instant motion for
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sanctions. Considerations of judicial economy weigh in favor of terminating sanctions. Ferdik,
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963 F.2d at 1261 (finding that it was necessary “to preserve the district courts’ power to manage
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their dockets without being subject to the endless vexatious noncompliance of litigants”).
C. Risk of Prejudice to the Defendant
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“While [the mere pendency of a lawsuit] may be prejudicial, it cannot, by itself, be
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considered prejudicial enough to warrant dismissal.” Ash v. Cvetkov, 739 F.2d 493, 496 (9th Cir.
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1984)). Rather, “[i]n determining whether a defendant has been prejudiced, we examine whether
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the plaintiff’s actions impair the defendant’s ability to go to trial or threaten to interfere with the
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rightful decision of the case.” Malone, 833 F.3d at 131 (citation omitted). The risk of prejudice
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is considered in relation to plaintiff’s reason for defaulting. Pagtalunan v. Galaza, 291 F.3d 639,
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642 (9th Cir. 2002) (citing Yourish, 191 F.3d at 991).
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Plaintiff has, after first failing to respond to defendant’s discovery requests, failed to
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comply with the order to provide responses. Defendant is entitled to have his discovery requests
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answered and plaintiff’s failure to provide any responses is decidedly prejudicial to defendant.
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Accordingly, there appears to be no justifiable reason for plaintiff’s default and this factor also
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favors dismissal.
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D. Public Policy Favoring Merits Resolution
The general policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits always weighs against
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terminating sanctions. Yourish, 191 F.3d at 992 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
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However, this policy alone is not sufficient to outweigh the other factors discussed herein. Leon
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v. IDX Sys. Corp., 464 F.3d 951, 960-61 (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted).
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E. Availability and Effectiveness of Lesser Sanctions
The court finds that no other, lesser sanctions that would be satisfactory or effective.
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Plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, making it unlikely that monetary sanctions will induce
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him to cooperate or prosecute his case. Nor does it appear that evidentiary sanctions would be an
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effective alternative; because plaintiff completely failed to respond to the discovery requests,
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exclusionary sanctions would likely have the same effect as dispositive sanctions. Finally,
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plaintiff was warned that failure to provide discovery responses and failure to respond to the
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motion for sanctions could result in dismissal of this action, ECF No. 54 at 2, ECF No. 58, and
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the “court’s warning to a party that his failure to obey the court’s order will result in dismissal can
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satisfy the ‘consideration of alternatives’ requirement,” Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1262 (citing Malone,
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833 at 132-33; Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 1424 (9th Cir. 1986)).
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Despite being given an extension of time to respond to defendant’s motion for sanctions,
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plaintiff failed to do so. Plaintiff’s lack of response to both the motion to compel and the motion
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for sanctions, along with his failure to respond to defendant’s discovery requests in the first place,
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demonstrate a willful disregard for this court’s orders and the court finds that lesser sanctions
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would be ineffective and insufficient to address this behavior.
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For these reasons, the undersigned finds that terminating sanctions are justified and will
recommend dismissal of this case.
III.
Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
When a party fails to obey a discovery order, “the court must order the disobedient party
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. . . to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, caused by the failure, unless the
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failure was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.”
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(C). In light of the fact that defendant’s motion for terminating sanctions
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is being granted, the court finds that monetary sanctions would be unjust.
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CONCLUSION
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IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that:
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1. Defendant’s motion for monetary sanctions, ECF No. 57, be denied.
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2. Defendant’s motion for terminating sanctions, ECF No. 57, be granted.
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3. This action be dismissed, with prejudice, for failure to comply with a court order. See
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A); Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); L.R. 110.
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These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge
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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen days
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after being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written
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objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned
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“Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Any response to the
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objections shall be served and filed within fourteen days after service of the objections. The
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parties are advised that failure to file objections within the specified time may waive the right to
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appeal the District Court’s order. Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991).
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DATED: November 29, 2021
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