Charlotte B Milliner et al v. Mutual Securities, Inc.
Filing
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ORDER Re: Defendant's Responses to Requests for Admissions 61 . Signed by Judge Thelton E. Henderson on 2/6/17. Admissions due by 2/17/17. (tehlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/6/2017).
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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CHARLOTTE B. MILLINER, et al.,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
MUTUAL SECURITIES, INC.,
Case No. 15-cv-03354-TEH
ORDER RE: DEFENDANT’S
RESPONSES TO REQUESTS FOR
ADMISSIONS
Defendant.
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Presently before the court is Plaintiffs’ motion regarding Defendant’s Responses to
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Requests for Admissions. ECF No. 61 (“Mot.”). Defendant timely opposed the motion,
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ECF No. 66 (“Opp’n.”), and Plaintiffs timely replied, ECF No. 70 (“Reply”). Pursuant to
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Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), the Court finds the motion suitable for determination without oral
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argument. After carefully considering the parties' written arguments, Plaintiff's motion is
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DENIED.
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DISCUSSION
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Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 36 Plaintiffs served Defendant with two sets of Requests
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for Admissions asking MSI to admit or deny whether certain specified stocks purchased
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into Plaintiffs’ accounts were OTC Equity Stocks (“OTCs”). Mot. at 2:15–18. Defendant
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objected to answering these requests stating that answering them “would require MSI to
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undertake a lengthy and nuanced analysis regarding how 80 different stocks relate to two
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different statutes,” that the requests are “unduly burdensome,” and that the requests ask for
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a legal conclusion. Opp’n at 1:11–22.
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However, Defendant’s arguments are completely undercut by Defendant’s Chief
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Compliance Officer deposition testimony, presented in Plaintiffs’ Reply, which confirms
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that MSI has already determined which securities were OTCs at the time they were
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purchased into the Plaintiffs’ accounts. Reply at 1:10–3:6; ECF No. 71-1, at 5-6. In light
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of this testimony, Defendant’s arguments relating to the difficulty involved in answering
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Plaintiffs’ Requests for Admissions are refuted. Additionally, Fed. R. Civ. P. 36(a)(1)(A)
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authorizes a party to serve written requests to the opposing party seeking admissions of
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“facts, the application of law to facts, or opinions about either.” Thus, Defendant cannot
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oppose Plaintiffs’ Requests for Admissions merely because Plaintiffs ask Defendant to
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apply law to facts.
While the Court certainly has discretion to deem the answers to Plaintiffs’ Requests
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for Admissions to be admitted due to Defendant failing to comply with the requirements of
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Rule 36(a), see Asea, Inc. v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 669 F.2d 1242, 1274 (9th Cir.
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1981), the Court shall grant the Defendant leave to file additional responses to Plaintiffs’
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Requests for Admissions. Defendant is ordered to provide such responses to Plaintiffs by
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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February 17, 2017. Defendant is forewarned that any further failures to engage in good-
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faith discovery will not be taken lightly by the Court.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: 2/6/17
_____________________________________
THELTON E. HENDERSON
United States District Judge
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