Shoun v. Best Formed Plastics Inc

Filing 59

OPINION and ORDER granting 57 Motion to Compel discovery: Mr. Shoun is to provide his answers to interrogatories and the requested documents to counsel for Best Formed Plastics within ten days of this date, and Best Formed Plastics is AFFORDED twenty days to submit an itemization of the attorneys fees and expenses it incurred in bringing this motion. Signed by Judge Robert L Miller, Jr on 6/4/15. (mc)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION

GEORGE SHOUN,
Plaintiff
vs.
BEST FORMED PLASTICS, INC.,
Defendant

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CAUSE NO. 3:14-CV-463 RLM

OPINION and ORDER
This cause is before the court on the motion of Best Formed Plastics, Inc.
to compel plaintiff George Shoun to respond to the company’s first set of
interrogatories and first set of requests for production of documents propounded
to Mr. Shoun on February 27, 2015. Best Formed Plastics filed its motion to
compel on May 4, 2015; Mr. Shoun hasn’t filed a response, and the time for doing
so has passed.
Best Formed Plastics reports that Mr. Shoun’s responses were initially due
on April 1. When no responses were received by that date, Best Formed Plastics
says its counsel contacted Patrick O’Leary, Mr. Shoun’s counsel, and agreed to
Mr. O’Leary’s April 9 request to extend the response deadline to April 20, and
agreed again on April 24 to his request to extend the deadline to April 30. When
no responses were forthcoming, Best Formed Plastics moved to compel pursuant

to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a), together with its certification of its efforts
to confer with opposing counsel. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1); N.D. Ind. L.R. 37-1(a).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) provides that a party can obtain
discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or
defense of any party. Best Formed Plastics says it submitted its discovery requests
to Mr. Shoun in February and, to date, has received no responses, even after
having given Mr. Shoun more time to comply with the requests. Because Mr.
Shoun hasn’t challenged the company’s claim that he hasn’t answered any of the
propounded interrogatories or produced any of the requested documents, he
hasn’t objected to any of those discovery requests, and he hasn’t responded to the
motion to compel, the court finds the company’s motion to be well-taken and
concludes that it should be granted.
Best Formed Plastics also requests that Mr. Shoun be required to pay the
fees and expenses the company has incurred in bringing this motion. Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 37(d) provides that if a motion to compel is granted, the court
must require the party whose conduct necessitated the motion, the attorney
advising that conduct, or both to pay the movant’s reasonable expenses incurred
in making the motion, including attorney’s fees. Such an order is excused if “the
failure was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of
expenses unjust,” neither of which is present here. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(d)(3). No
objection to the motion to compel was filed, so the court can’t assess whether the

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failure to cooperate in discovery and to respond to the motion is the fault of the
plaintiff or his counsel. The court must grant Best Formed Plastic’s motion for fees
and expenses and order that the amount of the sanction awarded to the company
be shared by Mr. Shoun and Mr. O’Leary jointly.
Accordingly, the court GRANTS Best Formed Plastics’ motion to compel
discovery [docket # 57] and
(1)

ORDERS

Mr.

Shoun

to

provide

his

answers

to

interrogatories and the requested documents to counsel for Best
Formed Plastics within ten days of this date, and
(2) AFFORDS Best Formed Plastics twenty days to submit an
itemization of the attorney’s fees and expenses it incurred in bringing
this motion.
SO ORDERED.
ENTERED:

June 4, 2015

/s/ Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Judge, United States District Court

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