Brandon v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC

Filing 20

Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV: ORDER entered granting 15 Motion for Order Plaintiffs are ORDERED to show cause in writing on or before August 16, 2018, why this case should not be dismissed for failure to comply with discovery obligations.(FDS, law1)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
_________________________________________
)
HOLLY BRANDON, individually and on
)
behalf of J.V., her minor child,
)
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
v.
)
)
GLAXOSMITHKLINE LLC,
)
)
Defendant.
)
__________________________________________)

Civil Action No.
17-12354-FDS

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
SAYLOR, J.
On May 26, 2016, this Court issued MDL Order No. 11, which required each plaintiff to
complete a Plaintiff Fact Sheet. (Docket No. 252 ¶ 14). That Order also required plaintiffs to
include signed declarations and duly executed authorizations with their fact sheets. (Id.).
Furthermore, the Court ordered that “questions on the fact sheets shall be treated as
interrogatories under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and shall be subject to the
rules applicable to such interrogatories . . . .” (Id. ¶ 17).
It appears that plaintiffs have failed to comply with MDL Order No. 11. The Plaintiff
Fact Sheet was due on January 29, 2018, more than six months ago. On June 4, 2018, counsel
for GSK sent a letter to plaintiffs’ counsel requesting the document by June 11, 2018, and
inviting a meet and confer on the issue. However, the document was never provided.
Therefore, GSK’s motion to show cause is GRANTED. Plaintiffs are ORDERED to
show cause in writing on or before August 16, 2018, why this case should not be dismissed for

1

failure to comply with discovery obligations. If good cause is not shown by that date, this action
will be dismissed pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2)(A)(v).
GSK has also requested that plaintiffs pay a sanction of $500 to cover costs incurred in
bringing this motion. In general, an award of attorneys’ fees is appropriate under Fed. R. Civ. P.
37(a)(5) when parties have failed to provide required discovery. Because plaintiffs have offered
no reason for their failure to timely provide discovery, to the extent plaintiffs submit the required
documents, they are ORDERED to pay GSK $500 in reasonable expenses incurred in bringing
this motion.
So Ordered.

/s/ F. Dennis Saylor
F. Dennis Saylor IV
United States District Judge

Dated: July 26, 2018

2