State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Elite Health Centers Inc. et al

Filing 421

ORDER RESOLVING 379 MOTION for Order to Show Cause State Farm Mutual's Motion For Rule To Show Cause As To Why Antonio Spratt Should Not Be Held In Contempt filed by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, AND VACATING 414 Order to Show Cause--Signed by Magistrate Judge Anthony P. Patti. (MWil)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 2:16-cv-13040
District Judge Avern Cohn
Magistrate Judge Anthony P. Patti

v.
ELITE HEALTH CENTERS, INC., ELITE
CHIROPRACTIC, P.C., ELITE
REHABILITATION, INC., MIDWEST
MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, INC., PURE
REHABILITATION, INC., DEREK L.
BITTNER, D.C., P.C., MARK A. RADOM,
DEREK LAWRENCE BITTNER, D.C.,
RYAN MATTHEW LUKOWSKI, D.C.,
MICHAEL P. DRAPLIN, D.C., NOEL H.
UPFALL, D.O., MARK J. JUSKA, M.D.,
SUPERIOR DIAGNOSTICS, INC.,
CHINTAN DESAI, M.D., MICHAEL J.
PALEY, M.D., DEARBORN CENTER
FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY, L.L.C.,
MICHIGAN CENTER FOR PHYSICAL
THERAPY, INC., and JAYSON ROSETT
Defendants.
_________________________/
ORDER RESOLVING STATE FARM MUTUAL’S MOTION FOR ORDER
TO SHOW CAUSE AS TO WHY ANTONIO SPRATT SHOULD NOT BE
HELD IN CONTEMPT (DE 379), VACATING THE SHOW CAUSE
ORDER (DE 414), AND ORDERING ANTONIO SPRATT TO APPEAR
FOR HIS DEPOSITION
On or about January 10, 2019, Plaintiff State Farm Mutual Automobile
Insurance Company (“State Farm”) filed a motion to show cause against

non-party Antonio Spratt (“Spratt”) for his failure to: (a) appear at his October 30,
2018 deposition; and, (b) produce documents pursuant to a subpoena duces tecum.
(DE 379.) On March 8, 2019, the Court entered an order directing State Farm and
Spratt to appear before the Court for a show cause hearing on State Farm’s motion,
at which Spratt had to explain why he should not be held in contempt. (DE 414.)
On the date set for the show cause hearing, Antonio Spratt and counsel for
State Farm and the Elite Defendants appeared in my courtroom. Spratt stated that
he has been attempting to secure representation, and that he had been informed that
a stay had been entered in this case. Counsel for the Elite Defendants confirmed
that Spratt had contacted him about representing him in this matter, and that he had
previously informed Spratt about the stay. Spratt has had a total of five months in
which to secure representation, and the November 16, 2018 stay was lifted on
January 8, 2019. He agreed that he will attend his deposition as ordered, with or
without representation, and that he will search for documents responsive to the
subpoena served on him.
In light of Spratt’s communications with counsel in an attempt to secure
representation in this matter, as well as the prior stay in this matter, the Court
believes that a finding of contempt is not warranted at this time; however, Antonio
Spratt is ORDERED to appear for his deposition on April 2, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.
at the law offices of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, 150 W. Jefferson,
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Suite 2500, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Spratt is further ORDERED to search for
and produce, by April 2, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., all documents within his possession,
custody or control responsive to the requests in the subpoena for documents served
on August 9, 2018. Failure to comply with this Order may result in an order
holding Spratt in civil contempt.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 25, 2019

s/Anthony P. Patti
Anthony P. Patti
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was sent to parties of record
on March 25, 2019, electronically and/or by U.S. Mail.
s/Michael Williams
Case Manager for the
Honorable Anthony P. Patti

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