Mulligan v. Brushy Mountain Bee Farm Inc et al

Filing 68

ORDER granting 59 Motion to Compel Discovery from Def. Dadant, directing the CEO, President, or person in charge of the affairs of Dadant & Sons, Inc. to conduct a diligent search of the company's records and ce rtify to the court by affidavit that such search has been conducted and that the documents in question are unable to be located, have been destroyed, or never existed. Said affidavit due within 21 days of the date of this order. Signed by Honorable Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. on 02/28/2014.(bshr, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA DIVISION
Jason Mulligan,

)
)
v.
)
Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Inc.; and
)
Dadant & Sons, Inc.,
)
Defendants.
)
___________________________________________

C/A No.: 3:12-cv-02899-JFA

Plaintiff,

ORDER

The court has been informed by the attorneys for the parties that certain documents sought in
the above litigation cannot be located, do not exist, or have been destroyed. The documents sought
to be discovered are outlined in Plaintiff’s second discovery requests (ECF No. 59-1), and the court
will not repeat the requests for production here.
Defendant Dadadant & Sons, Inc. has responded by indicating that no responsive documents
exist, except for some patent paperwork in the public domain and already produced.
The attorneys for the party seeking the discovery have made a showing that there is a
possibility that such documents do exist, or have existed in the past, or that a reasonable person would
conclude that such documents do exist.
Now, therefore, it is Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the Chief Executive Officer,
President, or person in charge of the affairs of Dadant & Sons, Inc., direct that a diligent search be
made of the company’s records and certify to the court by affidavit that such search has been
conducted and that the documents are unable to be located, have been destroyed, or never existed.
Said affidavit will be under oath and under penalty of perjury and contempt for filing a false document
with a United States District Court, and should be submitted within 21 days of the date of this order.
The affidavit certifying, under penalty of perjury and contempt, that such search has been
conducted should state as follows:

I,__________, CEO [or other person in charge] of Dadant & Sons,
Inc., having been fully advised of the penalties for contempt of court
and/or making a false statement to a United States District
Court(including but not limited to, a maximum penalty of six months
incarceration in a federal penal facility), hereby certify that ________
has/have made a complete search of all corporate records and that we
[are] [are not] able to locate the following documents requested in the
underlying litigation. [Account for each document requested in ECF
No. 59-1]. I hereby submit this information with the full knowledge
that it is material to the underlying civil action and with the further
knowledge that this Affidavit is submitted under penalty of perjury for
obstruction of justice and submitting a false statement to a United
States District Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

February 28, 2014
Columbia, South Carolina

Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.
United States District Judge