Millworks Construction, LLC v. Environmental, Safety & Health, Inc (TV1)

Filing 19

ORDER granting 16 Motion to Compel. Plaintiff SHALL RESPOND to the Defendants First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production in a full and complete manner on or before July 15, 2013. Plaintiff is ORDERED to show cause in writing on or before July 19, 2013, as to why the Court should not award the Defendant the fees and costs it incurred in filing this motion. Signed by Magistrate Judge H Bruce Guyton on 07/08/2013. (KAW) (Main Document 19 replaced per chambers on 7/8/2013) (KAW).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE
MILLWORKS CONSTRUCTION, LLC,

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Plaintiff,
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v.
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ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HEALTH, INC., )
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Defendant.
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No. 3:12-CV-177
(VARLAN/GUYTON)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This case is before the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Rules of this Court,
and Standing Order 13-02.
Now before the Court is the Defendant’s Motion to Compel [Doc. 16]. In its Motion to
Compel, Defendant submits that it served its First Interrogatories and Requests for Production
upon Plaintiff’s counsel on February 26, 2013. A copy of the First Interrogatories and Requests
for Production is attached to Defendant’s Motion. [Doc. 16-5]. Plaintiff has not provided
responses to the First Interrogatories and Requests for Production. Defendant’s counsel has
attempted to confer with the Plaintiff and secure responses numerous times, and Defendant’s
counsel reminded Plaintiff’s counsel that the deadline for completing discovery in this case was
set to expired May 7, 2013. [Docs. 16-1, 16-2, 16-3]. Despite these efforts, Plaintiff did not
respond to the written discovery, and Defendant was forced to file the instant Motion to Compel
on June 6, 2013. Additionally, the District Judge was required to delay the trial of this matter
due to this discovery issue. [See Doc. 18].
The Plaintiff has not responded to the Motion to Compel, and its time for responding has
expired. See E.D. Tenn. L.R. 7.1; Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d); 5(b)(2)(E).

The Court finds that the Defendant’s Motion to Compel is well-taken. First, the Court
finds that the Plaintiff has clearly failed to comply with its discovery obligations under the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff did not timely responded to the Defendant’s written
discovery, and despite being reminded of Plaintiff’s obligations, Plaintiff and its counsel have
persisted in their refusal to respond to discovery.
In addition, the Plaintiff has failed to respond to the Motion to Compel within the time
allotted under Local Rule 7.1(a). The Court may treat this failure to respond as acquiescence to
the relief sought. See E.D. Tenn. L.R. 7.2; see also Campbell v. McMinn County, 2012 WL
369090 (E.D. Tenn. 2012).
Based upon the foregoing, the Court finds that the Motion to Compel [Doc. 16] is welltaken, and it is GRANTED. Plaintiff SHALL RESPOND to the Defendant’s First Set of
Interrogatories and Requests for Production in a full and complete manner on or before July 15,
2013.1 Failure to comply with this Memorandum and Order may result in sanctions under Rule
37 including inter alia a recommendation that Plaintiff’s claims be dismissed by the District
Judge. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b).

1

Counsel for the Defendant represented to the Chambers of the undersigned that the Plaintiff has responded to the
written discovery as of July 5, 2013. It is unclear when and to what extent Plaintiff responded. To the extent any
response is not full and complete, Plaintiff has until July 15, 2013, to fully respond.
2

Rule 37 provides that if a motion to compel is granted the Court “must, after giving an
opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion . . .
to pay movant’s reasonable expenses.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(5). Accordingly, Plaintiff is
ORDERED to show cause in writing on or before July 19, 2013, as to why the Court should not
award the Defendant the fees and costs it incurred in filing this motion.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

ENTER:
/s H. Bruce Guyton
United States Magistrate Judge

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