Plaintiff and counsel are sanctioned for willful violation of Discovery Order
Sea Star Line, LLC v. Emerald Equipment Leasing, Inc., Civ. No. 05-245-JJF-LPS, May 26 , 2009.
Stark, M. J. Magistrate finds initial award of sanctions is appropriate on remand and extends order to include sanctions against both plaintiff and its counsel.
The Magistrate again imposes sanctions on plaintiff’s attorney following remand from the Court’s order vacating the Magistrate’s previous ruling imposing sanctions. The initial order for sanctions (the “Sanctions Order”) arose from a discovery dispute and a resulting Order issued by the Magistrate directing plaintiff to produce certain requested information (the “Discovery Order”). The Magistrate sanctioned plaintiff’s counsel after he failed to abide by the Magistrate’s Discovery Order. Thereafter the Court granted plaintiff’s motion to reconsider and vacated the Sanctions Order and remanded the matter to the Magistrate for “more comprehensive treatment.” Having reviewed the supplemental record on remand, the Magistrate concludes that the decisions to violate the Discovery Order were not solely the responsibility of plaintiff’s counsel but also involved plaintiff’s officers. Therefore, sanctions are appropriate as to both counsel and plaintiff. Although the supplemental record indicates that compliance with the Discovery Order would have been extremely burdensome, if not impossible, the decision to unilaterally violate the order without seeking relief from the Court or notifying defendant demonstrates a willful disregard of the Magistrate’s Order.
