Coloni v. Coloni & Springer

2017 SD 66, 903 N.W.2d 745, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 135
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 1, 2017
Docket28048
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2017 SD 66 (Coloni v. Coloni & Springer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coloni v. Coloni & Springer, 2017 SD 66, 903 N.W.2d 745, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 135 (S.D. 2017).

Opinion

SEVERSON, Justice

[¶1.] Laura Coloni sued John Coloni and Bryan Springer for injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Amost two years after Laura filed her complaint, the circuit court granted 'Springer’s motion to dismiss. The court dismissed Laura’s case because Laura failed to comply with two discovery orders and did not pay an attorney’s fees sanction ordered for her failure to comply with a motion to compel discovery. Laura appeals raising three issues, which we restate as follows:

1. Whether the circuit court erred in granting Springer’s motion for a sanction of attorney’s fees against Laura for her failure to produce documents.
2. Whether the circuit court erred in dismissing Laura’s complaint as a sanction for failing to produce IRS Form W-2s.
3. Whether the circuit court erred in dismissing Laura’s complaint as a sanction for failure to pay the attorney’s fees sanction.

We affirm.

Background

[¶2.] In August of 2014, Laura sued John and Springer alleging negligence and seeking money damages for injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. On December 4, 2015, as part of that action, the circuit court entered an order compelling Laura to produce her W-2 wage statements (W-2s) from 2004 up to the date of the hearing. The deadline to produce the W-2s was December 17, 2015, Laura failed to meet that deadline, and on January 21, 2016, Springer filed a motion to compel seeking Laura’s W-2s and other records. On March 9, 2016, the circuit court granted Springer’s motion and ordered Laura to produce the requested documents within thirty days. The order also assessed attorney’s fees in the amount of $1,151.16 for Laura’s failure to comply with discovery.

[¶3.] After the thirty days had expired, Laura did not produce W-2s from 2004-2007, 2009-2010, and 2012-2014. She also did not pay the attorney’s fees sanction. On June 2,2016, Springer filed a motion to dismiss. On September 13, 2016, the court heard the motion.

[¶4.] On October 22, 2016, the court released its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court’s findings noted Laura could have obtained the equivalent of the requested information by filing an SSA-7050-F4 with the Social Security Administration. .The court also found Laura failed to, in the alternative, make a motion for a protective order or supplement discovery to indicate she did not intend to seek lost wages or loss of future earnings.

[¶5.] The circuit court’s conclusions of law stated, in full, that:

1. Plaintiff has violated this court’s orders dated December 3, 2015, and March 3, 2016 regarding Plaintiffs discovery obligations in this case.
2. Plaintiffs violations of said orders ancl her failure to cooperate in discovery were in bad faith.
3. Plaintiffs violations of said orders and her failure to cooperate in discovery have prejudiced Defendant Springer.
4. Plaintiffs bad faith violation of discovery orders presents a need for deterrence.
5. Plaintiff was previously warned that continued failure to cooperate in discovery and to obey this court’s orders could result in the dismissal of her complaint.
6. The lesser sanction of an award of attorney’s fees has been attempted against Plaintiff, but failed to obtain Plaintiffs compliance, with Plaintiff even failing to comply with that sanction.
7. The only appropriate sanction now is ■ ■ ■■ dismissal of Plaintiffs complaint pursuant to- SDCL 15-6-37(b)(2)(c).

The circuit court dismissed' Laura’s complaint with prejudice. Laura appeals this order.

Standard of Review

[¶6,] “We review a dismissal on the basis of failure to comply with discovery orders under an abuse of discretion standard.” Storm v. Durr, 2003 S.D. 6, ¶ 8, 657 N.W.2d 34, 36. “An abuse of discretion is ‘a choice outside the range of permissible choicest.]’ ” Rumpza v. Zubke, 2017 S.D. 49, ¶7, 900 N.W.2d 601, 604 (quoting MacKaben v. MacKaben, 2015 S.D. 86, ¶ 9, 871 N.W.2d 617, 622). “The trial court has broad discretion in imposing sanctions for failure to comply with orders for discovery.” Storm, 2008 S.D. 6, ¶ 16, 657 N.W.2d at 38. “However, when the trial court imposes dismissal as a sanction, its discretion is ‘narrow, and the losing party’s noncompliance with discovery must be due to willfulness, fault or bad faith.’” Id. (quoting Van Zee v. Reding, 436 N.W.2d 844, 845 (S.D. 1989)). “We will accept the circuit court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous.” Rumpza, 2017 S.D. 49, ¶ 7, 900 N.W.2d at 604

Analysis

1. Whether the circuit court erred in granting Springer’s motion for a sanction of attorney’s fees against Laura for her failure to produce documents.

[¶7.] Laura claims she made a good faith attempt to obtain the requested W-2s. She also claims the record in this case showed that she had substantially justified her inability to produce all the documents. She argues that the sanction of attorney’s fees was inappropriate.

[¶8.] SDCL 15-6-37(a)(4)(A) authorizes the assessment of expenses and sanctions against a party failing to comply with an order to compel. The statute allows a circuit court to:

require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion ... to pay to the moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, including attorneys’ fees, unless the court finds that the motion was filed without the movant’s first making a good faith effort to obtain the disclosure or discovery without court action, or that the opposing party’s nondisclosure, response or objection was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.

Id.

[¶9.] In the order approving the sanction of attorney’s fees, the circuit court found Laura exhibited a “chronic failure to respond to legitimate discovery requests.” It also found the calculation of attorney’s fees was reasonable considering the locale and the experience of the attorney. The circuit court also pointed out that “prompt discovery responses are a necessary function of the efficient administration of justice [and] attorney fees are allowed by statute.”

[¶10.] The circuit court’s findings were reasoned and sufficiently justified the imposed sanctions as allowed by the statute.

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Related

Hiller v. Hiller
2018 SD 74 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2018)
In re Issuance of a Summons Compelling
908 N.W.2d 160 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2018)
Matter of M.M.W. & Wilkie
2018 SD 16 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2018)

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Bluebook (online)
2017 SD 66, 903 N.W.2d 745, 2017 S.D. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coloni-v-coloni-springer-sd-2017.