Jones v. McDonough

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedMarch 8, 2022
Docket1:21-cv-00068
StatusUnknown

This text of Jones v. McDonough (Jones v. McDonough) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. McDonough, (S.D. Miss. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI SOUTHERN DIVISION

LENORA JONES PLAINTIFF

v. CIVIL NO. 1:21-cv-00068-HSO-RHWR DENIS RICHARD MCDONOUGH, Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs DEFENDANT

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO COMPEL

BEFORE THE COURT is the [30] Motion to Compel, filed by Defendant Denis Richard McDonough, Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Plaintiff Lenora Jones has filed a Response, see Pl.’s Resp. [33], and Defendant a Reply, see Def.’s Reply [36]. Having considered the memoranda and submissions of the parties, the Court concludes that Defendant’s [30] Motion to Compel should be granted. Plaintiff must supplement her expert designation and discovery responses no later than March 25, 2022. Defendant’s expert designation deadline is now April 25, 2022. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Lenora Jones (“Plaintiff”) brings this employment discrimination action under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against Defendant Denis Richard McDonough, Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (“Defendant”). See Compl. [1]. Defendant propounded written discovery on Plaintiff on August 13, 2021. Def.’s Mem. in Supp. [31] at 1. Following Plaintiff’s allegedly inadequate discovery responses, Defendant sent a good faith letter requesting supplementation. Mot. to Compel [30-1]. After three months of allegedly unsuccessful attempts to obtain a substantive response to the good faith letter or the requested supplementations, Defendant filed the instant [30] Motion to Compel.1

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a) governs motions to compel discovery responses. Rule 37(a)(3)(B) provides that a party seeking discovery may move for an order compelling production or answers against another party when the latter has failed to produce documents requested under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 or to answer interrogatories under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33. See Fed. R. Civ. P.

37(a)(3)(B)(iii)–(iv). In reviewing a motion to compel, courts must consider that discovery rules “are to be accorded a broad and liberal treatment to effect their purpose of adequately informing litigants in civil trials.” Herbert v. Lando, 441 U.S. 153, 177 (1979). “At some point, however, discovery yields diminishing returns, needlessly increases expenses, and delays the resolution of the parties’ dispute.” Willis v. City of Hattiesburg, No. 2:14-cv-89-KS-MTP, 2016 WL 918038, at *2 (S.D. Miss. Mar. 10,

2016). Indeed, “[d]iscovery is not a license for the [parties] to ‘go fishing’ and is limited to information that ‘is relevant to any party’s claim or defense.’” Barnes v. Tumlinson, 597 Fed. App’x 798, 799 (5th Cir. 2015) (citing Marshall v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp.,

1 Defendant also filed a [32] Motion seeking an extension of his expert designation deadline. The Court mooted the [32] Motion following its suspension of Defendant’s expert designation deadline pending ruling on the [30] Motion to Compel. See Text Only Order entered 02/02/2022. 2 576 F.2d 588, 592 (5th Cir. 1978); Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1)). “Finding a just and appropriate balance in the discovery process” is thus one of the Court’s key responsibilities. Willis, 2016 WL 918038, at *2. “[I]t hardly bears repeating that

control of discovery is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court . . . .” Van Duzer v. U.S. Bank Nat. Ass’n, 582 Fed. App’x 279, 283 (5th Cir. 2014) (quoting Williamson v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 815 F.2d 368, 382 (5th Cir. 1987)). III. ANALYSIS Having reviewed the submissions of the parties, the Court finds three issues that require resolution: (1) Defendant’s compliance with the good faith certificate

requirement, (2) adequacy of Plaintiff’s Expert designation, and (3) adequacy of Plaintiff’s discovery responses. The Court addresses each in turn. A. Good Faith Certificate Requirement As an initial matter, Plaintiff contends that the motion to compel must be dismissed without prejudice for failure to attach a good faith certificate. See Pl.’s Resp. [34] at 8. Defendant counters that he did confer in good faith, on multiple occasions, via letter, email, and telephone. Def.’s Reply [36] at 3-4.

Local Uniform Civil Rule 37 provides that “[b]efore service of a discovery motion, counsel must confer in good faith to determine to what extent the issue in question can be resolved without court intervention. A Good Faith Certificate ... must be filed with all discovery motions.” L. U. Civ. R. 37(a). Generally, a good faith certificate is “mandatory” and failure to file a good faith certificate “will result in denial of the

3 motion without prejudice” to re-file. See Local Rule 37(a) & (c); Ross v. CitiFinancial, Inc., 203 F.R.D. 239, 239-40 (S.D. Miss. 2001). The Court prefers parties file a formal certificate of good faith and, in most cases,

enforces this requirement. Defendant did not file a formal good faith certificate. Defendant’s motion cites a good faith letter sent to Plaintiff on October 29, 2021, and a series of emails exchanged over an extended period confirming attempts to confer and resolve the issues now raised. See Mot. to Compel [30-1 & 2]. Defendant’s memorandum likewise details numerous attempts to confer in good faith and further establishes a clear record of delay and unresponsiveness, attributable to Plaintiff and

Plaintiff’s counsel, that led to filing the motion. See Def.’s Mem. in Supp. [31] at 1-2. Plaintiff has provided several sincere reasons to explain the delays. See Pl.’s Mem. in Supp. [34] at 2-3. Because Plaintiff’s actions required the filing of the motion to compel, and Defendant made multiple attempts to confer in good faith, denying the motion without prejudice and forcing Defendant to re-file would result in additional unnecessary and unwarranted delay. Therefore, the Court will not deny the motion based on the failure to file a formal certificate of good faith.

B. Plaintiff’s Expert Designation Defendant asks the Court to compel Plaintiff to supplement her expert designation of Drs. Joanna Bayles, Robert D. Ross, and Sanjay Chaube on the grounds that Plaintiff failed to properly designate these experts as treating physicians pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(C). See Def.’s Mem. in Supp. [31] at 9. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(C), which governs 4 mandatory disclosures regarding designated non-retained experts, non-retained experts must provide disclosures stating both the subject matter on which the non- retained expert is expected to present evidence and a summary of the facts and

opinions as to which the non-retained expert is expected to testify. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 26(a)(2)(C)(i)-(ii) (emphasis added); see also L. U. Civ. R. 26(a)(2)(D). Failure to comply may result in the witness or information not being allowed at trial or barred from use at hearings or in motions under Rule 37(c)(1) “unless the failure was substantially justified or is harmless.” Primrose Operating Co. v. National American Ins.

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Jones v. McDonough, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-mcdonough-mssd-2022.