Jones v. Natural Essentials, Inc.

2018 Ohio 5071, 126 N.E.3d 223
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 17, 2018
DocketNO. 2018-P-0010
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2018 Ohio 5071 (Jones v. Natural Essentials, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Natural Essentials, Inc., 2018 Ohio 5071, 126 N.E.3d 223 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

DIANE V. GRENDELL, J.

{¶ 1} Plaintiffs-appellants, Teresa Jones, Kevin Jones, and Robert Lovejoy, appeal from the judgment of the Portage County Court of Common Pleas, ordering the payment of attorney's fees and other sanctions to defendant-appellee, Natural Essentials, Inc. The issues to be determined by this court are whether leaving a deposition because the notice did not state solely that it would be videotaped rather than stenographically recorded is sanctionable; whether an affidavit of attorney's fees is sufficient to support such an award as a frivolous conduct sanction; whether an affidavit stating payment of a court reporter's invoice had been made is sufficient to award the reporter's fees as a discovery sanction; and whether multiple failures to provide discovery, both in response to the defendant's requests and court orders, is sanctionable conduct under R.C. 2323.51 and Civ.R. 11. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the lower court.

{¶ 2} On March 14, 2014, the appellants filed a Complaint in the Portage County Court of Common Pleas against Natural Essentials, alleging wrongful termination in relation to a workers' compensation *226 matter. Natural Essentials filed an Answer on May 27, 2014.

{¶ 3} Natural Essentials filed a Motion to Compel Lovejoy and Kevin Jones to respond to written discovery requests on September 23, 2014. Pursuant to the Motion, Natural Essentials had served requests for interrogatories, production of documents, and admissions on July 14, 2014, following up with multiple letters to opposing counsel. An e-mail response received on September 12, 2014, which "purport[ed] to attach responses" to discovery requests, contained only documents from an unrelated case.

{¶ 4} On September 23, 2014, appellants filed a request for leave to file untimely responses to the Requests for Admissions, stating that a response had been submitted on or about September 10 and asserting that the delay in responding resulted from lead counsel's departure from the firm. Appellants also filed a Memorandum in Opposition to the Motion to Compel, arguing that discovery had been sent via e-mail to Natural Essentials on September 25, 2014. Natural Essentials responded that it had received only inadequate responses from Lovejoy and none were received in relation to Kevin Jones.

{¶ 5} A December 1, 2014 Magistrate's Order granted the Motion to Compel in part and set forth certain items appellants must provide to Natural Essentials within 30 days.

{¶ 6} On December 4, 2014, appellants filed a Motion for Protective Order, arguing that they appeared for scheduled depositions but declined to participate because they had not been provided notice that the depositions were to be videotaped.

{¶ 7} Natural Essentials filed a Motion to Compel Plaintiffs to Testify and Motion for Sanctions on December 9, 2014, and a Brief in Opposition to the Motion for Protective Order on December 10, 2014. These filings contended that the notices informed the appellants there would be a video deposition, but the appellants "walked out" of the depositions rather than be taped. The transcript of the "attempted deposition" included appellants' counsel's objection to the notice, which she deemed inadequate, as well as her statement that appellants would provide testimony in front of the stenographer or submit to a videotaped deposition the following day "provided that defendant modify [its] notice," which Natural Essentials refused. Natural Essentials attached a copy of an invoice from the court reporter/videographer, David Tackla, for fees in the amount of $1,701.40.

{¶ 8} On December 12, 2014, 1 the court issued an Order granting the Motion to Compel, finding that there had been proper notice of the video depositions and the appellants' actions "were unreasonable and obstructionist, constitute sanctionable discovery misconduct, and warrant appropriate relief under Rule 37(D)." Appellants and counsel were ordered to pay $1,701.40 in deposition-related fees, as well as defense counsel's preparation costs and costs for filing related motions and responses.

{¶ 9} On January 7, 2015, Natural Essentials filed a Motion to Dismiss Due to Plaintiffs' Continuing Discovery Misconduct, contending that the appellants had failed to comply with orders to provide discovery and pay the Tackla invoice. On January 20, 2015, the appellants filed a Notice of Dismissal without Prejudice, dismissing all claims.

*227 {¶ 10} Natural Essentials filed a February 12, 2015 Motion to Enforce the December 12, 2014 sanctions. On the same date, it filed a Motion to Impose Sanctions for Frivolous Conduct and Other Litigation Misconduct. Appellants filed a brief in opposition.

{¶ 11} A hearing was held on the foregoing motions on July 30-31, 2015. The following pertinent testimony and exhibits were presented:

{¶ 12} Following his opening argument, Natural Essentials' attorney, Todd Lebowitz, presented a Summary of Fees and an attached affidavit for fees arising from the alleged frivolous conduct, and affirmed that the affidavit was accurate. The fees totaled $49,637.66 after a 10 percent discount. The court admitted this as an exhibit.

{¶ 13} All three plaintiffs, Teresa Jones, Kevin Jones, and Robert Lovejoy, testified that they had not been advised by counsel that the depositions would be videotaped, although they would have gone forward with a stenographic deposition. Kevin Jones and Lovejoy both testified that they answered the interrogatories and requests for documents to the best of their ability and submitted them to counsel.

{¶ 14} Monique George, the office manager at Grubb and Associates, counsel for appellants, testified that the attorney who had been handling the present matter left the firm around the time the request for discovery was made in July 2014, which resulted in a failure to review the requests until August 2014. George admitted she mistakenly e-mailed documents from another case to opposing counsel rather than the answers to the request for admissions. The correct documents were never provided since Lebowitz sent an e-mail stating it was unnecessary to respond as the matters had already been deemed admitted.

{¶ 15} Jessica Bartolozzi, an attorney at Grubb and Associates, testified that she attempted to e-mail the interrogatories and requested documents from Kevin Jones and Lovejoy to opposing counsel on September 25, 2014, but mistakenly failed to add opposing counsel's e-mail address for Jones' documents, resending the e-mail on October 10. After the Magistrate's Order requiring discovery, she provided the necessary documents to the court but failed to realize they also must be provided to defense counsel. After she was alerted to the error, the documents still were not sent to opposing counsel.

{¶ 16} Patricia Lowery, who practices law in her firm in Medina, opined that the hourly rate of $455 to $475 charged by Natural Essentials' counsel was not a reasonable hourly rate. She also believed the time expended drafting the motions at issue was unreasonable.

{¶ 17} Jon Jastromb, a videographer in Northeast Ohio, testified that he typically does not charge for videography work that is scheduled but not completed, with the exception of his set-up fee.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2018 Ohio 5071, 126 N.E.3d 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-natural-essentials-inc-ohioctapp-2018.