Marksberry v. FCA US LLC

District Court, D. Kansas·Decided September 23, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-02724·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

MICHAEL MARKSBERRY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 19-2724-EFM ) FCA US LLC, et. al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER This case arises from plaintiff’s purchase of a Dodge Ram pickup truck and defendants’ later refusal to fix the truck under a warranty claim. Plaintiff asserts claims under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act (“KCPA”) and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and for breach of implied warranty of merchantability, common law fraud, and injunctive relief. The case is now before the court on plaintiff’s motion to compel defendant FCA US LLC (“FCA”), the truck’s manufacturer, to fully respond to certain document requests and interrogatories (ECF No. 47). For the reasons discussed below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part. In 2009, plaintiff purchased a model-year 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck from defendant Landers McLarty Olathe KS, LLC (“Olathe Dodge”), a local FCA dealer. The truck came with a Lifetime Powertrain Limited Warranty (“Warranty”) issued by FCA, which covered the costs of all parts and labor needed to repair powertrain components 1 O:\ORDERS\19-2724-EFM-47.docx defective in workmanship and materials. In May 2016, plaintiff brought his truck to Olathe Dodge for repair of the exhaust manifold. He paid $1,323 for the repair because defendants would not recognize it as covered by the Warranty. The Warranty had a requirement that

coverage would continue only if the truck was subjected to a “powertrain inspection . . . within sixty (60) days of each 5 year anniversary of the in-service date,” and plaintiff does not dispute that a powertrain inspection was not timely performed.1 Plaintiff alleges instead that FCA concealed the powertrain-inspection requirement. Plaintiff served document requests and interrogatories on FCA. FCA timely served

its responses and objections. The parties then engaged in multiple meet-and-confer discussions, and FCA supplemented its responses on August 13, 2020. In a telephone call between counsel on August 20, 2020, the parties resolved additional issues. Plaintiff’s counsel “recapped” those resolutions in an e-mail sent later that day to FCA’s counsel.2 The e-mail reflects plaintiff requested written confirmation of certain facts to resolve

disputes related to Document Request Nos. 2-4, 8, 11, and 18; and Interrogatory Nos. 5 and 8.3 Plaintiff also requested supplemental answers to Document Request Nos. 16 and 19-22; and Interrogatory No. 1.4

1 ECF No. 48 at 2; see also ECF No. 47 at 4. 2 ECF No. 47-5 at 3. 3 Id. 4 Id. 2 O:\ORDERS\19-2724-EFM-47.docx On August 24, 2020, FCA’s counsel responded to the e-mail, providing the written confirmations requested for Document Request Nos. 2-4, 8, 11, and 18; and Interrogatory Nos. 5 and 8; and stating FCA would serve the requested supplemental answers on August

26, 2020.5 Plaintiff’s counsel responded by e-mail a few hours later, acknowledging the confirmations and asking FCA to consent to a one-week extension of that day’s deadline for filing a motion to compel discovery.6 When FCA’s counsel questioned the need for the extension, plaintiff’s counsel noted that plaintiff’s ability to file a motion to compel would help ensure FCA produced the supplemental answers, and further noted for the first time

that FCA had “some questions and concerns” regarding certain documents produced on August 13, 2020.7 When FCA refused consent, plaintiff filed the instant motion to compel on August 24, 2020. FCA served the promised supplemental answers to Document Request Nos. 16 and 19-22, and Interrogatory No. 1, as well as a verification page for its earlier supplemental

responses, on August 26, 2020.8 In its September 4, 2020 response to the motion to compel, FCA argues the motion only raises issues that either have been resolved or that were never

5 Id. at 2. 6 Id. 7 Id. at 1. 8 See ECF No. 49; ECF No. 50-1 at 2-3. 3 O:\ORDERS\19-2724-EFM-47.docx raised during the meet-and-confer process.9 FCA seeks its fees and costs incurred in responding to what it views as an “unnecessary and completely unjustified” motion.10 As discussed further below, the court agrees with FCA that the motion to compel

was largely—though not completely—unnecessary. The court addresses each request to compel (or strike) in turn. Preliminary Statement and General Objections. Both FCA’s response to interrogatories11 and response to document requests12 included introductory sections titled “Preliminary Statement” and “Objections to Definitions and Instructions.” Plaintiff

complains that such “boilerplate responses” are not sufficient to preserve objections and should be struck.13 Plaintiff is correct, as a technical matter, that “initial general, boilerplate objections are tantamount to not making an objection at all,”14 but as a practical matter, this appears to be much ado about nothing. Significantly, as plaintiff himself recognizes, FCA has not withheld any discovery based on the introductory sections of its responses.

Thus, the court questions why plaintiff is asking both the court and FCA to spend time addressing this inconsequential argument.

9 ECF No. 50 at 1. 10 Id. at 11. 11 ECF No. 47-2. 12 ECF No. 47-1. 13 ECF No. 47 at 5. 14 Ad Astra Recovery Servs., Inc. v. Heath, No. 18-1145-JWB, 2020 WL 374685, at *4 (D. Kan. Jan. 23, 2020). 4 O:\ORDERS\19-2724-EFM-47.docx To the extent plaintiff complains about FCA’s statement that its responses are made “subject to” objections that may be raised as to admissibility should plaintiff seek to use the responses in court, the court finds no asserted conditional objection to discovery.

Plaintiff’s complaint about FCA’s objection to temporal scope is further without merit. Plaintiff’s requests sought discovery from October 31, 2007, to the present.15 FCA objected “because FCA US did not exist prior to 2009,” but stated it would provide responsive information in its possession, custody, and control.16 In meet-and-confer e-

mail exchanges, FCA again made clear it was not withholding any information or documents based on temporal scope.17 Because FCA has asserted it produced responsive documents, plaintiff’s motion to compel is denied in this respect.18 Plaintiff’s request for relief related to FCA’s preliminary statements and general objections is denied.

Document Request Nos. 2, 3, 8, and 11. Plaintiff next asks the court to strike or overrule FCA’s objections to Document Request Nos. 2, 3, 8, and 11. As discussed above, the record reflects that during the parties’ meet-and-confer sessions, plaintiff agreed that

15 ECF No. 47-2 at 2, ECF No. 47-1 at 2. 16 ECF No. 47-2 at 3, ECF No. 47-1 at 3. 17 ECF No. 47-4 at 1. 18 Azim v. Tortoise Capital Advisors, LLC, No. 13-2267-DDC, 2015 WL 13624448, at *4 (D. Kan. May 26, 2015) (“Defendants also claim that there are no additional responsive documents to produce. Because defendants have asserted that they have produced the documents relevant to Request No. 16, plaintiff’s motion to compel is denied.”). 5 O:\ORDERS\19-2724-EFM-47.docx he would accept FCA’s answers to these requests provided FCA gave “written confirmation” that “nothing is being withheld on the basis of the objections.”19 FCA provided such written confirmation on August 24, 2020, stating, “This will confirm that

for Request for Production Nos. 2, 3, 8 and 11, FCA US is not withholding documents on the basis of its objections.”20 Plaintiff now seems to be seeking “formal supplements” to the same effect, despite counsel’s agreement that e-mail confirmation would be sufficient.21 The court finds this unnecessary. The purpose of the meet-and-confer process is for the parties to resolve discovery disputes without court intervention. It is a waste of the court’s

time to review a dispute that has been resolved.

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