Siu v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GORDON SIU, Case No.: 21-CV-1110 TWR (MDD)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER FOR DEFENDANT TO 13 v. SHOW CAUSE WHY IT SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CONTEMPT FOR 14 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE VETERANS AFFAIRS, 15 COURT’S MAY 10, 2022 ORDER Defendant. 16 (ECF No. 36) 17

18 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Gordon Siu’s Application for Order to Show 19 Cause Why Defendant Should Not Be Held in Contempt for Failure to Comply with the 20 Court’s Order (“App.,” ECF No. 36), in which Plaintiff requests that the Court order 21 Defendant the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to show cause why it should 22 not be held in contempt for failing to pay the $462.73 that the Court awarded Plaintiff in 23 costs in its May 10, 2022 Order Granting Joint Motion to for Order Dismissing Case with 24 Prejudice. (See generally ECF No. 34 (the “Underlying Order”).) Also before the Court 25 is Defendant’s Notice of Intent to Oppose the Application (ECF No. 37), in which 26 Defendant indicates its intention to file an opposition on August 2, 2023. 27 The Court believes that it would be most expeditious at this time to dispense with 28 further briefing and to hear from the Parties themselves. Further, based on the Application, 1 || Plaintiff appears to have met his burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, 2 || that Defendant violated the Underlying Order beyond substantial compliance and not based 3 |}on a good faith and reasonable interpretation of the Underlying Order. See United States 4 Bright, 596 F.3d 683, 694 (9th Cir. 2010). Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Defendant 5 ||to SHOW CAUSE why it should not be held in contempt at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 || August 17, 2023, in Courtroom 3A. Although Plaintiff requests that the Court order a 7 || senior official of Defendant possessing authority to cause compliance with the Underlying 8 || Order to attend, the Court believes that requiring counsel to appear will suffice at this time. 9 || The Court will vacate the hearing and discharge this Order to Show Cause if Defendant 10 || files proof of payment to Plaintiff of the full $462.73 owed to him before close of business 11 ||on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 Dated: July 31, 2023 14 [ odd (a 15 Honorable Todd W. Robinson United States District Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28