Wagner v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance

238 F.R.D. 418, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81952, 2006 WL 3254466
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedNovember 8, 2006
DocketCivil Action: No. 5:05-CV-117
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 238 F.R.D. 418 (Wagner v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wagner v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance, 238 F.R.D. 418, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81952, 2006 WL 3254466 (N.D.W. Va. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM, OPINION, and ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL REGARDING REQUEST FOR ADMISSION 5(e), INTERROGATORY 5(e), AND INTERROGATORY 8(c)

SEIBERT, United States Magistrate Judge.

On October 13, 2006 came the above named Plaintiffs, by David Robinson, in person, and the above named Defendants, by Ronald Johnson, in person, for Defendants’ Motion to Compel discovery from Plaintiffs. Testimony was not taken, and no other evidence was introduced.

[420]*420 I. Introduction

A. Background.

This case concerns a statutory insurance “bad faith” claim under the West Virginia Unfair Trade Practices Act. The parties engaged in discovery and a dispute arose. Defendants filed a Motion to Compel against Plaintiffs on September 22, 2006. On September 26, 2006, this Court set an evidentia-ry hearing and argument for October 13, 2006, to consider Defendants’ motion. Plaintiffs filed their Response to the Motion to Compel on October 6, 2006. Defendants filed a Reply on October 11, 2006. The hearing was duly held on October 13, 2006.

B. The Motion.

Defendants’ Motion to Compel.1

C. Decision.

Defendants’ Motion to Compel regarding Request for Admission 5(e), Interrogatory 5(e), and Interrogatory 8(c) is hereby GRANTED. Plaintiffs’ have improperly refused to answer Defendants’ Request for Admission. Plaintiffs’ answers to the two interrogatories at issue were not responsive and none of their objections to the interrogatories have merit. Plaintiffs shall respond to the requests at issue by November 6, 2006.

II. Facts

1. On February 16, 2006, Defendants served on Plaintiffs their Requests for Admission and Interrogatories.2 The requests pertinent to this case are Request for Admission 5(e), Interrogatory 5(e), and Interrogatory 8(c). Request for Admission 5(e) asked Plaintiffs to admit

That if a jury had found that the said John P. Vdovjak was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident, and if it further found that his acts or omissions were without malicious purpose, were not in bad faith and were not in a wanton or reckless manner, and if liability was not expressly imposed upon him by any provision of the Code, he would have been entitled to immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act set forth in W. Va.Code § 29-12A-5(b) from plaintiffs’ claims.

Interrogatory 5(e) asked:

In paragraph nos. 31, 40, 44, 47, 48 and 49, you allege that attorneys of the defendants committed certain acts. With respect to those allegations, please state: (e) For each attorney in your answer to (c) above, state in detail each and every act that you claim was: (i) Willful; (ii) Wanton; (iii) Malicious; (iv) With actual malice; (v) intentional; (vi) With “reckless disregard for the civil rights of the plaintiffs.”

Finally, Interrogatory 8(c) asked:

Do you claim that any attorneys retained by the defendants to defend their insureds in the underlying litigation engaged in any wrongful conduct during the course of litigating the underlying claim? If so, please state: (c) Each and every instance of wrongful litigation conduct you allege was committed, specifying the name of the attorney who committed the act and the date of such act.

2. On March 14, 2006, counsel for both parties entered into a stipulation allowing the parties until April 17, 2006, to serve discovery responses.3 On April 17, 2006, the parties jointly extended that date until June 7, 2006.4 On June 7, 2006, the parties again extended that deadline to July 23, 2006.5

3. Plaintiffs filed their responses to the Requests for Admission on June 7, 2006.6 They filed their responses to the Interrogatories on June 23, 2006.7

4. In their responses, Plaintiffs objected to Request for Admission 5(e). Plaintiffs referred Defendants to their response to Interrogatory 3 as their response to Interrogatory 5(e). Plaintiffs further objected to In[421]*421terrogatory 8(c), though they again referred Defendants to their response to Interrogatory 3 and stated Defendants had denied liability in a clear case. Plaintiffs’ response to Interrogatory 8(c) also referred Defendants to Plaintiffs’ response to Interrogatory 5(b).

5. On June 30, 2006, counsel for Defendants wrote to counsel for Plaintiffs regarding Plaintiffs’ responses to Defendants’ Requests for Admission. Defendants’ counsel asserted the objection Plaintiffs had raised to Request for Admission 5(e) lacked legal support. Plaintiffs’ counsel also asked Defendants’ counsel to regard the letter as an attempt to resolve the matter without court action.

6. On July 13, 2006, counsel for Defendants wrote to counsel for Plaintiffs regarding Plaintiffs’ answers to Defendants’ Interrogatories. Defendants’ counsel stated Plaintiffs’ response to Interrogatory 5(e) as a reference to the answer to Interrogatory 3 was insufficient. He stated it failed to address the question propounded in Interrogatory 5(e). He further asserted the response to Interrogatory 8(c) was deficient. Like the first letter, this letter asked Plaintiffs to regard the letter as an effort to settle the dispute without court intervention.

7. On July 24, 2006, Plaintiffs and Defendants entered into a joint stipulation providing Plaintiffs would have until August 24, 2006, to respond to Defendants’ Request for Admission and Interrogatories.8

8. Defendants filed this Motion to Compel, which proceeded as set forth above.

III. Defendants’ Motion to Compel

A. Contentions of the Parties

Defendants asks this Court to grant their Motion to Compel pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36 and 37.9 They argue Plaintiffs’ objection to Request for Admission 5(e) lacks legal support. Defendants contend Plaintiffs’ response to Interrogatory 5(e) was not responsive to the extent it referenced Interrogatory 3. They also assert Plaintiffs should be required to present evidentiary support for their allegations under Rule 11(b)(3). Regarding Plaintiffs’ objections to Interrogatory 8(c), Defendants again contend Plaintiffs’ answer was not responsive to the extent it referenced Plaintiffs’ answer to Interrogatory 3. They further contend the answer lacked specificity and Plaintiffs need to produce the evidence sought under Rule 11(b)(3).

Plaintiffs ask the Court to deny the Motion to Compel. Plaintiffs argue Request for Admission 5(e) assumes an irrelevant fact not in evidence. Plaintiffs also state it is improper since it asks a layperson to express an opinion on legal matters. Concerning Interrogatories 5(e) and 8(c), Plaintiffs contend Defendants waived their objections by failing to specifically address all the objections of Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also argue they fully responded to the objections and the interrogatories seek privileged work product material.

B.

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Bluebook (online)
238 F.R.D. 418, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81952, 2006 WL 3254466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wagner-v-st-paul-fire-marine-insurance-wvnd-2006.