Mogollan v. La Abundancia Bakery & Restaurant Inc.

Background

Defendants filed a letter motion asking the court to compel plaintiffs to appear for additional deposition time and answer questions that defendants said plaintiffs had refused to answer in interrogatories and earlier depositions. The opinion concerns discovery in plaintiffs’ Fair Labor Standards Act wage-and-hour case, including claims about time-shaving and compliance with the Act’s tip-credit requirements.

Defendants argued that the requested testimony and documents were important to plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. They focused on plaintiffs’ challenges to defendants’ time records, including plaintiffs’ positions that the records were authentic and accurately reflected compensation but did not accurately reflect time worked. Defendants also described alleged inconsistencies between deposition testimony and responses to requests for admission and interrogatories.

Defendants further alleged that plaintiffs’ counsel interfered with depositions by interrupting questioning, speaking with witnesses during questioning, turning off audio or video feeds, and directing witnesses not to answer certain questions. The letter also asserted that plaintiffs’ counsel delayed efforts to confer about the dispute and requested an award of fees for the time and resources defendants spent seeking discovery responses and counsel’s cooperation. These were defendants’ allegations in support of the motion, not findings resolving the underlying claims.

Ruling

Judge Stewart D. Aaron endorsed the motion as follows: “Defendants’ Letter Motion is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to renew after disposition of Defendants’ overlapping motion for sanctions.” Thus, the motion to compel was denied, but the order allowed defendants to renew it after the sanctions motion was resolved. The opinion did not rule on the merits of plaintiffs’ wage claims, the accuracy of the time records, the tip-credit issue, or the alleged deposition misconduct.