Preview
FILED
10/3/2022 2:51 PM
FELICIA PITRE
DISTRICT CLERK
DALLAS CO., TEXAS
Terri Kilgore DEPUTY
CAUSE NO. DC-22-08606
PREFERRED STAFF, LLC § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF
Plaintiff §
§
V. § DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS
§
RICHARD CARDONA and §
QUALITY CLEANING PLUS, INC §
Defendants § 134T“ JUDICIAL DISTRICT
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONS
On the 29m day of September, 2022, came to be heard the Court’s own Motion for Sanctions
and Plaintiff’s Second Amended Motion to Compel Defendant Quality Cleaning Plus ’s Responses
to Expedited Discovery and For Sanctions and For an Extension of the Temporary Injunction
Hearing, and an Extension oftheHearing on Defendant’s TCPA Motion (Plaintiff s “Motion”), over
and against Defendant Quality Cleaning Plus (“QCP” or “Defendant”) and the Court having
considered Plaintiff’s Motion, any responses thereto, facts presented, applicable law and argument
of counsel; and it
APPEARING to the Court that Plaintiff moved the Court to grant it expedited discovery prior
to the hearing on its Application for Temporary Injunction; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that although the Court granted such Motion the Court
also limited such discovery to What the Court found to be a reasonable amount; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that this Defendant's response to Plaintiff‘s Request
for Production of Documents was due on Monday, August 15, 2022 and yet this Defendant failed
to make any attempt to respond thereto on or before such date; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that upon hearing of such failure, the Court elected
to grant such Defendant an extension of time to respond thereto and ordered such Defendant to
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 1 OF 7
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respond to Plaintiff” s Request for Production of Documents by Noon on Wednesday, August 17,
2022 and that the Court communicated that order to this Defendant on the record in open Court; and
it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Plaintiff’s counsel communicated that order to
Defendant’s counsel, and yet this Defendant failed to comply with such order; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant, after the extension of time granted
to it by the Court, sought to prevent its duty to respond to the outstanding discovery orders, which
also included a Notice of Deposition pursuant to the terms of the Court’s initial order, by claiming
the right to make certain objections that were in fact spurious; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that thereafter Plaintiff agreed to grant Defendant an
extension of time to respond to Plaintiff’s Request for Production of Documents until 9:00 a.m. on
Thursday, August 18, 2022; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant responded to Plaintiff’s Request for
Production of Documents on said Thursday, but claimed that it had no documents responsive to
Requests numbers 1 and 2, and then objected to Requests numbers 3 through 7, and elected not to
produce any documents; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant’s objections to Requests numbers 3
through 7 were spurious and intended to abuse the discovery process, and to delay and resist the
Court’s discovery Order; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant refused to produce a corporate
representative at the scheduled deposition, in spite of this Court’s order; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the basis for that refusal was to delay and resist
discovery and constituted an abuse of the discovery process; and it
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 2 OF 7
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FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant’ s previous objections were altogether
overruled; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Court therefore entered an Order requiring
Defendants to produce the documents on or before September 6, 2022, and setting dates for the
deposition of Defendant, the hearing on Plaintiff‘s Application for Temporary Injunction, and the
hearing on Defendant’s TCPA Motion, so that counsel would have adequate time to review the
discovery documents produced before these dates; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Defendant’s failure to produce entire
categories of documents despite the previous Order of this Court displays a reckless disregard for
the evidentiary requirement of document production; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Defendant’s redactions of documents
unnecessarily interfered with and prejudiced Plaintiff s ability to prove a prima facie case; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the redacted documents and incomplete
documents were previously Ordered to be reproduced in unredacted and complete form by Defendant
to Plaintiff on or before Monday, September 26, 2022 ; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the documents and information which were not
previously produced, such as emails and salary information, were to be produced on or before
Monday, September 26, 2022; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant categorically refiised to comply with
the Court’s Order and that no documents or information were produced on Monday, September 26,
2022, contrary to this Court’s Order; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the insufficiencies and redactions of documents
produced require otherwise unnecessary delays of the judicial process; and it
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 3 OF 7
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FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that even after an emergency hearing on September
27‘1‘ 2022, and the Court’s granting of an extension until September 28‘1‘ at 4:00 p.m. and
simultaneously setting a hearing for September 29th at 9:00 am. that Defendant still refused to
produce entire categories of documents; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant requested clarification on their duty
to supplement the discovery produced if and when additional materials become available; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant has still failed to produce the following
categories of documents as of September 29m, 2022:
l. Any documents from before June 1, 2021 ;
2. Any company emails other than those directly from or received by David Aguilar’s
company email address between January ll, 2022 and September 28, 2022;
3. Any company text messages other than the limited number produced from a short
period between March 28, 2022 and August 30, 2022;
4. Any salary records of any QCP employees;
5. Any profit records of QCP; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that if sufficiently strong sanctions are not imposed
over and against this Defendant that this type of discovery abuse will continue as it has heretofore;
and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the sanctions set forth herein are just and proper
based upon the nefarious actions of Defendant; and it
FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the sanctions set forth herein are within the
authority of this Court granted in Rule 215.2 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; this Court finds
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 4 OF 7
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that the Motion to Compel and for Sanctions should be GRANTED as hereinafter set forth; and it
is
THEREFORE ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel and for Sanctions be and
is hereby GRANTED; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall provide to Plaintiff“ s counsel all documents and
related items in Defendant’s possession, custody, or control responsive to Requests No. 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7 as set forth in Plaintiffs First Request for Production of Documents and Requests No. 1
through 10 in the Notice of Deposition Duces Tecum; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall reproduce all previously produced documents
as unredacted documents and that all documents which Defendant shall provide to Plaintiff s counsel
for the remainder of this case be unredacted documents unless specifically exempted by an Order of
this Court; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that the documents from May 1, 2020 to the present shall be
produced Without exception; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall provide to Plaintiffs counsel a complete and
unredacted response to Request No. 3 of Plaintiffs First Request for Production of Documents
including “any and all emails, text messages, letters and other communications”; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that said documents shall be produced to Plaintiff on or before noon
on the 6““ day of October, 2022; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that the time for the deposition of David Aguilar as the representative
of Quality Cleaning Plus is extended by 4 hours; and it is
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 5 OF 7
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FURTHER ORDERED that David Aguilar as the representative of Quality Cleaning Plus
shall appear for its deposition at the offices of Brady&Brady on the 10th day of October, 2022 at
9:00 o’clock a.m.; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall have and recover its reasonable and necessary
attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred in bringing this Motion in the amount of $10,650.00; and it
is
FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall tender the above ORDERED attorneys fees to
Plaintiffs counsel BRADY & BRADY P.L.L.C. at 6440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 610, Dallas,
Texas 75206, on or before Monday, October 31, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that the hearing on Plaintiff’ s Application for a Temporary
Injunction over and against Richard Cardona is postponed until the 24th day of October, 2022 at 9:00
o’clock a.m.; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that the discovery which Plaintiff has previously been Ordered to
produce before the Temporary Injunction Hearing shall be produced on the third day before the
Temporary Injunction Hearing, at or before noon; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that all parties and attorneys shall attend the Temporary Injunction
hearing in person, with the exception of Attorney Kevin Hicks, who has requested and shall be
allowed to attend remotely; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that the hearing on Defendant’ s TCPA Motion is postponed until the
7th day of November, 2022 at 9:00 o’clock a.m.; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED that if an appeal or original action is filed with the Court of Appeals
and Plaintiff is ultimately successfiil, Plaintiff shall recover additional attorneys fees in the amount
of Nine Thousand Five Hundred dollars ($9,500.00); and it is
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 6 OF 7
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FURTHER ORDERED that if an appeal is taken to the Texas Supreme Court in which
Plaintiff is successful, that Plaintiff shall have and recover additional attorney fees in the amount of
Twelve Thousand dollars ($12,000.00).
Signed this the day of , 2022.
10/4/2022 11:40:39 AM
Judge Presidin
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Preview
FILED 10/3/2022 2:51 PM FELICIA PITRE DISTRICT CLERK DALLAS CO., TEXAS Terri Kilgore DEPUTY CAUSE NO. DC-22-08606 PREFERRED STAFF, LLC § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF Plaintiff § § V. § DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS § RICHARD CARDONA and § QUALITY CLEANING PLUS, INC § Defendants § 134T“ JUDICIAL DISTRICT ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONS On the 29m day of September, 2022, came to be heard the Court’s own Motion for Sanctions and Plaintiff’s Second Amended Motion to Compel Defendant Quality Cleaning Plus ’s Responses to Expedited Discovery and For Sanctions and For an Extension of the Temporary Injunction Hearing, and an Extension oftheHearing on Defendant’s TCPA Motion (Plaintiff s “Motion”), over and against Defendant Quality Cleaning Plus (“QCP” or “Defendant”) and the Court having considered Plaintiff’s Motion, any responses thereto, facts presented, applicable law and argument of counsel; and it APPEARING to the Court that Plaintiff moved the Court to grant it expedited discovery prior to the hearing on its Application for Temporary Injunction; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that although the Court granted such Motion the Court also limited such discovery to What the Court found to be a reasonable amount; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that this Defendant's response to Plaintiff‘s Request for Production of Documents was due on Monday, August 15, 2022 and yet this Defendant failed to make any attempt to respond thereto on or before such date; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that upon hearing of such failure, the Court elected to grant such Defendant an extension of time to respond thereto and ordered such Defendant to ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 1 OF 7 F :\DOC\2387.0 1\MOT[0Ns AND ORDERS\MOT10N FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD respond to Plaintiff” s Request for Production of Documents by Noon on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 and that the Court communicated that order to this Defendant on the record in open Court; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Plaintiff’s counsel communicated that order to Defendant’s counsel, and yet this Defendant failed to comply with such order; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant, after the extension of time granted to it by the Court, sought to prevent its duty to respond to the outstanding discovery orders, which also included a Notice of Deposition pursuant to the terms of the Court’s initial order, by claiming the right to make certain objections that were in fact spurious; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that thereafter Plaintiff agreed to grant Defendant an extension of time to respond to Plaintiff’s Request for Production of Documents until 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, 2022; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant responded to Plaintiff’s Request for Production of Documents on said Thursday, but claimed that it had no documents responsive to Requests numbers 1 and 2, and then objected to Requests numbers 3 through 7, and elected not to produce any documents; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant’s objections to Requests numbers 3 through 7 were spurious and intended to abuse the discovery process, and to delay and resist the Court’s discovery Order; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant refused to produce a corporate representative at the scheduled deposition, in spite of this Court’s order; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the basis for that refusal was to delay and resist discovery and constituted an abuse of the discovery process; and it ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 2 OF 7 F2\DOC\2387.01\MOT[0NS AND ORDERS\MOT10N FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant’ s previous objections were altogether overruled; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Court therefore entered an Order requiring Defendants to produce the documents on or before September 6, 2022, and setting dates for the deposition of Defendant, the hearing on Plaintiff‘s Application for Temporary Injunction, and the hearing on Defendant’s TCPA Motion, so that counsel would have adequate time to review the discovery documents produced before these dates; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Defendant’s failure to produce entire categories of documents despite the previous Order of this Court displays a reckless disregard for the evidentiary requirement of document production; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the Defendant’s redactions of documents unnecessarily interfered with and prejudiced Plaintiff s ability to prove a prima facie case; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the redacted documents and incomplete documents were previously Ordered to be reproduced in unredacted and complete form by Defendant to Plaintiff on or before Monday, September 26, 2022 ; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the documents and information which were not previously produced, such as emails and salary information, were to be produced on or before Monday, September 26, 2022; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant categorically refiised to comply with the Court’s Order and that no documents or information were produced on Monday, September 26, 2022, contrary to this Court’s Order; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the insufficiencies and redactions of documents produced require otherwise unnecessary delays of the judicial process; and it ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 3 OF 7 F :\DOC\2387.0 1\MOT[0Ns AND ORDERS\MOT10N FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that even after an emergency hearing on September 27‘1‘ 2022, and the Court’s granting of an extension until September 28‘1‘ at 4:00 p.m. and simultaneously setting a hearing for September 29th at 9:00 am. that Defendant still refused to produce entire categories of documents; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant requested clarification on their duty to supplement the discovery produced if and when additional materials become available; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that Defendant has still failed to produce the following categories of documents as of September 29m, 2022: l. Any documents from before June 1, 2021 ; 2. Any company emails other than those directly from or received by David Aguilar’s company email address between January ll, 2022 and September 28, 2022; 3. Any company text messages other than the limited number produced from a short period between March 28, 2022 and August 30, 2022; 4. Any salary records of any QCP employees; 5. Any profit records of QCP; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that if sufficiently strong sanctions are not imposed over and against this Defendant that this type of discovery abuse will continue as it has heretofore; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the sanctions set forth herein are just and proper based upon the nefarious actions of Defendant; and it FURTHER APPEARING to the Court that the sanctions set forth herein are within the authority of this Court granted in Rule 215.2 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; this Court finds ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 4 OF 7 F :\DOC\2387.0 1\MOT[0Ns AND ORDERS\MOT10N FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION r0 COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD that the Motion to Compel and for Sanctions should be GRANTED as hereinafter set forth; and it is THEREFORE ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel and for Sanctions be and is hereby GRANTED; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall provide to Plaintiff“ s counsel all documents and related items in Defendant’s possession, custody, or control responsive to Requests No. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 as set forth in Plaintiffs First Request for Production of Documents and Requests No. 1 through 10 in the Notice of Deposition Duces Tecum; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall reproduce all previously produced documents as unredacted documents and that all documents which Defendant shall provide to Plaintiff s counsel for the remainder of this case be unredacted documents unless specifically exempted by an Order of this Court; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the documents from May 1, 2020 to the present shall be produced Without exception; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall provide to Plaintiffs counsel a complete and unredacted response to Request No. 3 of Plaintiffs First Request for Production of Documents including “any and all emails, text messages, letters and other communications”; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that said documents shall be produced to Plaintiff on or before noon on the 6““ day of October, 2022; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the time for the deposition of David Aguilar as the representative of Quality Cleaning Plus is extended by 4 hours; and it is ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 5 OF 7 F :\DOC\2387.0 1\MOT[0Ns AND ORDERSAMOTION FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD FURTHER ORDERED that David Aguilar as the representative of Quality Cleaning Plus shall appear for its deposition at the offices of Brady&Brady on the 10th day of October, 2022 at 9:00 o’clock a.m.; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall have and recover its reasonable and necessary attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred in bringing this Motion in the amount of $10,650.00; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant shall tender the above ORDERED attorneys fees to Plaintiffs counsel BRADY & BRADY P.L.L.C. at 6440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 610, Dallas, Texas 75206, on or before Monday, October 31, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the hearing on Plaintiff’ s Application for a Temporary Injunction over and against Richard Cardona is postponed until the 24th day of October, 2022 at 9:00 o’clock a.m.; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the discovery which Plaintiff has previously been Ordered to produce before the Temporary Injunction Hearing shall be produced on the third day before the Temporary Injunction Hearing, at or before noon; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that all parties and attorneys shall attend the Temporary Injunction hearing in person, with the exception of Attorney Kevin Hicks, who has requested and shall be allowed to attend remotely; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the hearing on Defendant’ s TCPA Motion is postponed until the 7th day of November, 2022 at 9:00 o’clock a.m.; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that if an appeal or original action is filed with the Court of Appeals and Plaintiff is ultimately successfiil, Plaintiff shall recover additional attorneys fees in the amount of Nine Thousand Five Hundred dollars ($9,500.00); and it is ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’s MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 6 OF 7 F :\DOC\2387.0 1\MOT[0Ns AND ORDERSAMOTION FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD FURTHER ORDERED that if an appeal is taken to the Texas Supreme Court in which Plaintiff is successful, that Plaintiff shall have and recover additional attorney fees in the amount of Twelve Thousand dollars ($12,000.00). Signed this the day of , 2022. 10/4/2022 11:40:39 AM Judge Presidin ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION To COMPEL PAGE 7 OF 7 F:\DOC\2387.01\MOT10N5 AND ORDERS\MOT10N FOR SANCTIONS\ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION To COMPEL AND FOR SANCTIONSMPD