arrow left
arrow right
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
  • ADONNA BESECE Vs UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC VS.UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET ALCONSUMER SALES PRACTICE document preview
						
                                

Preview

Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - UL IN THE COMMON PLEAS COURT FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO CIVIL DIVISION ADONNA BESECE, Case No.: 21CV002834 Plaintiff, Judge Karen Phipps Vv. Magistrate Jennifer Hunt UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT, INC., et al Defendants. MAGISTRATE ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY MOTIONS Pending before this Court are the following discovery related motions filed by the Plaintiff and Defendants Focus Sales LLC and Guy Bar-Am (“Defendants”) Motion Filing Date Defendants’ Motion to Compel Written Discovery October 25, 2022 Defendants’ Motion for Protective Order November 11, 2022 Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Written Discovery November 30, 2022 e Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Depositions December 9, 2022 All motions have been fully briefed. These discovery motions were referred to Magistrate Hunt and an oral hearing was conducted on January 5, 2022. Upon consideration of the briefing and arguments of counsel at the hearing, the Court hereby orders as follows: Defendants’ Motion to Compel Written Discovery. Defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part. Defendants seek discovery related to Plaintiffs personal financial documents. Plaintiff objects arguing Plaintiff’ financial condition cannot be relevant because deceptive sales practices can occur with wealthy or poor people. Defendants argue discovery relating to Plaintiff's other purchases could be relevant to show Plaintiff s sophistication and susceptibility to deception, if any, and that Plaintiff engages in similar Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 consumer transactions. The Court orders that Plaintiff shall produce credit card statements and checking account statements showing purchases of similar luxury items, skin care products, beauty equipment or treatments. The intent of this order is for Plaintiff to produce information, if any, from these statements that show the types of purchases and the amounts paid. However, the Plaintiff may redact personal identifiers, balances, deposits or other financial information in these documents. Plaintiff shall redact account numbers except for the last 4 digits. The statements shall be limited to calendar year 2019 and 2020. These documents shall be subject to the confidentiality protective order. Defendants’ Motion For Protective Order. Defendants motion is granted in part and denied in part. The Defendants moved for a protective order related to the production of certain confidential health care, business, commercial, personal and financial information requested and/or produced in this case. Plaintiff opposed the motion arguing the proposed order was too broad, not supported by evidence, placed unreasonable burdens on Plaintiff. The Court weighed the costs and benefits of a protective order and determined it was necessary because of the amount of sensitive, personal financial information exchanged in the discovery. The Court orders counsel to work in good faith to see if an agreement can be reached for a proposed order. If an agreement on language for an order cannot be reached, the Court shall conduct a telephone conference with counsel on January 17, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Each party shall email their proposed order to the Court no later than 4:00 p.m. January 16, 2023 If counsel can reach an agreement on the proposed order prior to that date, the proposed order shall be emailed to Magistrate Hunt for her review. Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel en Discovery Plaintiff’ s motion is granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiffs motion to compel written discovery generally can be summarized as requesting the Defendants to produce business and/or financial records in an attempt to prove Mr. Bar-Am was engaging in and directing a deceptive consumer sales scheme. Plaintiff argues this discovery is important to prove Mr. Bar-Am is liable either because he was allegedly directing the scheme or he is liable through the doctrine ofpiercing the corporate veil. Defendants generally argue that the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil is not applicable under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, that this discovery not proportional to the needs of the case under the discovery rules, unreasonably intrudes upon privacy concerns for Mr. Bar-Am and others, and or that the Defendants have already produced sufficient discovery in this matter. The Court orders Defendants to respond to Plaintiffs interrogatories, including sub-parts of interrogatories, that exceed the limits contained in Civil Rule 33. In addition, the Court orders as follows relating to the specific discovery requests served by Plaintiff: 1) For Plaintiff's First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant Focus Sales, Defendant Focus Sales, LLC shall provide complete, substantive responses, without objections, to Interrogatories 1, 2, 3 and 4, including all sub-parts. If Focus Sales does not know some or all of the owners of the entities identified in Interrogatory No.2 or does not know some or all of the people or entities who are affiliated with the bank accounts in Interrogatory No. 3, Focus Sales shall provide a statement in response to each Interrogatory, under oath, reflecting the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information and/or identify the account holders or entities at issue in these Interrogatories. 2) For Plaintiffs First Set of Requests for Production of Documents to Defendant Focus Sales, Defendant Focus Sales, LLC shall produce documents and data, without objection, that is responsive to Requests 1-7. If Focus Sales does not have access to the account documents for the people or entities who are affiliated with the bank accounts in Request No. 1 or the entities in Request No. 5, Focus Sales shall Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 provide a statement in response to the Interrogatory, under oath, that reflects the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information provide a statement in response to the Interrogatory, under oath, that reflects the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information or documents requested. The time scope for Requests No. 1 and No 5 shall be limited to calendar years 2019 and 2020. For Request No. 3, Focus Sales shall produce payroll records for its employees in calendar year 2019 and 2020. These records shall identify the name of the employee, residence address as well as gross and net payroll amount. Focus Sales may redact other personal identifiers on the payroll records as well as redact information relating to withholding amounts. 2 3 For Plaintiff's Second Set of Interrogatories to Defendant Guy Bar- Am, Defendant Guy Bar-Am shall provide complete, substantive responses, without objections, to Interrogatories 1-4, including all subparts. If Mr. Bar-Am does not know some or all of the owners of the entities identified in Interrogatory No. 1, or Interrogatory No. 3, or Interrogatory No.4, Mr. Bar-Am is shall state as much responsive information available to him and provide a statement in response to the Interrogatory, under oath, that reflects the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information and/or identify the account holders or entities at issue in these Interrogatories. 4) For Plaintiffs First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant Guy Bar-Am, Mr. Guy Bar-Am shall provide complete, substantive responses, without objections, to Interrogatory 5 and identify each person who engaged in sales for Focus Sales at Polaris Mall or Tuttle Mall for calendar year 2019 and 2020. Mr. Bar-Am shall provide the name, birthdate, last known address and telephone number for each person, and indicate their status as employee, independent contractor or otherwise. If any of the foregoing information is unknown to Mr. Bar- Am, he shall provide a statement, under oath, that reflects the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information 5) For Plaintiff's First Set of Document Requests to Defendant Guy Bar- Am, Mr. Bar-Am shall produce documents, without objection, to Requests 7-10, 12 & 17, as set forth below: For Requests 7 & 8: The Court is aware that personal and corporate tax documents have already been produced. The Defendants are not required to produce those same tax documents. Instead, the Defendants shall examine their tax documents (or enlist the assistance of others who handle their tax matters) to confirm that all tax documents relating Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 to Mr. Bar-Am and Focus Sales, LLC, including K1, W2, a 109! ‘01 r tax years 2019 and 2020, have been prod this case. In particular, the Defendants shall ensu 09! ent to Focus Sales or Mr. Bar Am, as well as all 10! ent by Focus Sales or Mr. Bar- Am to other pat een produced. If additional tax documents are loc! tt have not been produced, they shall be produced. If no additional tax documents exist, Mr. Bar-Am shall so certify in a written statement, under oath. Any documents produced in response to Request 7 & 8 shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 9: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce paychecks, pay stubs, direct deposit documents or other documents showing payments to Mr. Bar-Am from any source for calendar year 2019 and 2020. Mr. Bar-Am may redact personal identifiers and withholding information so long as the documents reflect the name and address of the employer; text showing the payments are directed to Mr. Bar-Am; date of payment; and the net/gross amounts of payments. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 10: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce cell phone billing statements for 2019 and 2020 for cell phones that he used and for cell phones that are paid for by Mr. Bar-Am or Focus Sales. For Request 12: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce his personal credit card statements for 2019 and 2020 that are in Mr Bar-Am’s name or paid for by Mr. Bar-Am or Focus Sales. The Defendants may redact account numbers except for the last 4 digits. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 17: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce complete copies of statements for his personal checking accounts, personal savings accounts and personal money market accounts for calendar years 2019 and 2020. The Defendants may redact account numbers except for the last 4 digits. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. 6) For Plaintiff's Second Set of Document Requests to Defendant Guy Bar- Am, Mr. Bar-Am shall produce complete, substantive responses, without objection, to Requests 1-11, 14, 17 and 19 as set forth below Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 For Request 1: The Defendants shall produce unredacted sales data for sales made at Tuttle Mall and Polaris Mall between September 2019 through February 2020. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 2: The Defendants shall produce statements and other documents showing sales activity, deposits, refunds or transfers from any Square, Inc. account to/from Focus Sales or Mr. Bar-Am for calendar years 2019 and 2020. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order For Request 3: The Defendants shall produce account statements and documents for calendar years 2019 and 2020, showing the owners of accounts that end with the following last 4 digits and are reflected in the Focus Sales checking account statements: 0601; 8001; 0535; 8682; 0258; 0537. If the Defendants do not have the ability to obtain access to any or all of these account statements, Defendants shall provide a statement, under oath, that reflects the efforts undertaken to obtain the relevant information. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order For Request 4: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce documents relating to a transaction with Pop Yachts in Sarasota Florida in June 2020 that is related to a money transfer from Focus Sales to Pop Yachts For Request 5: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce Focus Sales payroll records for calendar years 2019 and 2020 as previously addressed in this Order. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 6: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce documents relating to a transaction between Focus Sales and Sun Home Builders Inc. in July 2020 that is related to a money transfer from Focus Sales to Sun Home Builders. For Request 7: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce data, in electronic useable format, contained in any bookkeeping/accounting software (i.e. Quicken, Quickbooks etc.) used by Focus Sales for calendar year 2019 and 2020, if any. Defendants are not required to produce documents containing or reflecting accounting 6 Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 advice or communications with their accountants. To the extent any such documents exist, they shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 8: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce source documents and data, if any, that was provided to accountant or tax preparer for years 2019 and 2020 and is not contained in the electronic bookkeeping/accounting software data produced in response to Request 7 above, to the extent that any such document exists. Defendants are not required to produce documents containing or reflecting accounting advice or communications with their accountants. If any of this data is in electronic format, it shall be produced in a useable electronic format. These documents shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. a For Requests 9-11: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce 109 forms showing Payment Card and Third Party Net tw transactions for Focus Sales; 109 ee: issul from Focus Sales; 109 - to or from Focus Sales relatingto 0. These documents shall be gov ‘the confidentiality protective order. For Request 14: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce documents that reflect loans or lines of credit, if any, used by Focus Sales in 2019 and 2020. The Defendants shall redact account numbers except for the last 4 digits. The documents produced shall reveal the lender, the borrower, the amount of the loan, to whom the loan proceeds where paid, and from where the loan payments were made. These documents, to the extent they exist, shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 17: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce expense reports for business expenses that were paid or reimbursed by Focus Sales to any person in 2019 and 2020. Personal identifiers may be redacted but the following information shall not be redacted: the name and address of the payor (presumably Focus Sales); the name and address of the payee; the description of the expense; the amount of the expense; the date of the expense; the date of the reimbursement; and any other data related to the expense. amount and dates. If Focus Sales does not have expense 7 Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 06228 - U2 reports and/or never used or created expense reports, Mr. Bar Am shall provide a statement, under oath, confirming the same. To the extent any such document exists, they shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order. For Request 19: Mr. Bar-Am shall produce records that document business expenses claimed by Focus Sales or Mr. Bar-Am for tax years 2019 and 2020 to the extent that any such record exists. Defendants are not required to produce documents containing or reflecting accounting advice or communications with their accountants. To the extent any such document exists, they shall be governed by the confidentiality protective order Plaintiff's Motion To Compel Depositions Plaintiff's motion to compel deposition testimony was unopposed and is granted. Defendants shall provide deposition testimony from Mr. Bar-Am and a representative from Focus Sales, LLC at a date, time and location convenient for counsel, after the parties have complied with this Order. Construction of This Order and Continuing Juri: ion This Magistrate Order should be construed by the Parties and their Counsel in a manner that is consistent with full disclosure and full exchange of information and documents. Written responses shall clearly communicate information and not be written in an ambiguous manner. Documents shall be produced in an organized manner with an index or reference by Bates numbers or otherwise to clearly indicate what documents are being produced in response to each discovery request If a party redacts material consistent with this Order, and the other party articulates a legitimate need for redacted material, the parties may submit the disputed document to the Court, in an unredacted form, for an in camera inspection. No redacted information shall not be placed in the public record without further order from this Court. Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 Finally, Magistrate Hunt shall retain jurisdiction to address or enforce any discovery issues and/or to interpret or enforce this Order. Counsel shall first attempt in good faith to resolve any discovery issues but if a resolution cannot be reached, counsel shall email Magistrate Hunt for further guidance on how to proceed. IT IS SO ORDERED. Magistrate Jennifer Hunt Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Date: 01-17-2023 Case Title: ADONNA BESECE -VS- UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET AL Case Number: 21CV002834 Type: MAGISTRATE ORDER So Ordered SZ Saf Ifa) XA i Kut /s/ Magistrate Jennifer D. Hunt Electronically signed on 2023-Jan-17 page 10 of 10 Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Pleas- 2023 Jan 17 12:11 PM-21CV002834 0G228 - U2 Court Disposition Case Number: 21CV002834 Case Style: ADONNA BESECE -VS- UNIVERSAL HANDICRAFT INC ET AL Motion Tie Off Information: 1. Motion CMS Document Id: 21CV0028342022-10-2599980000 Document Title: 10-25-2022-MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY - DEFENDANT: FOCUS SALES LLC Disposition: MOTION GRANTED IN PART 2. Motion CMS Document Id: 21CV0028342022-1 1-1099980000 Document Title: 11-10-2022-MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER - DEFENDANT: GUY MICHAEL BAR-AM Disposition: MOTION GRANTED IN PART 3. Motion CMS Document Id: 21CV0028342022-1 1-3099980000 Document Title: 11-30-2022-MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY - PLAINTIFF: ADONNA BESECE Disposition: MOTION GRANTED IN PART 4. Motion CMS Document Id: 21CV0028342022-12-0999980000 Document Title: 12-09-2022-MOTION TO COMPEL - GENERAL - PLAINTIFF: ADONNA BESECE Disposition: MOTION RELEASED TO CLEAR DOCKET