UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

TONITA THOMPSON,

Plaintiff, Civil Action No. 15-11281

Honorable Matthew F. Leitman

v. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford

 

LVNV FUNDING LLC, et al., 

Defendants. 

___________________________/

ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL [R. 18]

Tonita Thompson brought this proposed class action suit against 

LVNV Funding LLC (“LVNV”) and J.C. Christensen & Associates, Inc. 

(“JCC”; collectively “Defendants”) alleging violations of the Fair Debt 

Collections Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq., and the Michigan 

Collection Practices Act, M.C.L. § 445.251 et seq. [R. 1]. On August 25, 

2015, Thompson filed a motion to compel discovery [R. 18], which the 

Honorable Matthew F. Leitman referred to the undersigned for 

determination pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) [R. 20]. Thompson 

argues Defendants provided insufficient responses to her requests for 

admissions (“RFA”), interrogatories, and requests for production of 

documents.

On September 3, 2015, the Court held a telephonic status conference 

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regarding the motion to compel. Thompson’s counsel, Curtis Warner, and 

Defendants’ counsel, Matthew Kostolnik, attended the phone conference. 

In accordance with the discussion during the phone conference, the Court 

orders that:

1. By September 9, 2015, Thompson must serve Defendants with the 

following supplemental/revised discovery requests:

a. More specific language for RFAs 1 and 2;

b. More detailed language and authority for RFAs 11 and 19;

c. Better defined language for RFAs 24-26 and 29; and

d. A narrowed timeframe for document request 12.

2. By October 2, 2015, Defendants must:

a. Respond to the above supplemental/revised discovery 

requests;

b. Provide supplemental responses to RFAs 12 and 13 stating 

efforts they have made in attempting to respond;

c. Provide supplemental responses to RFAs 20-23;

d. Provide supplemental responses to interrogatory 14 and RFA 

35 or indicate that they are maintaining their objections; and

e. Agree to a protective order with Thompson and respond to 

interrogatory 10 and document requests 2, 3, and 15 subject 

to the protective order.

3. Defendants do not have to respond to interrogatories 10-13 until a 

later date if they admit by October 2, 2015 that they sent the letters 

described in interrogatories 10-13 to more than 40 people.

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4. If Defendants plan to object to any supplemental discovery request 

as vague, ambiguous, or the like, they must inform Thompson’s 

counsel of such intention at least one week before October 2, 

2015, and the parties must meet and confer in good faith to resolve 

the issue without Court intervention. Failure to act in good faith by 

either party may result in the dispute being decided against them or 

imposition of other sanctions.

5. Thompson must file a supplement to its motion to compel by 

October 8, 2015, outlining all of the remaining unresolved issues. 

Defendants must respond to Thompson’s filing by October 13, 

2015, and the Court will hold a hearing on the unresolved discovery 

issues on October 15, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Unless the parties 

resolve all outstanding issues beforehand, both Mr. Warner and Mr. 

Kostolnik must attend the hearing in person.

IT IS ORDERED.

s/Elizabeth A. Stafford

ELIZABETH A. STAFFORD

United States Magistrate Judge

Dated: September 3, 2015

NOTICE TO THE PARTIES REGARDING OBJECTIONS

The parties’ attention is drawn to Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a), which 

provides a period of fourteen (14) days from the date of receipt of a copy of 

this order within which to file objections for consideration by the district 

judge under 28 U.S. C. §636(b)(1). Unless ordered otherwise by the Court, 

the filing of an appeal to the District Judge does not stay the parties’ 

obligations in this Order. See E.D. Mich. LR 72.2.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that the foregoing document was served 

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upon counsel of record and any unrepresented parties via the Court’s ECF 

System to their respective email or First Class U.S. mail addresses 

disclosed on the Notice of Electronic Filing on September 3, 2015.

s/Marlena Williams 

MARLENA WILLIAMS

Case Manager

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