Opinion ID: 574314
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Requirement of a Court Order.

Text: 36 Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2) provides in pertinent part: 37 If a party ... fails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery, including an order made under subdivision (a) of this rule [emphasis added] or Rule 35, or if a party fails to obey an order entered under Rule 26(f), the court in which the action is pending may make such orders in regard to the failure as are just, and among others the following: 38 (A) An order that the matters regarding which the order was made or any other designated facts shall be taken to be established for the purposes of the action in accordance with the claim of the party obtaining the order; [or] 39 (B) An order refusing to allow the disobedient party to support or oppose designated claims or defenses, or prohibiting that party from introducing designated matters in evidence.... 40 Ekco contends that sanctions may be imposed pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2) only for failure to obey a court order issued pursuant to Rule 37(a). We disagree. The language of Rule 37(b)(2) requires a prior order, see Salahuddin v. Harris, 782 F.2d 1127, 1131 (2d Cir.1986), but does not by its terms specifically require an order issued pursuant to Rule 37(a). Consequently, a Rule 37(a) order is merely one of the orders that can trigger sanctions under Rule 37(b)(2). See Fed.R.Civ.P. 37 advisory committee's note (to 1970 amendment re subdivision (b)); McLeod, Alexander, Powel & Apffel, P.C. v. Quarles, 894 F.2d 1482, 1485 (5th Cir.1990); Tamari v. Bache & Co. (Lebanon) S.A.L., 729 F.2d 469, 472-73 (7th Cir.1984); Professional Seminar Consultants, Inc. v. Sino Am. Technology Exch. Council, Inc., 727 F.2d 1470, 1474 (9th Cir.1984). Provided that there is a clearly articulated order of the court requiring specified discovery, the district court has the authority to impose Rule 37(b) sanctions for noncompliance with that order. Jones v. Uris Sales Corp., 373 F.2d 644, 647-48 (2d Cir.1967). 41 In Jones, the district court granted a motion to strike the answer of the defendant for failure to comply with a subpoena. The defendant argued on appeal that there was no basis for sanctions under Rule 37(b)(2) because he had not refused to obey an order made under Rule 34 to produce any document or other thing for inspection (as Rule 37(b)(2) then provided). See 373 F.2d at 647. We rejected that argument, ruling that proceedings before the district court during which the judge issued an oral order requiring compliance with the subpoena provided a proper basis for the Rule 37(b)(2) sanction, see id. at 647-48, although noting that it would have been better practice for plaintiff ... to have made a written motion under Rule 34. Id. at 648. 1 42 Applying this rule to the present case, it is clear that Ekco failed to comply with a valid order of the court requiring that a deposition be conducted in accordance with the notices of deposition and subpoenas duces tecum that had been served upon Ekco. 2 The July 11, 1991 hearing, brought on by Ekco's motion to quash the notices and subpoenas, produced an explicit order for production preceded by a detailed discussion of the purpose of the deposition. The court could not have been clearer when it stated to Ekco's counsel: You produce an appropriate witness on these subject matters we've discussed here. And that is an order of the court. The district court correctly found that Ekco failed to comply with this order. 43 The court was therefore well within its authority in prescribing sanctions pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2), especially in view of defendants-appellants' generally obstructive behavior. See Cine Forty-Second Street Theatre Corp. v. Allied Artists Pictures Corp., 602 F.2d 1062, 1068 (2d Cir.1979) (sanctions must be weighed in light of the full record in the case) (citing National Hockey League v. Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc., 427 U.S. 639, 642, 96 S.Ct. 2778, 2780, 49 L.Ed.2d 747 (1976) (per curiam)). 44 Ekinciler presents a different case. Although the order compelling discovery need not issue pursuant to Rule 37(a), there must be a valid court order in force before sanctions may be imposed pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2). See Salahuddin, 782 F.2d at 1131. The court order resulting from the July 11, 1991 hearing was directed only to Ekco, the only party to which discovery notices had been directed and the movant of the motion to quash those notices that prompted the hearing. There was no prior order directed to Ekinciler. For this reason, the imposition of sanctions was improper as to Ekinciler, and we therefore reverse the award of sanctions as to it. 45 Plaintiffs-appellees press the argument that the trial subpoena served upon Ekinciler is an order of the court, non-compliance with which justifies the imposition of sanctions under Rule 37(b)(2). 46 We reserved this issue in Jones, where we said: 47 Although we are by no means sure we would agree with the proposition that a pleading may not be struck for contumacious failure of a party to comply with a subpoena duces tecum issued pursuant to Rule 45(d), see Sperandeo for and on Behalf of N.L.R.B. v. Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees Local No. 537, 334 F.2d 381, 385 (10 Cir.1964); 5 Moore, Federal Practice p 45.11 (2d ed. 1964), we find it unnecessary to decide this. The proceedings in Judge MacMahon's chambers on October 21 can properly be regarded as including an oral motion and order under Rule 34 for the production of the papers designated in the subpoena.... 48 373 F.2d at 647. 49 The authorities cited in Jones do not make a persuasive case for the striking of a pleading as a permissible Rule 45 contempt sanction for failure to comply with a subpoena duces tecum. In Sperandeo, the NLRB made a motion to quash the subpoena served upon it, and the sanction of dismissal was explicitly premised upon the NLRB's noncompliance with the court order that was issued in response to that motion. See 334 F.2d at 383-85. The cited passage from Moore's is ambiguous, and none of the cases cited by Moore's supports the proposition that a pleading may be struck as a contempt penalty for non-compliance with a subpoena. 50 Undeniably, a valid subpoena is a legal instrument, non-compliance with which can constitute contempt of court. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(f). Nonetheless, [a] subpoena, obtainable as of course from the Clerk of the Court, is not of the same order as one issued by a judicial officer in the resolution of a specific dispute. Waste Conversion, Inc. v. Rollins Envtl. Servs. (NJ), Inc., 893 F.2d 605, 608 (3d Cir.1990) (in banc). 51 Thus, in Fisher v. Marubeni Cotton Corp., 526 F.2d 1338 (8th Cir.1975), the court ruled (as an alternate holding) that sanctions pursuant to Rule 37(b) could not be imposed for failure to comply with a deposition subpoena duces tecum, stating that the sanction provisions of that rule are not applicable until there has been an order by the court compelling production. There was no such order by the court below. Id. at 1341; see also In re Moskowitz, 15 B.R. 790, 793 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1981) (same). The court in Fisher also stated in dictum that the sanction might nonetheless be affirmed pursuant to Rule 45 (although the outcome of the appeal was a reversal for failure to provide the sanctioned party an adequate opportunity to present his position), see 526 F.2d at 1342-43, but the penalty in that case was the payment of $719.05 in costs and attorneys' fees. See id. at 1340. 52 The trial subpoena served upon Ekinciler was issued without any court involvement. Nor did any court proceeding take notice of the subpoena so as to transform the document request into a court order, as occurred at the July 11, 1991 hearing with respect to the discovery notices served upon Ekco. Cf. Jones, 373 F.2d at 647-48. Rule 37(a) clearly envisions some judicial intervention between a discovery request and the imposition of sanctions. That intervention serves to alert the offending party to the seriousness of its noncompliance and permits judicial scrutiny of the discovery request. The court's order also functions as a final warning that sanctions are imminent, and specifically informs the recalcitrant party concerning its obligations. A subpoena issued by counsel does not fulfill these purposes. Accordingly, it would appear inconsistent with the overall scheme of Rule 37 to view a subpoena as constituting an order to provide or permit discovery within the meaning of Rule 37(b)(2). 53 In any event, we will not uphold the Rule 37 sanctions against Ekinciler by resort to Rule 45 on this record. It is true that we may affirm 'on any grounds for which there is a record sufficient to permit conclusions of law, including grounds not relied upon by the district court,'  Chesley v. Union Carbide Corp., 927 F.2d 60, 68 (2d Cir.1991) (quoting Larsen v. NMU Pension Trust, 902 F.2d 1069, 1070 n. 1 (2d Cir.1990)); see also United States v. Hammad, 902 F.2d 1062, 1064 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 192, 112 L.Ed.2d 154 (1990); Alfaro Motors, Inc. v. Ward, 814 F.2d 883, 887 (2d Cir.1987). We nonetheless decline to invoke that authority to promulgate the novel rule of law for which plaintiffs-appellees contend, especially when the absence of a district court ruling occurs in an area consigned so strongly to the discretionary authority of the district court. 54 As the balance of this opinion should make clear, however, this disposition implies no condonation by this court of the deplorably obstructive conduct of Ekco, Ekinciler, and their counsel revealed by this record. Any failure by Ekinciler to comply with valid discovery orders issued hereafter in this case would warrant peremptory imposition of severe sanctions, in light of the history of this litigation to date. See Cine Forty-Second Street Theatre Corp., 602 F.2d at 1068 (sanctions weighed in light of full record). 55