Opinion ID: 719789
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Discovery Sanction

Text: 15 GM argues that the district court abused its discretion in entering the discovery sanction. The district court has broad discretion in issuing sanctions for discovery abuse and its decision will be upheld absent an abuse of discretion. Anderson v. Home Ins. Co., 724 F.2d 82, 84 (8th Cir.1983) (citing Fox v. Studebaker-Worthington, Inc., 516 F.2d 989 (8th Cir.1975)). Our scope of review of the district court's actions is, therefore, very narrow. Prow v. Medtronic, Inc., 770 F.2d 117, 122 (8th Cir.1985). 16 We must first determine whether the district court was correct in finding a discovery violation to support its imposition of the sanction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 (Rule 37). To impose Rule 37 sanctions, there must be: (1) a court order compelling discovery; (2) a violation of that order which is wilful; 5 and (3) prejudice to the other party from the violation. Shelton v. American Motors Corp., 805 F.2d 1323, 1330 (8th Cir.1986); Edgar v. Slaughter, 548 F.2d 770, 772 (8th Cir.1977). In this case, all of these elements were present. 17 The July 9th order satisfies the first requirement, that there be a discovery order in place. GM failed to fully comply with the order within the ten-day required period, as evidenced by its further production of 1241 reports in early August, just prior to trial. 6 The district court's finding of prejudice is supported by the produced documents themselves. GM's late production of the 1241 reports prevented the plaintiffs from researching them completely, essentially depriving them of the information which they were due. GM's conduct, therefore, clearly justified the imposition of Rule 37 sanctions. However, this conclusion does not end our inquiry. We must determine whether the sanction imposed was just and specifically related to the claim at issue in the discovery order. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2); Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 707, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 2106-07, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982). In this case, we do not believe the sanction met that standard. 18 As this court has stated previously, [t]here is a strong policy favoring a trial on the merits and against depriving a party of his day in court. Fox, 516 F.2d at 996. The sanction in this case failed to achieve a balance between the policies of preventing discovery delays and deciding cases on the merits. Such a balance recognizes that the opportunity to be heard is a litigant's most precious right and should be sparingly denied. Edgar, 548 F.2d at 773. GM was not given the right to be heard. Instead, the jury was asked, essentially, to place a monetary value on the loss of human life. Before issuing such a sanction, fairness required the court to consider whether a more just and effective sanction was available. Id. In this situation, other, less severe sanctions (including monetary fines against GM and continuances for the plaintiffs) were both available and appropriate. 19 While we do not condone GM's failure to meet its discovery obligations, we find that the sanction chosen by the district court was simply too severe for the facts presented and should have been drawn more narrowly. See English v. 21st Phoenix Corp., 590 F.2d 723, 728 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 832, 100 S.Ct. 61, 62 L.Ed.2d 41 (1979). By providing that the fuel pump was defective and continued to operate here, the sanction forced the jury to find for the plaintiffs. Although the case ostensibly proceeded to trial on the issue whether the defect directly caused or directly contributed to cause Garner's death, in effect, the jury instructions had already decided the matter for the jury. Because the district court abused its discretion in entering such a broad sanction, we reverse for imposition of a lesser sanction and for a new trial.