Opinion ID: 865586
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Clear record of delay or contumacious conduct

Text: ¶19. The circuit court found that there was a clear record of delay, because Hillman had been dilatory in the prosecution of her case from the date the complaint was filed. The circuit court noted that, after filing the complaint, Hillman’s first affirmative action was taken in response to the clerk’s first motion to dismiss for want of prosecution. The court also observed that, despite numerous requests from Weatherly, Hillman had failed to respond to discovery or to timely provide medical authorizations. As a result, many of the medical providers no longer had Hillman’s medical records because the providers were not obligated to maintain the records for more than ten years. ¶20. This Court finds that the more than five-year record in this case substantially supports the circuit court’s finding of a clear record of delay. Two clerk’s motions to dismiss for want of prosecution were filed in this case, each indicating that no action of record was taken for at least the previous twelve months. Hillman filed her complaint on September 4, 2002, but she did not initiate any action of record until after the clerk moved to dismiss the case on February 4, 2005, for want of prosecution. Thus, there was no action of record for more than two years, from December 16, 2002, when Weatherly filed discovery, until March 4, 2005, when Hillman filed discovery and noticed Weatherly’s deposition. In affirming a dismissal 9 without prejudice for failure to prosecute, this Court has found that nineteen months of inactivity was “sufficient delay, standing alone, to warrant dismissal.” Hill, 3 So. 3d at 122. ¶21. The record reflects that, throughout the course of the more than five-year period, Hillman was dilatory in responding to discovery. Despite the circuit court rule that discovery be completed within ninety days of the service of the answer by the defendant, Hillman did not respond to Weatherly’s discovery requests for the entire three-year period prior to the parties’ agreement to postpone discovery pending settlement. See Miss. Unif. Cir. & Cty. R. 4.04(A). In fact, Hillman never responded to Weatherly’s interrogatories. Although discovery was suspended pending settlement negotiations on May 23, 2005, Hillman made no settlement demand until October 11, 2007, after Weatherly had filed the motion to dismiss. “[T]he pendency of negotiations is not an excuse where the delay is unreasonably long . . . or if it continues after it is apparent that the negotiations would not be fruitful.” Cox, 976 So. 2d at 875. Although Hillman eventually provided responses to Weatherly’s document requests, she did not do so until October 2, 2007, a date which was: (1) more than six months after Weatherly threatened to file a motion to compel Hillman’s discovery responses, (2) after the clerk filed a second clerk’s motion to dismiss in June 2007, and (3) after Weatherly filed his motion to dismiss on September 26, 2007. We previously have considered the fact that a plaintiff’s sole activity was reactionary in concluding that the record supported a finding of a clear record of delay. Hill, 3 So. 2d at 122. ¶22. Hillman admits that delay occurred, but she argues, without citation to precedent, that Weatherly should have filed a motion to compel discovery responses. However, when assessing the propriety of a Rule 41(b) dismissal, the Court consistently has applied the test 10 enunciated in American Telephone and Telegraph Co. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 720 So. 2d at 181; see Hill, 3 So. 3d at 122; Wilson v. Nance, 4 So. 3d 336, 340-346 (Miss. 2009); Cox, 976 So. 2d at 874-880; Miss. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Guidry, 830 So. 2d 628, 633-34 (Miss. 2002); Hoffman v. Paracelsus Health Care Corp., 752 So. 2d 1030, 1033-1035 (Miss. 1999). This test focuses on the plaintiff’s conduct, not on the defendant’s efforts to prod a dilatory plaintiff into action. We hold that the record substantially supported the circuit court’s finding of a clear record of delay.