Court Opinion

ID: 9495452
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:03:21.831124+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:01.880584
License: Public Domain

LOKEN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
In Part II of its opinion, the court analyzes this case as though it involved a more typical discovery sanctions dispute of the following nature:
• Plaintiff fails to attend a properly noticed deposition. Defendant files a Rule 37(a) motion to compel discovery. The district court orders plaintiff to attend the deposition.
• Plaintiff fails to attend the rescheduled deposition. Defendant files a Rule 37(b) motion for sanctions for failure to comply with the court order.
• The court issues a sanction order dismissing the case with prejudice, as authorized by Rule 37(b)(2)(C). See Boogaerts v. Bank of Bradley, 961 F.2d 765, 768 (8th Cir.1992). On that same day, the parties complete the disputed deposition.
• Plaintiff moves for reconsideration, arguing dismissal is too severe a sanction, as the discovery has been completed. The court summarily denies this motion, and plaintiff appeals.
If the record reflected the above scenario, I would join the court’s opinion, agreeing that dismissal is too severe a sanction when most of the prejudice can be remedied by a money sanction and there is little or no evidence of bad faith. But here the record reflects far more serious misconduct by plaintiffs and their attorney:
• Defendant Alert first noticed plaintiff Hairston’s deposition on November 22, 2000. After the deposition was rescheduled and renoticed four times, Alert served its sixth notice of deposition along with a subpoena commanding Hairston to appear for a deposition on June 13, 2001.
• When Hairston failed to obey the subpoena, Alert moved for an order to show *721cause why he should not be held in contempt of court. See Rule 45(e). The court granted the motion on August 1, ordering plaintiff Hairston to show cause by August 10 and warning that a finding of contempt “allows the imposition of sanctions, including but not limited, to ... dismissal with prejudice of plaintiffs claim in this case.”
• When Hairston failed to respond to the show cause order, the court issued its August 16 order finding him in contempt and dismissing the claims of all plaintiffs with prejudice as a contempt sanction.
• Plaintiffs moved to set aside the dismissal on two grounds, that Hairston had been dismissed from the lawsuit in March 2001 because he was not a proper party, and that Hairston’s deposition had been completed on August 16, the date of the court’s dismissal order. In support, plaintiffs submitted an affidavit by Aaron I. Mandel, one of their attorneys, stating that he “prepared and filed a memorandum with the Court in March 2001 dismissing Mr. Hairston’s claim.” That statement was false.
• On September 10, the court denied the motion to set aside the dismissal because (i) Hairston and the other plaintiffs failed to respond to the court’s show cause order directed to Hairston, and to another show cause order directed to their accountant; (ii) plaintiffs lied to the court about the March filing of a memorandum dismissing Hairston; and (iii) plaintiffs’ discovery abuses and their deception regarding the proper parties made it impossible to meet the court’s October 9 trial date, which had been set in December 2000.
We deal in this case with the proper sanctions for a plaintiff who disobeys a subpoena and then ignores a show cause order, and whose attorney then lies to the court under oath in attempting to set aside a sanction imposed for contempt of the court. When Hairston ignored the show cause order, Rule 45(e) expressly authorized the court to find him in contempt for disobeying the subpoena. As Hairston was a party, at a minimum the court could impose as a civil contempt remedy the sanctions authorized in Rule 37(b)(2)(A)-(C) plus the assessment of Alert’s reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees in pursuing this discovery. See Daval Steel Prods, v. M/V Fakredine, 951 F.2d 1357, 1364-65 (2d Cir.1991). Dismissal with prejudice, though authorized by Rule 37(b)(2)(C), is of course a more punitive sanction and therefore may trigger the closer scrutiny reserved for criminal contempt remedies, including the right to immediate appeal. See Marrese v. Am. Acad. of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 706 F.2d 1488, 1493 (7th Cir.1983). Thus, I do not criticize plaintiffs for challenging the severity of this sanction by moving the district court to set aside its August 16 dismissal order.
But then in challenging the dismissal order, plaintiffs lied to the court in an attorney affidavit addressing a highly relevant fact. There can be no doubt that dismissal is an authorized sanction for a party whose attorney has undermined the integrity of the judicial process by lying to the court. See Wyle v. R.J. Reynolds Indus., Inc., 709 F.2d 585, 589 (9th Cir.1983) (“courts have inherent power to dismiss an action when a party has willfully deceived the court and engaged in conduct utterly inconsistent with the orderly administration of justice”); see generally Chambers v. NASCO, 501 U.S. 32, 44-45, 111 S.Ct. 2123, 115 L.Ed.2d 27 (1991) (noting that contempt and dismissal are sanctions within district courts’ inherent authority to enforce their orders). Thus, the district court’s reasons for denying the motion to set aside its prior dismissal order fully *722justified the severe sanction that was thereby upheld.
When dealing with violations of Rule 37 discovery orders, we give the district courts “a large measure of discretion in deciding what sanctions are appropriate for misconduct.” Hutchins v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., 116 F.3d 1256, 1260 (8th Cir.1997) (quotation omitted). We should be equally deferential to a district court’s determination of what sanction is appropriate to protect the integrity of the judicial process when a party or his attorney has abused the discovery process, been found in contempt of court, and then lied to the court under oath. See Nat’l Hockey League v. Metro. Hockey Club, Inc., 427 U.S. 639, 642-43, 96 S.Ct. 2778, 49 L.Ed.2d 747 (1976); Chrysler Corp. v. Carey, 186 F.3d 1016, 1021-22 (8th Cir.1999). The court faults the district court for failing to make an explicit finding that plaintiffs’ misconduct was willful and in bad faith. “When the facts show willfulness and bad faith,” we will uphold a Rule 37(b)(2) dismissal sanction despite the lack of an explicit finding of bad faith. Avionic Co. v. Gen. Dynamics Corp., 957 F.2d 555, 558 (8th Cir.1992); see Everyday Learning Corp. v. Larson, 242 F.3d 815, 817-18 (8th Cir.2001). Here, when the attorney for a party previously found in contempt lied to the court under oath, an explicit finding of bad faith would be stating the obvious.
For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm the judgment of the district court.