Motion to Compel Plaintiff's Responses to Special Interrogatories; Request for Monetary Sanctions
24CV102672: RENTERIA vs GENERAL MOTORS, LLC., et al. 07/31/2026 Hearing on Motion to Compel DEFENDANT GENERAL MOTORS LLC’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSES TO GM’S REQUEST FOR RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE WITHOUT OBJECTIONS; REQUEST FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS; MEMORANDUM CRS# 693717015866 in Department 20
Tentative Ruling - 07/30/2026 Karin Schwartz
The Motion to Compel Renteria, Antonio- Motion to Compel SROGS filed by GENERAL MOTORS, LLC. on 05/04/2026 is Granted.
Defendant General Motors, LLC's ("GM") motion to compel Plaintiff Antonio Renteria's responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One, without objections, and for monetary sanctions, is GRANTED.
GM served its Special Interrogatories, Set One, on Plaintiff on January 2, 2025, and Plaintiff failed to serve any response by the February 3, 2025 due date or at any time thereafter. By failing to serve a timely response, Plaintiff waived all objections to the interrogatories under Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.290(a), and has neither served a response nor obtained relief from that waiver. Plaintiff shall serve verified responses, without objections, to Special Interrogatories, Set One, within 20 days of service of this order.
Plaintiff's failure to serve timely responses necessitated this motion, and Plaintiff has not shown substantial justification or other circumstances rendering a sanction unjust; a monetary sanction is therefore required under Code of Civil Procedure sections 2030.290(c) and 2023.030(a). The Court declines to award the amount GM requested. GM submitted no evidence of the hours expended or its counsel's hourly rate, offering only a lump-sum request; and GM's reply papers were materially unreliable, citing the wrong statute (section 2031.300, governing demands for production of documents, rather than section 2030.290) and requesting, in their conclusion, an order compelling responses to requests for production of documents rather than to the special interrogatories at issue.
Fixing a reasonable amount from the Court's own experience and discounting substantially for GM's unsubstantiated and unreliable showing, the Court imposes a monetary sanction of $150, payable by Plaintiff's counsel of record to GM's counsel within 30 days of service of this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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