Peterson v. General Motors Corp.

Opinion

WUNDERLICH, J.

In this case, we hold that orders awarding discovery sanctions are not separately appealable orders.

Procedural Background

The order at issue here arises from a discovery dispute in a wrongful death and personal injury action brought by plaintiff Dale Peterson and his children against defendant General Motors Corporation and others after a vehicle accident in which Cheryl Peterson (wife and mother) was killed. Defendant served special interrogatories on December 23, 1992. Plaintiffs objected to many of the interrogatories on various grounds, including: that they were conjunctive or disjunctive; that they contained subparts; and that they sought irrelevant information. Following the failure of the parties’ attempt to meet and confer, defendant filed a motion to compel further answers and for sanctions for failure to respond to discovery. By order filed April 19, 1993,

[1332]

the trial court granted the motion to compel discovery (with minor exception) and awarded sanctions against plaintiffs in the amount of $1,250. On May 6, 1993, this court denied plaintiffs’ petition for writ of mandate

(Peterson

v.

Superior Court

(May 6, 1993) H011165 [nonpub. opn.]). On May 13, 1993, plaintiffs filed an appeal from that part of the order imposing sanctions. On August 16, 1993, defendant moved to dismiss the appeal.

Discussion

The question raised is whether an order imposing discovery sanctions in the amount of $1,250 is appealable. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.) Plaintiffs rely on Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1, subdivision (k), providing that an appeal may be taken: “From a superior court judgment directing payment of monetary sanctions by a party or an attorney for a party only if the amount exceeds seven hundred fifty dollars ($750).”

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But this reliance may well be misplaced. As cogently explained by the First District in