Travelers Casualty & Surety Company of America v. C & N Yacht Refinishing, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No. 20-cv-62293-BLOOM/Valle TRAVELERS CASUALTY AND SURETY COMPANY OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. C&N YACHT REFINISHING, INC. and CUONG NGUYEN, Defendants. ___________________________________/ ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO COMPEL THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion to Compel Discovery Responses, ECF No. [45] (“Motion”), filed on June 17, 2022. Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(c), Defendant Cuong Nguyen’s (“Defendant”) response was due on July 1, 2021. Defendant failed to respond to the Motion or request an extension of time in which to do so by the deadline. On July 5, 2022, the Court issued an Order instructing Defendant to respond by no later than July 12, 2022. See ECF No. [46] (“Show Cause Order”). In the Show Cause Order, the Court cautioned that if no response was filed, the Court would consider the merits of the Motion without the benefit of a response, and such failure may be deemed sufficient cause to grant the motion by default. See S.D. Fla. L.R. 7.1(c). To date, Defendant has failed to file a response. The Court has carefully reviewed the Motion, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is granted. On August 18, 2021, the Court entered a Final Judgment for $150,000.00 in Plaintiff’s favor and against Defendant and Defendant C&N Yacht Refinishing, Inc. See ECF No. [34] (“Judgment”). On October 12, 2021, the Court entered an Order granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Non-Taxable Costs, awarding Plaintiff $21,121.00 in attorneys’ fees and $700.00 in costs. See ECF No. [42] (“Fee Order”). In the instant Motion, Plaintiff represents that Defendant has not made any payments on the Judgment or the Fee Order. See ECF No. [45] ¶ 3. On March 22, 2022, Plaintiff served its First Set of Interrogatories in Aid of Execution to Cuong Nguyen, ECF No. [45-1] (“Interrogatories”), and its First Request for Production in Aid of Execution to Cuong Nguyen, ECF No. [45-2] (“Request for Production”). Counsel for the parties agreed that Defendant’s deadline to respond to the discovery requests would be May 27, 2022. See ECF No. [45] ¶ 5. Plaintiff represents that Defendant has failed to respond by the agreed upon deadline. See id. at 4. Therefore, Plaintiff seeks an Order compelling Defendant to produce all responsive documents to the Request for Production and provide complete responses to the Interrogatories within ten (10) days of the Court’s Order granting the Motion. See id. Under Rule 69(a)(2), “[i]n aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest whose interest appears of record may obtain discovery from any person— including the judgment debtor—as provided in these rules or by the procedure of the state where the court is located.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(2). “Florida law allows a judgment creditor to have liberal rights of discovery in aid of execution.” RPS, Inc. v. Travel Max Int’l, Inc., 823 So. 2d 243, 245 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). Further, Rule 26 provides, in relevant part, that: Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). Case No. 20-cv-62293-BLOOM/Valle Upon review of the Request for Production and Interrogatories, the Court agrees that Plaintiff is entitled to such discovery in aid of execution. See ECF Nos. [45-1], [45-2]. Defendant’s failure to respond to the Request for Production and Interrogatories further warrants an Order compelling a response to the discovery requests. Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows: 1. Plaintiff's Motion, ECF No. [45], is GRANTED. 2. Defendant shall produce all responsive documents to the Request for Production by no later than August 15, 2022. 3. Defendant shall provide complete responses to the Interrogatories by August 15, 2022. DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, on August 5, 2022. BETH BLOOM UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies to: Counsel of Record