Opinion
April 12, 1999
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Silverman, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The nature and degree of the penalty to be imposed pursuant to CPLR 3126 against a party who "refuses to obey an order for disclosure or wilfully fails to disclose information which the court finds ought to have been disclosed" is a matter within the discretion of the court (CPLR 3126; see, Kubacka v. Town of N. Hempstead, 240 A.D.2d 374; Soto v. City of Long Beach, 197 A.D.2d 615). The defendants' willful and contumacious conduct can be inferred from their continued adjournment of scheduled depositions, the commencement of a baseless third-party action, and their failure to comply with the court's order directing depositions on a date certain without an adequate excuse ( see, Castrignano v. Flynn, 252 A.D.2d 352; Brady v. County of Nassau, 234 A.D.2d 408; Garcia v. Kraniotakis, 232 A.D.2d 369).