Opinion
20894-19 6791-20 10830-20 17749-21 17771-21
02-27-2023
NOEL M. PARDUCCI & KENNETH L. PARDUCCI, ET AL., Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Ronald L. Buch, Judge
These five cases have been consolidated for trial, briefing, and opinion. Dennis Simpson, petitioner in docket no. 17771-21 and trustee of the petitioner in docket no. 17749-21, submitted a Third Request for Admissions to the Commissioner pursuant to Rule 90(a). On February 8, 2023, the Commissioner filed a Motion for Protective Order pursuant to Rule 103(a), a rule that gives this Court the discretion to issue orders "to protect a party . . . from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense." The Commissioner asserts that the request, which contains "171 apparently repetitive requests, is oppressive, appears designed to provoke annoyance, and subjects [the Commissioner] to undue burden."
Indeed, Mr. Simpson's request is repetitive. It contains many requests that are duplicative within the Third Request for Admissions. It also contains many requests that overlap with, or are nearly identical to, requests in Mr. Simpson's First and Second Requests for Admissions. The Commissioner responded to the first and second requests, and many of Mr. Simpson's requests have been asked and answered. Additionally, the request repeatedly asks the Commissioner to admit to the contents of documents. Documents speak for themselves, and it is unduly burdensome to ask a party merely to verify that Mr. Simpson has properly restated the contents of a document. Another category of improper requests are several that are indecipherable because they are not complete sentences. Altogether, the Third Request for Admissions contains only two requests (nos. 131 and 132) that are understandable and neither ask the Commissioner to admit to the contents of a document nor to answer a request that he has already answered. We will grant the Commissioner's motion except as to those two requests. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the Motion for Protective Order filed February 8, 2023 is granted in that the Commissioner is only required to respond to requests 131 and 132. It is further
ORDERED that the Commissioner shall respond to requests 131 and 132 of Mr. Simpson's Third Request for Admissions by March 8, 2023.