Opinion
Civil 21-cv-80800-MATTHEWMAN
12-06-2021
KATHERYN WINSLOW, individually, DEBORAH WALLACE GRAHAM, individually, Plaintiffs, v. INDIHEARTANDMIND, INC., et al., Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO PRODUCE RECORDS [DE 61]
WILLIAM MATTHEWMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiffs, Katheryn Winslow and Deborah Wallace Graham's (“Plaintiffs”) Motion to Compel Department of Revenue to Produce Records (“Motion”) [DE 61].
On November 29, 2021, the Court entered a Paperless Order Requiring an Expedited Response [DE 62] to the Motion. The Court stated in that Paperless Order as follows: “[i]n light of the upcoming discovery cutoff of January 10, 2022, Defendants are hereby ORDERED to file a response to 61 Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Department of Revenue to Produce Records on or before Friday, December 3, 2021.” Id. No response to the Motion was timely filed by Defendants Indiheartandmind, Inc., and Ayinde Reid.
According to the Motion, Plaintiffs submitted a subpoena to the Florida Department of Revenue on November 16, 2021, and the Florida Department of Revenue responded on November 23, 2021, that it required a Court Order to produce the responsive documents. The Court provided Defendants the opportunity to respond to the Motion to ensure that they had no objection to the documents sought. Defendants have never objected to the subpoena or responded to the Motion.
First, the Court finds it appropriate to grant Plaintiffs' Motion by default due to Defendants' failure to respond to the Motion. According to S.D. Fla. Local Rule 7.1(c), failure to file a response “may be deemed sufficient cause for granting the motion by default.” See James v. Wal-Mart Stores E., LP, No. 18-CV-81325, 2019 WL 124308, at *1 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 8, 2019); Affonso v. Se. Fla. Transportation Grp., LLC, No. 14-81309-CV, 2016 WL 7507851, at *1 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 29, 2016). Defendants were ordered to respond to Plaintiffs' Motion by December 3, 2021 and failed to do so. Thus, granting of Plaintiffs' Motion by default is appropriate under our Local Rules.
Second, having carefully reviewed Plaintiffs' Motion, it is also due to be granted on the merits. The subpoena seeks, “[a]ll documents submitted by Indiheartandmind, Inc., from January 2019 through present, including, but not limited to, quarterly filings, payroll records and any other documents that reflect individuals that were employed by Indiheartandmind, Inc.” [DE 61-1]. Such documents are relevant to the claims and defenses in this case under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Additionally, Defendants have been extremely dilatory during the discovery process in this case, see DEs 60, 63, 64, so Plaintiffs have no choice but to subpoena third parties to obtain the documents they need in order to proceed with their case.
In light of the foregoing, the Court ORDERS as follows:
1. Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Department of Revenue to Produce Records [DE 61] is GRANTED.
2. The Florida Department of Revenue is ORDERED to comply with the subpoena duces tecum dated November 16, 2021, which was previously submitted to the Department of Revenue by Plaintiffs. All responsive documents shall be produced to Plaintiffs on or before December 20, 2021.
3. Plaintiffs shall maintain the confidentiality of any confidential taxpayer information contained within the documents produced by the Florida Department of Revenue, shall use the information from the documents solely in this litigation, and shall redact and/or move to file under seal (in compliance with the Local Rules) any confidential taxpayer information utilized in filings on the docket.
4. Plaintiffs are DIRECTED to promptly provide a copy of this Order to the Florida Department of Revenue.
DONE and ORDERED.