CHUANG INVESTMENTS,
v.
v.
Y.C. HOSPITALITY, INC., and
YING C. CHUANG,
Defendants-in-Counterclaim-Appellants.
____________________
Before
____________________
April 9, 1996
____________________
Per Curiam.
___________
In March
1993, Chuang
Investments, Inc.
filed
suit
in
Restaurants,
court
Inc., alleging
lease agreement.
court
state
Marriott had
against Chuang
Y.C.
that
Marriott
and counterclaimed
that Dr.
against
Chuang controls
violated
Investments, Inc.,
now dissolved.
to the district
It appears
Hospitality, Inc. is
Family
Dr.
and that
Chuang then
order
requiring that
discovery be
to Dr.
ignored.
Chuang and
the
completed by
in February 1994
Chuang companies,
July 1994.
which Dr.
directed
Chuang
document requests,
and a motion
Dr.
The court
doctor
and
scheduled
hearing.
In
the
meantime,
because they
paid.
-2-2-
Dr. Chuang
the
withdraw
At the June
Chuang that
1994 hearing
he would
affidavit from
The
risked default
given 14
counsel.
be
the district
days
more to
had 30 days
corporations had to
he
did
file
the affidavit, he
if
court told
not secure
Dr.
the
in April
to get
new
Chuang that he
counsel,
since
the
affidavits--from
two doctors
needed a month's
saying, respectively,
to
dismiss
the claims
filed letters--not
months' postponement.
In July
against it
that he
and
for defaults
as to
The
Finally, on May
eight-page memorandum
and order
events
Marriott's motion.
and
granting
describing the
an
sequence of
Thereafter,
the
the Marriott
the
case.
claims, and
The Chuang
were fixed on
disposing of
raising as their
-3-3-
sole issue
On appeal,
the Chuang
of surgery in January
deposition.
Dr. Chuang's
of
mental
and
physical
speaking English.
trauma,
and
some
difficulty
in
failure
to comply
obligations (the
between
his
with the
Chuang brief
position
and
court orders
or his
that
of
the
discovery
to distinguish
two
Chuang
corporations).
It
may be that
he had a medical
excuse for
the later
to explain why
he
There
may be no showing
witness); but,
to
the
court
postponements.
of special prejudice
_______
in a period of
is
As
inherent
for
in
Marriott, it
-4-4-
(e.g., a lost
____
needless
has
been
delays
and
left
with
litigation
forced to
needlessly hanging
litigate
about discovery
Hallenbeck,
__________
over
its head
compliance that
and has
at 8-9 (1st
See
___
been
should
Robson v.
______
Cir. Apr. 3,
1996).
It is true
that default
is a severe
sanction but
the
facts already
cited reveal
inattention by
Dr.
a pattern of
Chuang.
he provide
an
counsel as
directed or,
See
___
non-compliance and
Damiani v.
_______
Rhode Island
_____________
For months,
Dr.
affidavit, and
he
failed either
if additional
time was
to
secure
needed, to
the
serious
outstanding
effort
against
to
comply
him
for
with
almost
18
discovery
months
demands
prior
to
default.
case.
this
period.
In ordering
the dismissal
and
had
district
wrote a careful
explanation of what
its order.
We
of the
its position.
-5-5-
Affirmed.
_________
-6-6-