APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS TRIAL COURT’S STRIKING OF DEFENDANT’S PLEADINGS

King Tyson, Inc. v. Perez, 49 Fla. L. Weekly D1370 (Fla. 3d DCA June 26, 2024):

The trial court struck the defendant’s pleadings because it had failed to comply with discovery requests. The defendant failed to demonstrate that the trial judge had abused her sound discretion in determining the sanctions for its repeated discovery violations.

Notably, the court reminded us that it was unnecessary for the trial court to provide written findings pursuant to Kozel, as that case standard applies only to the alleged misconduct of a party’s counsel, not to misconduct of the party itself. When a party’s own misconduct is involved, the analysis falls under the Mercer/Ham rubric, mandating a determination and findings of the party’s willful or deliberate disregard of the court’s authority.

The appellate court found that the trial judge had not abused her sound discretion and made a conscious determination that the defendant’s failure to respond to interrogatories was more than a mistake, neglect, or inadvertence.