A woman filed a personal injury lawsuit against McDonald’s. McDonald’s served interrogatories (written questions). The woman’s attorney did not hear from her for a very long time, but told McDonald’s attorneys that he was aware she had not been well. In fact, it turned out she was in the hospital.
The court ordered that McDonald’s questions be answered within 40 days. Finally, her attorney was able to get in touch with her and get the information McDonald’s had requested, but not until about 17 days after the judge’s deadline.
The judge dismissed the case because of the missed deadline – in spite of the fact that the woman had been in the hospital, had ultimately provided the answers, and the trial date and crucial case schedule deadlines were months away.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court made no findings whatsoever with respect to whether the failure to comply with the order compelling discovery responses was willful, whether McDonald’s was substantially prejudiced by the failure to comply, and whether any lesser sanction than summarily dismissing the personal injury complaint would suffice under the circumstances of the case and in light of the purposes of the discovery order and the length of time to trial. The Court reversed.[1]
This was not one of our cases, but it illustrates the importance of not losing contact with your attorney – though in this case it was not the woman’s fault, which is why the Court of Appeals reversed.
By personal injury attorney Travis Scott Eller
[1] Howe v. McDonald’s, Inc., unpublished (No. 68315-2-1 September 23, 2013).