# Dave` v. The Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University Carbondale

> District Court, S.D. Illinois · February 25, 2022

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10154784

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, S.D. Illinois
- **Decided:** February 25, 2022
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10154784

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- declining challenges to an award of fees when the defendant “offered no objective standard, no ‘reasonable’ number of hours to spend on a given activity, with which to compare” the plaintiff’s asserted fee request

## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

BAKUL DAVE’, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. ) Case No. 3:18-cv-02122-GCS
)
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF )
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, )
CARBONDALE, )
)
Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM & ORDER
SISON, Magistrate Judge:
On November 9, 2021, the Court granted in part and denied in part Defendant
Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s motion for sanctions
against Plaintiff Bakul Dave’. (Doc. 66). After an examination of Plaintiff’s conduct prior
to and during his deposition, the Court found that his “dilatory conduct when scheduling
his deposition and his evasive, non-responsive, and aggressive demeanor during the
deposition” were particularly egregious. Id. at p. 9. The Court therefore ordered that
Defendant submit an accounting of its costs, expenses, and fees for its motion for
sanctions, the deposition at issue in that motion, and the cancellation of Plaintiff’s
previous deposition on March 17, 2020. Id. at p. 10-11. Now before the Court is
Defendant’s accounting (Doc. 67) and Plaintiff’s objections thereto (Doc. 69). For the
reasons delineated below, the Court ACCEPTS in part and REDUCES in part
Defendant’s accounting.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The parties first began experiencing difficulties with discovery in July 2019. (Doc.
28). Defendant served written discovery to Plaintiff on July 19, 2019. (Doc. 32, p. 1).

However, despite several attempts working with Plaintiff’s counsel, Plaintiff failed to
provide responses until July 14, 2020. Id; see also (Doc. 34). As a result, the parties
completed no discovery for more than two years after the Court entered its initial
scheduling order in the case. See (Doc. 22).

On October 4, 2019, Defendant filed a consent motion to continue the jury trial date
and to extend the discovery schedule. (Doc. 26). In the motion, the parties represented
that Plaintiff would respond to written discovery no later than October 25, 2019. Id.
Defendant would respond to written discovery by November 15, 2019. Id. The Court

accepted the parties’ request, as they jointly indicated that additional time was needed to
complete written discovery. (Doc. 27). Accordingly, the Court extended the discovery
deadline to May 1, 2020. Id. Through Administrative Order No. 261, the Court again
extended the deadline to June 30, 2020. (Doc. 32, p. 2).

On October 31, 2019, Defendant’s counsel reached out to Plaintiff’s counsel via
email to discuss when Plaintiff’s discovery responses would be received. (Doc. 32, p. 2).
Defendant’s counsel received no response, and thus Defendant’s counsel reached out
again on November 14, 2019. Id. Plaintiff’s counsel responded that he was “putting
[responses] together” and apologized for the delay. Id. On December 16, 2019,
Defendant’s counsel followed up again by email after receiving no response. Id. Once

more, Plaintiff’s counsel did not respond. Id. Defendant reached out again on January 2,
2020. Id. This time, Plaintiff’s counsel stated that he was going to meet with Plaintiff on
January 7, 2020 and would have the responses completed by January 10, 2020. Id.
However, no responses were provided. Defendant’s counsel followed up on May 20,
2020, and when Plaintiff’s counsel did not respond, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss
for failure to prosecute on May 29, 2020. Id.

The Court noted that Plaintiff’s counsel consistently indicated that discovery
responses would come “in short order,” though no responses were provided and no
reasons were given for this failure. (Doc. 32, p. 4). Through this conduct, Plaintiff and his

counsel demonstrated a consistent disregard for the Court’s orders regarding discovery,
which favored dismissal. Id. at p. 4-5. The Court, however, was not alerted to the
discovery issues until May 2020; as such, the Court had not yet imposed a lesser sanction
against Plaintiff. Id. at p. 5. The Court therefore denied the motion to dismiss, but directed
Plaintiff to respond to the outstanding discovery requests within fourteen days. Id.

Plaintiff complied with this order. (Doc. 34).
Defendant’s counsel first reached out to Plaintiff’s counsel about scheduling
Plaintiff’s deposition on January 7, 2021. (Doc. 48, Exh. 3, p. 6). On January 19, 2021,
Defendant’s counsel suggested taking the deposition on February 18th, 22nd, or the 23rd.

Id. at p. 4. After hearing no response from Plaintiff’s counsel, on January 29, 2021,
Defendant’s counsel suggested March 4th, 11th, or the 16th-19th. Id. at p. 3. Plaintiff’s
counsel agreed to the March 11th date on February 11, 2021 (the “March 11th deposition”).

Id. However, the parties were not able to complete the deposition because Plaintiff did
not have the ability to video conference on his computer. (Doc. 48, Exh. 4, p. 8).
The parties rescheduled Plaintiff’s deposition for March 17, 2021 (the “March 17th
deposition”); however, Plaintiff did not appear at the deposition due to rain. (Doc. 48,

Exh. 4, p. 8). The same day, Defendant’s counsel emailed Plaintiff’s counsel to request
that Plaintiff’s counsel pay for the court reporter’s cancellation fee. Id. Defendant’s
counsel also provided five possible dates for Plaintiff’s deposition in April 2021. Id. On
March 18, 2021, Plaintiff’s counsel agreed to pay the cancellation fee, but to date he has
not yet done so. (Doc. 48, Exh. 4, p. 7). When responding to Defense counsel’s attempts

to reschedule the deposition on March 18th, Plaintiff’s counsel indicated that he could not
attend prior to April 12th; however, he did not select any of the five dates Defendant’s
counsel provided which were after April 12th. Id.
Defendant’s counsel followed up with Plaintiff’s counsel on April 12, 2021,

requesting that Plaintiff’s counsel list available dates for the deposition prior to May 10th.
(Doc. 48, Exh. 4, p. 6). However, Plaintiff’s counsel was not able to meet prior to May 10th
due to a health concern. Id. at p. 5. Defendant’s counsel again tried to schedule Plaintiff’s
deposition on June 1, 2021. Id. at p. 4. Eventually, the parties agreed to schedule Plaintiff’s
deposition for July 13, 2021 (the “July 13th deposition”). Id. at p. 2-3. Discovery was

scheduled to be completed by July 15, 2021. (Doc. 42).
Plaintiff arrived on time for his July 13th deposition. (Doc. 48, p. 2). During the
deposition, Defendant’s counsel asked Plaintiff a series of questions regarding his

attempts to seek employment after his termination from SIUC. (Doc. 43, p. 1). Though
these questions were both relevant and routine, Plaintiff refused to answer the questions
on the basis of the privilege against self-incrimination. (Doc. 48, p. 3). The parties took a
brief break, during which Plaintiff’s counsel explained that Plaintiff’s responses were not
privileged and that Plaintiff needed to answer the questions posed to him. (Doc. 43, p. 1).

When the parties returned to the deposition, Plaintiff again refused to answer the
questions posed to him. (Doc. 43, p. 1). On the record, Defendant’s counsel asked
Plaintiff’s counsel whether Plaintiff’s counsel was making the objection or directing
Plaintiff not to answer Defendant’s counsel’s questions. Id. at p. 1-2. Plaintiff’s counsel

responded that he was directing Plaintiff to respond to the questions. Id. at p. 2.
Nevertheless, Plaintiff refused to answer the questions. Id. When Plaintiff did respond to
questions, he would state that documents in the record were “false” or “forgeries”, that
he did not remember specifics about his assignments, and that Defense counsel’s
questions were “false and fraudulent.” (Doc. 48, p. 5-6).

On July 13, 2021, Plaintiff’s counsel filed a motion to withdraw as Plaintiff’s
attorney citing the aforementioned episode and other discovery disagreements. (Doc. 43).
However, during a hearing on the motion to withdraw, Plaintiff’s counsel and Plaintiff
settled their differences regarding these disputes, and Plaintiff’s counsel withdrew his

motion. (Doc. 65). Plaintiff no longer disputes that his refusal to answer the questions
posed to him was inappropriate. (Doc. 62, p. 2). Although he believed that he was making
a good-faith objection based on potential self-incrimination, Plaintiff no longer objects to

his obligation to respond to questions regarding his post-termination job search. Id.
On July 19, 2021, Defendant filed a motion for sanctions over Plaintiff’s dilatory
conduct regarding the scheduling of depositions and the objections made during the July
13th deposition. (Doc. 47). The Court granted in part and denied in part this motion. (Doc.

66). In doing so, the Court required that Defendant “submit an accounting of its costs,
expenses, and fees (including attorneys’ fees) for the following: the instant motion for
sanctions (Doc. 47), the deposition which gave rise to the instant motion, and the
cancellation of the March 17th deposition.” Id. at p. 10-11. Plaintiff is required to pay these
fees within sixty days of the accounting. Id.

ANALYSIS
In considering the amount of fees to award, the Court looks to Goodyear Tire &

Rubber Co. v. Haeger, 137 S.Ct. 1178 (2017). In Goodyear, the Supreme Court considered a
“federal court's authority to sanction a litigant for bad-faith conduct by ordering it to pay
the other side's legal fees.” Id. at 1183-84. The Court held “that such an order is limited to
the fees that the innocent party incurred solely because of the misconduct – or put another
way, to the fees that party would not have incurred but for the bad faith.” Id. at 1184.

Sanctions imposed for discovery violations “must be compensatory rather than punitive
in nature.” Id. at 1186 (citing Int'l Union, United Mine Workers of America v. Bagwell, 512
U.S. 821, 826-830 (1994)). Compensating a party for fees incurred due to misconduct is
permissible, but any sanction imposed beyond that becomes punitive and may require
criminal-type procedural guarantees. Id. at 1186. Accordingly, courts fashioning fee

awards must award only those fees with a “causal link” between a party's “misbehavior
and legal fees paid by the opposing party” using a “but-for test.” Goodyear, 137 S.Ct. at
1186-87. The but-for standard allows courts to “exercise discretion and judgment” in
“assess[ing] and allocat[ing] specific litigation expenses,” but the Supreme Court
instructs that a “court's fundamental job is to determine whether a given legal fee – say,
for taking a deposition or drafting a motion – would or would not have been incurred in

the absence of the sanctioned conduct.” Id. at 1187. In pursuit of an appropriate fee
award, courts “may use estimates in calculating and allocating an attorney's
time.” Id. (quoting Fox v. Vice, 563 U.S. 826, 838 (2011)).

Defendant provides a verbatim accounting of the expenses and attorneys’ fees
counsel submitted to its client, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (“SIUC”), in
pursuit of Plaintiff’s deposition and the motion for sanctions Defendant filed thereafter.
(Doc. 67, Exh. 1). These charges include $1,454.91 in expenses related to Plaintiff’s
depositions, as well as $18,110.32 in attorneys’ fees. Id. at p. 2-9. The fees include time

spent corresponding with Plaintiff’s counsel and amending the scheduling order to
schedule Plaintiff’s deposition, research and preparation for Plaintiff’s deposition, the
conducting of the deposition, and the preparation of Defendant’s motion for sanctions.
Id. As Plaintiff does not challenge the $1,454.91 in costs incurred for the March 17th and
July 13th depositions, the Court will focus its analysis on the attorneys’ fees of Defendant’s
counsel. (Doc. 69, p. 2).

To calculate attorneys’ fees, the district court generally begins with the
“lodestar,” i.e., the product of the hours reasonably expended on the case multiplied by
a reasonable hourly rate. See Montanez v. Simon, 755 F.3d 547, 553 (7th Cir. 2014). “The
party seeking an award of fees should submit evidence supporting the hours worked and

rates claimed[ ]” in support of the lodestar. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983).
“Although lodestar yields a presumptively reasonable fee . . . the court may nevertheless
adjust the fee based on factors not included in the computation[.]” Montanez, 755 F.3d at
553. Such factors can include the time and labor required, the novelty or difficulty of the
case, the degree of success achieved, the experience and ability of the attorneys, the

adequacy of the documentation of the hours, and whether appropriate billing judgment
was used. See Hensley, 461 U.S. at 430, 430 n.4.
The hours worked component of the lodestar must exclude hours not reasonably
expended, including “excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary” hours. Hensley,

461 U.S. at 434. In determining whether hours are reasonable, the Court must determine
whether the task would normally be billed to a paying client and whether certain tasks
could easily be delegated to non-professional assistants. See Spegon v. Catholic Bishop of
Chicago, 175 F.3d 544, 533 (7th Cir. 1999). The Court may also reduce the hours calculation
“[w]here the documentation of hours is inadequate[.]” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433.

Duplicative time that cannot be billed reasonably to a client also cannot be billed to an
adversary through fee-shifting. See Gibson v. City of Chicago, 873 F.Supp.2d 975, 989 (N.D.
Ill. 2012). Courts must scrutinize fee petitions carefully for duplicative time. See Jardien v.

Winston Network, Inc., 888 F.2d 1151, 1160 (7th Cir. 1989). However, two lawyers
performing the same task does not necessarily require that the hours must be
deducted. See Tchemkou v. Mukasey, 517 F.3d 506, 511-512 (7th Cir. 2008). The Court
focuses the inquiry on whether the time was “reasonably expended.” Id.

The lodestar of Defense counsel differentiates between associate counsel Adam
Henningsen’s hours and those of partner Ian Cooper. See generally, (Doc. 67, Exh. 1).
While Mr. Henningsen charges $131.75 per hour, Mr. Cooper charges $225 per hour. 1 Id.
Counsel includes their attempts to schedule Plaintiff’s March 11th deposition, the
preparation for that deposition, and miscellaneous charges related to the logistics of that

deposition (e.g., communicating with the court reporter) in their lodestar and accounting
of fees. (Doc. 67, Exh. 1, p. 2-5). Overall, Mr. Henningsen spent 74.7 hours in preparation
for the March 11th deposition. Id. This included 2.9 hours spent attempting to schedule
the deposition, 70.8 hours preparing for the deposition, and 1 hour on administrative
tasks regarding the logistics of the deposition. Id. The charges for these hours amount to

$382.08;2 $9,327.90; and $131.75, respectively. Id. Equally, Mr. Cooper charged 0.2 hours
for scheduling the deposition, 0.9 hours for attending and otherwise ensuring the

1 Plaintiff does not challenge the reasonableness of these rates. See (Doc. 69). The Court therefore will
not address the reasonableness of the rates charged by defense counsel.

2 Where the multiplication of counsel’s hours by counsel’s fees returns an amount with a thousandth
of a dollar, the Court has rounded up to the nearest whole cent.
facilitation of the deposition, and 0.9 hours preparing for the deposition. Id. The charges
for Mr. Cooper’s hours prior to the March 11th deposition total $45.00; $202.50; and
$202.50 respectively. Id. Together, the fees charged for the March 11th deposition total

$10,291.73. Id.
The lodestar next details the fees incurred for rescheduling the March 11th
deposition and preparing for the March 17th deposition. See (Doc. 67, Exh. 1, p. 5-6). Mr.

Henningsen spent approximately one hour attempting to reschedule the deposition as
well as negotiating the cancellation fees for the March 11th deposition with the court
reporter and Plaintiff’s counsel. Id. He also spent 5.1 hours preparing a legal strategy and
reviewing discovery documents for the March 17th deposition. Id. The fees for these hours
amount to $131.75 and $671.93 respectively. Id. Mr. Cooper logged 0.4 hours rescheduling

the March 11th deposition and 0.6 hours preparing for the deposition. Id. These fees total
$90.00 and $135.00 respectively. Overall, the fees charged for the March 17th deposition
amount to $1,028.68.
The next section of the lodestar illustrates the fees Defendant’s counsel charged for

rescheduling the March 17th deposition and for preparing for and attending the July 17th
deposition. (Doc. 67, Exh. 1, p. 6-8). Mr. Henningsen spent 3.7 hours rescheduling the
March 17th deposition and negotiating the cancellation fees for that deposition with
Plaintiff’s counsel and the court reporter. Id. He also logged 9.6 hours preparing for and
attending the deposition. Id. These charges equal $487.48 and $1,264.80 respectively. Mr.

Cooper entered 1.5 hours for rescheduling the deposition and 6.2 hours preparing for the
deposition. Id. The charges total $337.50 and $1,395 respectively. Together these fees
amount to $3,484.78.

The final section of the lodestar for Defense counsel tallies the hours charged for
preparing Defendant’s motion for sanctions. (Doc. 67, Exh. 1, p. 8-9). Mr. Henningsen
charged 10.4 hours for preparing the motion and Defendant’s reply to Plaintiff’s
response. Id. These charges amount to $1,370.20. Mr. Cooper also charged 8.6 hours for

reviewing Mr. Henningsen’s work on the motion, totaling $1,935.00. Id. The total fees for
the motion for sanctions amount to $3,305.20. Overall, the lodestar for Defense counsel
amounts to $18,110.39 in attorneys’ fees.3 Id. at p. 9.
Plaintiff contends that the only reasonable charges are those incurred when

Defendant’s counsel attended or rescheduled the March 17th and July 13th depositions.
(Doc. 69, p. 3-4). Under Plaintiff’s accounting, the appropriate charge would then be
$159.72 for the time Defendant’s counsel spent cancelling the March 17th deposition, and
$1,171.60 for the fees incurred while counsel was present at the July 13th deposition. Id. at
p. 3-4. Plaintiff also asserts that the fees alleged for preparing the motion for sanctions are

excessive because the motion did not include a new issue of law and because the Court
did not grant that motion in its entirety. Id. at p. 4. Plaintiff therefore requests the Court

3 Defendant’s accounting comes to $18,110.32, seven cents less than the Court’s accounting of
$18,110.39. The Court relied on the multiplication of Defendant’s counsels’ rates by the number of hours
listed in the lodestar when calculating each individual amount. However, because Defendant’s accounting
is the lesser amount, the Court will use Defendant’s accounting of $18,110.32 when considering the total
amount to be awarded.
award Defendant a maximum of three hours per attorney for that motion, totaling
$1,070.25 in fees. Id. at p. 4-5.

The Court finds that the appropriate measure of fees and costs to be awarded is
significantly less than those requested by Defendant’s counsel, but significantly more
than those asserted by Plaintiff. Although the Court referenced Plaintiff’s dilatory
behavior when scheduling his deposition (Doc. 66, p. 9), it did not intend to sanction

Plaintiff for the scheduling of the March 11th and March 17th depositions. Defendant’s
counsel reached out to Plaintiff’s counsel on January 7, 2021 to schedule the first
deposition. (Doc. 48, Exh. 3, p. 6). And, while Plaintiff’s counsel did not initially respond
to the first set of proposed dates, a date for March 11th was set after a follow-up
communication from Defendant’s counsel. Id. at p. 3. The March 11th deposition had to

be rescheduled because Plaintiff did not have video conferencing capabilities on his
computer, but a follow-up deposition was set just six days later for March 17th. (Doc. 48,
Exh. 4, p. 8). Plaintiff, however, did not appear for the deposition because of rain. Id. The
Court’s reference to dilatory conduct when scheduling the deposition was primarily
aimed at the length of time it took to schedule the July 13th deposition, a period of

approximately four months. It ultimately took three attempts by Defendant’s counsel to
set that deposition. (Doc. 48, Exh. 4, p. 2-6).
Of course, it was Plaintiff’s “evasive, non-responsive and aggressive demeanor”
during this July 13th deposition that the Court found to be particularly egregious. (Doc.

66, p. 9). Plaintiff’s conduct during this deposition served to make this deposition
worthless and a waste of time for all involved. As such, the Court’s intent was to award
all fees related to this deposition. This is the reason the Court referenced the cancellation
of the March 17th deposition because it intended to use the cancellation of that deposition

as a demarcation point. Thus, such fees would include the attorney’s fees for the
scheduling of the July 13th deposition (necessitated by the cancellation of the March 17th
deposition), as well as the preparation time for the July 13th deposition.

Indeed, the hours spent preparing for and scheduling the March 11th and 17th
depositions are not causally linked to Plaintiff’s sanctionable conduct. Defendant would
have incurred the costs and fees for scheduling and preparing for the March 11th and
March 17th depositions had they occurred as originally scheduled. Accordingly, these fees
fail the “but-for” test required for determining whether the charges are reasonable. See

Goodyear, 137 S.Ct. at 1187. The Court therefore reduces the fees awarded to Defendant
by the amount spent preparing for and scheduling the March 11th and March 17th
depositions, which is $10,291.73 and $1,028.68, respectively.
The Court further does not find Defense counsel’s charges for the July 13th

deposition to be excessive. As Defendant points out, to “be useful and effective,
preparation for any deposition . . . must be done close to the time of the deposition.” (Doc.
70, p. 4). It is not inherently unreasonable or duplicative for Defendant’s counsel to
expend time re-preparing to take Plaintiff’s deposition even though counsel had
previously prepared for the March 11th and March 17th depositions. In fact, such

preparation is essential for a thorough and useful deposition. Furthermore, the lodestar
indicates that counsel spent less time preparing for the July 13th deposition, reflecting
counsel’s increasing familiarity with the documents and strategy prior to the deposition.
(Doc. 67, Exh. 1). Counsel spent 9.2 hours preparing for the July 13th deposition. It is true

that this is more than the 5.7 hours of time spent preparing for the March 17th deposition.
The additional time, however, simply reflects the necessity of re-preparing for the
deposition after a period of almost four months had elapsed. The Court therefore finds
that these charges are neither duplicative nor unreasonable.

The Court similarly finds that the charges incurred by Defense counsel for
preparing Defendant’s motion for sanctions are reasonable and not duplicative. Plaintiff
asserts that Defendant’s counsel can charge no more than three hours per lawyer for their
work on the motion for sanctions because the motion did not include novel issues of law

and because the motion was granted only in part. (Doc. 69, p. 3-4). Courts in the Seventh
Circuit have reduced an award of attorneys’ fees based on the prevailing party’s partial
success at trial. See Gibson, 873 F.Supp.2d at 994. However, when doing so, the Court
noted that this reduction was designed to better reflect the statutory purpose of the law
under which that party brought suit. Id. (citing City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 575

(1986)). Here, on the other hand, the award of attorneys’ fees serves a different purpose,
which “is to deter undesirable conduct, not necessarily to fee shift.” Citizens for
Appropriate Rural Roads, Inc. v. Lahood, No. 1:11-cv-01031-SEB-DML, 2014 WL 1342808, at
*2 (S.D. Ind. Apr. 4, 2014). Defendant would not have brought the instant motion for
sanctions had it not been for the undesirable conduct of the Plaintiff. Thus, the partial
success of the motion has no bearing on the amount of attorneys’ fees to award.

The Court also rejects Plaintiff’s calculation of the appropriate number of hours to
award Defendant for counsels’ work on the motion for sanctions. Plaintiff provides no
basis of comparison from which the Court may conclude that 19 hours spent on the
motion is patently unreasonable. Cf. O’Sullivan v. City of Chicago, 484 F.Supp.2d 829, 837

(N.D. Ill. 2007)(declining challenges to an award of fees when the defendant “offered no
objective standard, no ‘reasonable’ number of hours to spend on a given activity, with
which to compare” the plaintiff’s asserted fee request). When a party fails to provide a
“principled basis” on which to reduce allegedly excessive time entries, the Court will not
“engage in an arbitrary determination of how long a ‘reasonable attorney’ would spend”

on a motion. Valerio v. Total Taxi Repair & Body Shop, LLC, 82 F.Supp.3d 723, 742 n.4 (N.D.
Ill. 2015)(citing O’Sullivan, 484 F.Supp.2d at 837). As Plaintiff provides no support for his
contention that three hours is an appropriate award, or that Defense counsels’ reported
hours are inappropriate, the Court declines to adopt Plaintiff’s proposed accounting.
Accordingly, Plaintiff must also pay the full $3,305.20 in charges associated with Defense

counsels’ preparation of its motion for sanctions. When added to the costs to which
Plaintiff previously conceded ($1,454.91), the total amount of fees and costs for which
Plaintiff is responsible is $8,244.82.
CONCLUSION

For these reasons, the Court ACCEPTS in part and REJECTS in part Defendant's
accounting of the costs and fees to be awarded to it as an appropriate sanction. (Doc. 67).
The Court awards Defendant $8,244.82 in costs and fees. The Court further EXTENDS
the deadline by which Plaintiff must comply with this order for sanctions by forty-five
days, up to and including, April 11, 2022.

Plaintiff is WARNED that the failure to comply with this sanction will result in
the dismissal of his case. As per the Court’s previous Order (Doc. 66), this case is STAYED
pending Plaintiff's payment of the fees outlined in this Order. Once the Plaintiff pays the
aforementioned monetary sanction as ordered, the STAY will be lifted. Once the STAY
is lifted, Defendant must schedule the Plaintiff's deposition per the Court’s instructions
in Doc. 66. The same warnings issued to Plaintiff in Doc. 66 remain in effect and a
violation of such warnings COULD RESULT IN THE DISMISSAL OF THIS CASE.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Digitally signed
DATED: February 25, 2022. □□ (oat tioos :
10:50:10 -06'00'
GILBERTC.SISON
United States Magistrate Judge

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10154784. Public record. Not legal advice.