Not the plaintiff. He gets a text message on his phone that shows a man sitting on a toilet with his penis stuck between the base of the toilet and the seat. Which he proceeds to show to everyone else who's sitting around the conference table at a work meeting.
Not bright. I don't care if you think it's funny. I don't even care if it is. Here's a little guideline I like to follow: Don't show pictures of penises at work. Easy to remember.
Plaintiff gets fired, and sues.
Plaintiff's counsel doesn't come out looking so great either. I'll not mention all the pleading problems, which the Court of Appeal discusses at length. Or the failure to timely file an opposition to a demurrer. I''ll instead simply quote some of plaintiff's discovery responses. For which he gets sanctioned:
"First, in the employment law form interrogatories, defendants asked, “Do you contend that the EMPLOYMENT relationship was not ‘at will’? If so: [¶] (a) State all facts upon which you base this contention; [¶] (b) State the name, ADDRESS, and telephone number of each PERSON who has knowledge of those facts; and [¶] (c) Identify all DOCUMENTS that support your contention.” [Plaintiff] responded, “Yes.”
Second, also in the employment law form interrogatories, defendants asked, “Do you contend that the EMPLOYMENT relationship was governed by any agreement—written, oral, or implied? If so: [¶] (a) State all facts upon which you base this contention; [¶] (b) State the name, ADDRESS, and telephone number of each PERSON who has knowledge of those facts; and [¶] (c) Identify all DOCUMENTS that support your contention.” [Plaintiff] responded, “Yes.”
Not good. Not good at all. Ditto for the fact that plaintiff "did not file any opposition to the motions to compel." Yeah. That's not going to work out well for you.
Don't think that defendant's counsel comes out perfectly either. They get discovery sanctions imposed. But they're reversed on appeal. Because guess what? Defendants failed to move to compel within the 45-day deadline. And, despite defendant's arguments on appeal, you can't get sanctions -- even for absurd discovery responses -- if you blow the deadline.
I have a copy of a cartoon from the New Yorker on the door to my office that says: "If someone is worth suing, he's worth suing well." This case doesn't exactly comport with this maxim.
