Opinion
Case No. 4:11CV00707 AGF
05-06-2013
DONNA E. WHITE, Plaintiff, v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Defendant's motion to compel responses to its discovery requests. Defendant asserts and Plaintiff does not deny that Plaintiff has failed to provide responses to all discovery requests propounded in this action.
On January 9, 2013, Defendant served on Plaintiff a First Set of Interrogatories and First Request for Production of Documents. In those discovery requests Defendant asked Plaintiff specific questions regarding her claims. Shortly after the written discovery requests were served, counsel for Defendant spoke with Plaintiff by telephone to explain what the requests were and when they were due. Plaintiff's responses to the discovery requests were due on February 11, 2013, but Plaintiff failed to respond or object to the discovery requests by February 11, 2013. On March 27 and again on April 8, 2013, Defendant's counsel wrote Plaintiff and requested full and complete responses to the discovery requests. Defendant asserts that as of the date of the filing of this motion it had received no response to its correspondence or to the discovery requests. In addition, Plaintiff has not responded to this motion to compel and the time to do so has expired.
Although Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, she is required to follow all rules of procedure and requirements of the law, including the obligation to cooperate in the discovery process. United States v. Green, 691 F.3d 960, 965-66 (8th Cir. 2012) (holding that "the right of self-representation is not 'a license not to comply with relevant rules of procedural and substantive law'") (quoting Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 834 n. 46 (1975)).
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's motion to compel is GRANTED. (Doc. No. 47.)
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall respond on or before May17, 2013, to Defendant's First Set of Interrogatories and First Request for Production of Documents. Plaintiff is cautioned that failure to comply with this Order or to otherwise participate in the discovery process may result in sanctions, including the dismissal of her claims.
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AUDREY G. FLEISSIG
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE