Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) Plc., v Maria Arbos,
Case No. 08-20439-CIV-UNGARO, United States District Court for the
Southern District of Florida
Third Party Defendant Rickenbacker Marine, Inc. ("RM") filed a motion to
strike the pleadings of Defendant, Maria Arbos ("Arbos") for her
continued failure to provide discovery in violation of a court order.
In August 2008, RM served Arbos with Interrogatories and Request for
Production. Arbos failed to respond and RM moved the court to compel
production of the outstanding discovery.
On October 29, 2008, RM filed a Motion to Strike Arbos' Pleadings for
her failure to appear for deposition and failure to provide discovery.
The court ordered Arbos to respond to the discovery by November 12,
2008, stating that failure to comply with any part of the Order may
result in an entry of default and/or striking the pleadings or other
sanctions. Arbos moved the court for an enlargement of time to comply
with its Order, which was granted. An extension was again granted, and
again violated leading to the filing of a Motion to Strike the Pleading.
Arbos failed to comply with the court's Order, and in response, RM moved
to strike Arbos' pleadings. The District Court for the Southern
District of Florida granted the Motion and held that it was "of
paramount importance to the continued vitality of the Court's authority
that parties comply with the Court's Orders and that willful and/or bad
faith noncompliance is punished appropriately." The court dismissed
Arbos's Third Party Complaint against RM with prejudice.