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Filing # 112061010 E-Filed 08/19/2020 02:14:57 PM
JHR/kxh/60110-1629
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 11TH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MIAMI-
DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO. 19-016161 CA 01 (11)
CONSOLIDATED WITH
CASE NO. 19-013078 CC 25 (02)
FLORIDA BAR NO. 50230
GUILLERMO DOMINGUEZ and
INGRID DOMINGUEZ,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE
CORPORATION,
Defendant.
ON TIME MITIGATION & RESTORATION,
LLC A/A/O GUILLERMO & INGRID
DOMINGUEZ,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE
CORPORATION,
Defendants.
/
DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF
KNOWLEDGEABLE CORPORATE REPRESENTATIVE AND FOR
SANCTIONS
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
COMES NOW, the Defendant, CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE
CORPORATION, by and through its undersigned counsel, pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P.
1.380 and 1.310(b)(6), and brings this Motion to Compel Production of Knowledgeable
Corporate Representative and for Sanctions, and in support states the following:
Background
Plaintiff stands in the shoes of the Insured homeowner by virtue of an assignment
of benefits contract related to water mitigation work performed in response to a roof leak
at the insured premises. Plaintiff has sued for Breach of Contract alleging that Citizens
refused to pay their invoice for services rendered.
On February 5, 2020, Defendant filed its Second Amended Notice of Taking
Videotaped Deposition of Plaintiff’s Corporate Representative. A copy of that Notice is
attached as Exhibit “A.” Therein it is requested that the Plaintiff produce a Corporate
Representative having knowledge of seven (7) categories of information. See, Exhibit A,
Page 3.
The deposition proceeded as scheduled on March 18, 2020, at which time Jean
Tuffet appeared on behalf of the Plaintiff. A copy of Mr. Tuffet’s deposition has been
filed with the Court. At that time, Mr. Tuffet was wholly unprepared to testify as to four
(4) of the seven (7) listed areas of inquiry. As it regards the area of inquiry dealing with
identifying all employees who performed work at the home Mr. Tuffet failed to look into
the same. His testimony in that regard is as follows:
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
Q: Did you do any investigation as to who was actually
at the home on June 12, 2019 on behalf of On Time
Mitigation? (P. 12, Ln. 24)
A: I did not. (P. 13, Ln. 2)
Q: Are you prepared to tell me who was at the home,
and identify those persons, for the retarp? (P. 13,
Ln. 8)
A: I am not. (P. 13, Ln. 10)
Mr. Tuffet acknowledged that he could have asked a co-owner of the company who was
present to work at the Insured’s home, but clearly did not do so. See, Deposition of Jean
Tuffet, P. 19, Ln. 8-17.
As it regards the area of inquiry dealing with the technical specifications and
manner of operating the equipment used by On Time Mitigation, Mr. Tuffet was unable
to provide testimony in that regard. Specifically, his testimony was as follows:
Q: Who would know that specific technical
information, as to why that size unit and those liters
per hour were used in this circumstance? (P. 28,
Ln. 21)
A: I don’t know. Not me. (P. 28, Ln. 24)
Q: Can you tell me why the equipment was put in
place for three days as opposed to two? (P. 39, Ln.
21)
A: Three days is probably the amount of time that the
technician felt that it needed to be there in order to
serve its purpose? (P. 39, Ln. 21)
Q: But in terms of the technical reasons why, relative
to the humidity, or the amount of moisture content,
that’s something that you may not be able to tell me
today? Is that my – (P. 40, Ln. 1)
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
A: Yes, that’s something I wouldn’t – that’s something
the tech would have to give you insight into. (P. 40,
Ln. 5)
Plaintiff’s Corporate Representative was also unable to testify as to area of inquiry
number 4, regarding the cost of equipment used at the Insured’s home. Specifically, Mr.
Tuffet’s testimony in that regard was as follows:
Q: Are you able to tell me the cost of the equipment
that was used by your company at the Dominguez
home in terms of the cost On Time Mitigation
incurred n purchasing each dehumidifier, air
scrubber, air mover, things like that? (P. 29, Ln.
23)
A: No, not at the moment. (P. 30, Ln. 3)
Q: Did you do any research in that regard in
preparation for today’s deposition? (P. 30, Ln. 9)
A: I did not. (P. 30, Ln. 11)
Plaintiff’s Corporate Representative didn’t research whether Plaintiff had ever done work
at the insured premises at any other time despite area of inquiry number 1 requesting
information regarding all work performed at the subject residence. See, Deposition of
Jean Tuffet, P. 8, Ln. 21-25.
Memorandum of Law
Under Rule 1.310(b)(6), Fla. R. Civ. P., On Time Mitigation had an obligation to
produce a witness “who can testify as to the corporation’s knowledge of the specified
topics.” This places a duty on the corporation to affirmatively prepare its representative
“to the extent matters are reasonably available, whether from documents, past employees,
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
or other sources.” Carriage Hills Condo, Inc. v. JBH Roofing & Constructors, Inc. 109
So.3d 329, 334 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). If the entity’s chosen representative “is not
knowledgeable about relevant facts, and the [organization] has failed to designate an
available, knowledgeable, and readily identifiable witness, then the appearance is, for all
practical purposes, no appearance at all.” Resolution Trust Corp. v. So. Union Co., Inc.,
985 F. 2d 196, 197 (5th Cir. 1993)(cited approvingly by Carriage Hills, 109 So.3d at
335).
Plaintiff’s Corporate Representative did not do any research or talk to anyone in
the corporation to obtain the information properly identified in the notice of taking
deposition. See, Deposition of Jean Tuffet, P. 9, Ln. 4-10. He merely reviewed the
invoice and the contract, despite Defendant’s requests for specified information that
clearly was not contained in those documents. See, Deposition of Jean Tuffet, P. 9, Ln. 1-
3. This is clearly an insufficient effort that has resulted in undersigned being unable to
obtain the needed information without taking a second deposition.
That Defendant is in need of a second deposition to obtain the information
previously requested is solely the fault of the insufficiently prepared corporate
representative presented by Plaintiff. When asked why he was not prepared to testify as
to the properly identified areas of inquiry, Mr. Tuffet had no excuse but to say “because I
am not.” See, Deposition of Jean Tuffet, P. 13, Ln. 12.
Pursuant to Fla R. Civ. P. 1.380(d) Defendant is entitled to its costs related to the
subject deposition because Plaintiff practically did not appear for the deposition for all
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
material purposes. Resolution Trust Corp at 197. Defendant properly noticed the areas of
inquiry with sufficient time for Plaintiff to obtain the needed information, which they
failed to obtain. This constitutes good faith conferral with the Plaintiff who failed to
properly prepare. As a result of Plaintiff’s failure to prepare, Defendant is obligated to
pay fees and costs related to the deposition which was a fruitless exercise. Plaintiff
should be made to bear those costs instead of the Defendant, pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P.
1.380, and the Court’s inherent authority to impose sanctions. Further, Plaintiff should be
required to present a properly prepared and knowledgeable witness to answer questions
related to the previously identified areas of inquiry pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P.
1.310(b)(6).
WHEREFORE, the Defendant, CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE
CORPORATION, respectfully requests this Honorable Court enter an Order declaring
that Defendant is entitled to fees and costs related to the deposition of Plaintiff’s
Corporate Representative, and commanding Plaintiff to produce a knowledgeable
Corporate Representative for further deposition, and such other relief as this court deems
just and proper.
WE HEREBY CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing was filed with the Clerk of
the Court using the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal on August 19, 2020, to be served this
date on J.P. Gonzalez-Sirgo, Esq., J.P. Gonzalez-Sirgo P.A., 814 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
#504, Coral Gables FL 33134; via transmission of Notice of Electronic Filing generated
by eservice@myflcourtaccess.com and/or was sent by electronic mail to the above
addressee.
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
Attorneys for Defendant
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
(954) 848-2460
(954) 848-2470 FAX
Service of pleadings: serviceFLL@boydlawgroup.com
BY: /s/William E. Peters, Jr.
WILLIAM E. PETERS, JR.
BOYD RICHARDS PARKER & COLONNELLI, P.L.
MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE TAMPA WEST PALM BEACH NEW YORK
1600 W. Commercial Boulevard, Suite 201
100 S.E. Second Street, Suite 2600 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1150824 U.S. Highway One, Suite 1007 Times Square, 19th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33302 Tampa, Florida 33602 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
New York, New York 10036
Tel: 954-848-2460 Fax: 954-848-2470
Tel: 786-425-1045 Fax: 786-425-3905 Tel: 813-223-6021 Fax: 813-223-6024
Tel: 561-624-8233 Fax: 561-624-8940Tel: (212) 400-0626
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