PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY AND FOR SANCTIONS – CASE NO. 5:24-cv-00700
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
AT BECKLEY
CASE NO. 5:24-cv-00700
ANNA WHITE FERRARACCIO
Plaintiff
v.
NEW PEOPLE’s BANK
Defendant
/
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY AND FOR SANCTIONS
Plaintiff, by and through her undersigned counsel, hereby files a Motion to Compel Discovery in this matter and states as follows:
1. The undersigned counsel served a Request for Production and Interrogatories upon the Defendant on November 14, 2025. See, attached Exhibits. No responses were provided despite conferral with opposing counsel on several occasions.
2. Since November 14, 2025, the undersigned has requested dates for depositions of the corporate representative of the Defendant as well as William Winfrey, Esq. and all persons listed in the Rule 26 Disclosure and Answers to Interrogatories. Multiple emails have been sent conferring on this issue, but no dates have been provided.
3. Under Rule 33, interrogatories must be answered by the party to whom they are directed within 30 days after being served with the interrogatories. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33. Each interrogatory must, to the extent it is not objected to, be answered separately and fully in writing under oath. Id. Under Rule 34, Requests for Production must be responded to and the responding party must provide responsive documents within 30 days. Under Rule 37, a party may move for an order compelling discovery. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. This motion to compel discovery can be made if a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under Rule 33 or Request for Production under Rule 34. Id. If the motion is granted, or if the requested discovery is provided after the motion is filed, the court must, after giving an opportunity to be heard, require the party whose conduct necessitated the motion, to pay the movant’s reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including attorney’s fees. Id.
4. “The overall purpose of discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is to require the disclosure of all relevant information so that the ultimate resolution of disputed issues in any civil action may be based on a full and accurate understanding of the true facts and, therefore, embody a fair and just result.” I.S.E.L., Inc. v. Am. Synthol, Inc., 2009 WL 3367237, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 15, 2009) (citing United States v. Proctor & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. 677, 682 (1958)). “The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure strongly favor full discovery whenever possible.” NetJets Aviation, Inc. v. Peter Sleiman Dev. Grp., LLC, 2012 WL 1758104, at *2 (M.D. Fla. May 16, 2012) (citing Moore v. Armour Pharmaceutical Co., 927 F.2d 1194, 1197 (11th Cir. 1991)).
5. Here, Defendant completely failed to provide answers to Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories and Request for Production. Plaintiff’s counsel has, to no avail, conferred with Defendant’s counsel to obtain the responsive information. Thus, Defendant’s Motion should be granted. See Miller v. Environmental Turnkey Solutions, LLC, 2016 WL 7440834, at *2 (M.D. Fla Dec. 27, 2016) (granting a motion to compel when a party failed to answer an interrogatory); see also Foster v. Coca-Cola Co., 2015 WL 3486008 at *2 (M.D. Fla. June 2, 2015) (same).
6. Additionally, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 provides that upon granting a motion to compel, a court “must” award the moving party “reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, including attorney’s fees,” unless the court finds that the opposition to the motion was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(5)(A); see also Butterworth v. Lab. Corp. of Am. Holdings, 2009 WL 10664304, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2009) (quoting Maddow v. Proctor & Gamble Co., 107 F.3d 846, 853 (11th Cir. 1997) (“A court must impose attorneys’ fees and expenses when compelling discovery unless the party was substantially justified in resisting discovery.”)). “Substantially justified” means that “reasonable people could differ as to the appropriateness of the contested action.” Id.
7. The undersigned has conferred on these issues with opposing counsel multiple times to no avail. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff seeks an Order compelling discovery, for an award of attorneys’ fees and for any other relief this Court deems just and proper under the circumstances.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been emailed this 19 day of February 2026 : William S. Winfrey, Esq., 1608 W Main Street, P.O. Box 1159, Princeton, WV 24740.
Behren Law Firm
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Weston, FL 33326
(954) 636-3802 – phone
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By:/Scott M. Behren/
Scott M. Behren
Fla Bar No. 987786
/s/ Robert P. Dunlap, II
Dunlap & Associates
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Beckley, WV 25801
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