​ PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO PROVIDE DISCOVERY AND A BILL OF PARTICULARS WARRANTED DISMISSAL OF THE COMPLAINT AS A SANCTION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint by plaintiff Morales based upon Morales’s failure to provide discovery and a bill of particulars should have been granted:

… Morales’s willful and contumacious conduct can be inferred from her repeated failures over an extended period of time to comply with court-ordered discovery and the parties’ discovery stipulation and to respond to the defendants’ demands for a verified bill of particulars and discovery without an adequate excuse … . Contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination, the requirements of 22 NYCRR 202.7 were satisfied by the affirmations of the defendants’ attorneys, which, inter alia, adequately set forth counsels’ good faith efforts to resolve the discovery issues raised by the defendants’ motion … . Morales v Valeo, 2023 NY Slip Op 03861, Second Dept 7-19-23

Practice Point: Here plaintiff’s failure to provide discovery and a bill of particulars warranted dismissal of the complaint (by the appellate court) as an appropriate sanction.