Bad Faith in discovery can lead to striking a pleading or entering a default judgment as a sanction. Kenneth_v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Insurance Co. (W.D.N.Y. Case No. 03CV521F, Opinion Filed Nov. 13, 2007).pdf at page 26 of the linked official report from the Court's public web site; also available by subscription as 2007 WL 3533887 at page *13. "Nevertheless, the severe sanction of dismissal of a lawsuit under Rule 37 should be imposed only under extreme circumstances, [citation omitted], and not unless the failure to comply with a pretrial production order results from willfulness, bad faith, or fault of the sanctioned party, [citation again omitted]. Open and unequivocal defiance of court ordered discovery is, notwithstanding, sufficient to support a finding of bad faith or willful misconduct supporting the severe sanction of dismissal of a pleading." Id. at 27; 2007 WL 3533887 at *13.
In this recent decision, the Federal Court found that the record did not warrant "the extreme sanction of dismissing the Complaint". Id. at 28; 2007 WL 353887 at *14. The Federal Court went on, however, to address the Defendant Insurance Company's particularized Motion to Compel specifically further directed to 8 Interrogatories and granted the Motion as to 7 of the 8 Interrogatories.
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